Blacktoft, situated just beyond the Humber Estuary on the banks of the River Ouse, is half an hour or so west of Hull, and is one of several villages in this area that Larkin used to visit when out on his bike. He would often think nothing of cycling 30 miles or so, leaving the 'mortgaged, half-built edges' of Hull behind to wind his way along the many quiet lanes around Blacktoft, Broomfleet and Crabley Creek.

Larkin was drawn to this area's fields, 'too thin and thistled to be called meadows'. In a 1969 letter to Monica Jones, Larkin describes a magical meandering visit to the area, richly describing the glories of early summer and bitterly regretting that he had left his camera at home.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council has a dedicated walk for exploring this area as part of its'Walking the Riding'site.

Postcode: DN14 7YW

Geocodes:

GPS (WGS84) Co-ordinates
Latitude: 53° 42.4842
Longitude: 0° 43.6422

OS Co-ordinates
Easting: 484101
Northing: 424265