Saturday 27 March 2010

Ramble around the Lincolnshire Wolds

I've done it! ;0) I wanted to beat the 16 miles that I did last week, yesterday's walk came in at 18.13 miles on the mileage checker http://www.bikehike.co.uk/ I walked my little legs off, ha ha. I decided that to walk further I needed to choose an area closer to home, so I drove 23 miles to the Lincolnshire Wolds. The hills may not be of the same greatness as Yorkshire or Derbyshire, and may not require the same level of physical fitness, but the views are still impressive, and the solitude of walking in a less busy area gives one the sense of being at peace with nature.

I set off from Nettleton , a village a mile and a half south of the market town of Caistor. The time on the clock church is 10.30am.

My route for a good part of this walk was the Viking Way. I have walked the northern parts of this long distance path around Barton upon Humber before, so I wanted to see how it develops further down. The only problem I can see with walking the Lincolnshire Wolds is the lack of footpaths. Not a problem with shorter walks, but to do a longer circular walk, without doing a lot of road walking means going a bit out of your way to get back to the start. Which is what happened to me.

I came over the brow of a hill and came across this beastie chewing the cud. Not knowing if it was a he or a she, I kept my eyes on it as I gave it a wide berth. It glanced at me and carried on chewing. On closer inspection I decided I was safe, it looked as if it was ready for the knackers yard and wouldn't have the energy to haul itself onto it's feet. Phew, I'm always cautious where cows are concerned.


In fact I came across a lot of cows, didn't always have to walk through them but they add a bit of interest to the photo's. I think we should all stop eating them and just keep a few as decoration, but that's another subject for another time.


Gentle rolling hills were the order of the day.


On the map it said disused pit, I came across several of these tunnel entrances which have been bricked up. It looks as though they went into the hillside and came out at the quarry at the other end. Probably a way of transporting the chalk away from the area.


I was lucky with the weather, blue skies and fluffy clouds for most of the day, with the ocassional dark cloud passing by.


I spotted this golf ball from a distance,


and made a short detour to get a close up picture. It's a Radar Station.


I passed through the pretty little village of Normanby le Wold, and came to Walesby. The church is worth a good luck round here, as it is called The Ramblers Church. It sits high on a hill outside of the village, and is lovingly cared for by local volunteers.


A notice on the board says they had some lead stolen from the roof, and it has now been replaced with a substitute material which has no value at all, and is security marked. We have had that same problem, as I suspect a lot of churches have, twice our lead has been stolen. It is now going to be repaired with stainless steel.


This is the view from the church looking out over the Wolds. The wooden bench gives walkers a welcome rest place. Looking across the horizon I can see Lincoln Cathedral, a good 25 - 30 miles away.


As I left the church I looked back to take this photo.


A lot of the footpaths were well defined bridleways and easy to follow. If you look on the horizon of this photo you can see where I entered the bridleway from the road, the path followed the gentle curves along the edges of the fields.

I left the Viking Way at Tealby, it was about time to set off back. I went through Tealby, Stainton le Vale, skirted round the edge of Thoresway, and arrived in Rothwell to see this babbling stream.


All the villages have their own individual signs, this one stands proudly on the roadside close to the pub. It's a shame that I am too early for the daffodils that are about to come into bloom at any time.


I arrived back at my car at 6.55pm, just in time for the Archers. Thank goodness it isn't far for me to drive back home after my epic journey. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

6 comments:

  1. What a beautiful church. I love your walks, thanks for sharing.
    twiggy x

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  2. You go to some of the most naturally beautiful places on the planet. Have u ever been to the States and what's your opinion of Americans?
    I'm an american in the south but want to hear your perceptive(if you care to share).THanks

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  3. Hi suZwil. Yes I have been to the States. I went on a Roller Coaster Club trip, we did 17 theme parks in 15 days, fantastic. We landed at Toronto, went up the CN Tower, did Pensylvania and Ohio. Went to New York and Niagra Falls. The park owners made us very welcome, the crazy Brits who want to ride roller coaster.

    My boyfriend at the time, organised two more trips. One to Orlando to do all the Disney parks, and the other to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. We hired a car and drove between the two. We went in a helicopter over the Hoover Dam, then to the Grand Canyon, landed, and went to a ranch and had a horse ride. I love Las Vegas, the hotels are awesome.

    I remember I was taken ill and they rushed me to hospital in an ambulance, the works, siren, flashing lights. I was a bit embarrassed because I knew what was wrong with me, I only wanted some anti biotics. I thought it was a bit OTT, but maybe that's how they do things.

    I found everyone to be friendly, but I must admit I was glad to get back to eating normally. They seem to eat loads and because it's there in your face you get sucked in. At the end of a holidays I was sick of eating. I found tipping confusing, never knew how much is expected. I would be happier if they added it onto the price. Don't know if it's the same now, I haven't been for five years. Hope that has answered your question

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  4. O.k. know this is going to be a stupid question but why is it called the Viking Way, didn't think they did a lot of walking?

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  5. Fabulous pictures, once again. Thanks for sharing this outing.

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  6. Hi Aunty Bee. Not a stupid question at all, though I had to look it up. The Ramblers Association chose the name because it reflects the influence of Danelaw inposed by the Norse invaders in this part of England. It starts at the Humber Bridge and ends at Oakham in Rutland, a total of 147 miles. Many pre historic settlements were established on dry ground in the Lincolnshire Wolds. From the 9th century the Vikings were exercising their influence over the county. So, it was because the Norse invaders occupied the area.

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