Day 6 Dunham to Gainsborough

Loads of breakfast at Wilmot House this morning, so my tum is full up. Susan the landlady made me some sandwiches to take with me, free of charge. This is a great place to stay, I can recommend it.

Today I am walking along the west side of the river all the way to Gainsborough. As I travel further north there are not so many crossing places. The river itself has gone quiet now, there are not many pleasure boats around, mostly I see fishermen dotted all along the banks.

I popped in to St Peters church at Laneham for a quiet moment, to give thanks for my life, and to remember my family members who are no longer here. I love the tranquility of an empty church.

How nice that someone has made a small posy decoration, and put it at the front door, a lovely greeting as you walk in.

I'm feeling good today, the walk has gone well so far, all according to plan. Here I am passing another Power Station, at Cottam this time.

Nearby is a pond which used to be a sand pit. As I sat down to enjoy the sun and the view the swans came swimming towards me, thinking I may throw them some morsels. Sorry guys, but I can't spare anything, my food has to last me the day.

Torksey is a popular place for boats, but I can't cross the river to look round, no bridge. You'll have to make do with this shot of Torksey castle, zoomed in as much as my camera will allow.

A bit further along is this disused railway bridge. Pity they haven't converted it into a cycle track, to give access to Torksey.

I took a closer look, is there a chance to use it to cross the river? A fence has been erected to prevent people from attempting to cross.

I found one of the metal fence posts had been removed so I was able to squeeze through for a closer look.

Oh look, just the steel cross members left, no floor no rails.

This stile is missing altogether, it has a piece of fence tied up with string, not good.

I saw a lot of stiles like this one. It looks as though a drunken carpenter has made it, the way it leans over. It is in fact how they are designed. There are two gates, which don't need fastening after you have passed through. Because of the angles and the way they are leaning, they auromatically swing shut. Quite a neat idea. They are heavy so livestock cannot force their way through them.

This is a sweet little church at Littleborough. It's St Nicholas Church.

Across the fields I can see West Burton Power Station.

It's been an easy day today, no need to walk fast, time to stop and look around. I arrive at Gainsborough with time to spare. I crossed over the river here to walk into town.

There are two toll houses, one on each side of the road. There are no tolls to pay now.

A lot of the warehouses have been renovated and are now flats.

There are also some new builds.

I picked up some food at Tesco because there are no meals provided at Crittlewood Guest House. I wasn't sure what to expect because the place is used mainly by contractors, but as this was a Saturday night they have gone home for the weekend. I must admit I wasn't expecting anything too classy. Roy greeted me at the door, and showed me my room. There was also a kitchen I could use with tea and coffee included, and choice of bath or shower. I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh and clean everything was. It looked like most of it had been redecorated. So another good choice for a night out.