Walk with me to North Kelsey

I'm going to put yesterdays date on this because I started it last night but had to give up at midnight when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Now it is Thursday morning and I am refreshed once again for another day.

Right, who wants to come for a little bimble with me? You will need your boots on because there's a lot of tramping across fields to do, and some of them are a bit overgrown with oil seed rape. Are you ready?

We start at Hibaldstow, five miles south of Brigg, it's a 30 minute drive from my home. There is free parking close to St Hybalds church.

The church tower fell down during rebuilding in 1875, and was not replaced untill 1958. The new tower is made of concrete blocks, but doesn't blend in well with the rest of it.

I did however find this interesting door round the back, with ivy growing up it. I hope they don't cut it back, makes it look kind off mysterious.

Off I trotted down Ings Lane. I had just taken a photo of this windmill when the owner came back in his car. He told me he is doing it up, but isn't in any hurry. He said he fits it in with other jobs. I have to say though that he was no spring chicken, I think he should drop his other jobs and concentrate on this one, or he will run out of time, ha ha.

Anyway, let's press on, keep up. We'll continue straight on when we run out of road, along the edge of a field. Over the rickety bridge.

There are a lot of drains round here, I don't mean drains that carry waste water away. Some people call these dykes or ditches, here they are called drains, just a gully which collects rainwater. Some of them are pretty clogged up with weeds, and the farmer should come along at some point with his machine and dig them out. Over the next bridge, it looks a bit more stable.

And look what I found on the other side, a field of peas, ha ha. Can't pick these they aren't harvested yet.

The paths are rather obvious at the moment because the farmers have left them clear of crops. On the signpost you will see a little man walking, that is the Walking Your Way Back To Health sign, put there by the council. These paths are used by recognised walking groups to promote healthy living. Some of the members have had heart problems, or may be elderly, these routes are to encourage more people to get out and use their feet for excercise.

Here we are arriving at Cadney Bridge which crosses the River Ancholme. While I was taking a few minutes to look around I saw an elderly gent come along the freshly mowed river bank on his mobility scooter. Trotting along side him were two cute Jack Russell terriers. I watched him as he approached a metal barrier, was he going to do a limbo to get underneath or would he be able to lift it up to pass through?

He stopped, got off his scooter, and pushed the steering column backwards so it was flat, and the seat folded down in the same way. Bingo the scooter did the limbo underneath and he squeezed through the gap at the side. Ingenious I thought, I stopped to speak to him. He said he comes along here every morning with his dogs, does a circular route which takes three hours. I sometimes think how sad it is that disabled people cannot enjoy the same delights as I do, and this man has solved the problem by getting a fairly robust scooter which can tackle the rough terrain. Where there's a will there's a way.

Another view of the bridge.

It's an iron bridge with a wooden floor. 4 x 4's and lighter farm vehicles are allowed to use it for access to land.

Next we cross a cornfield on our way to Cadney village.

It's a very small village, a few houses and a church.

All Saints Church is of Norman style and in 1865 a severe gale of wind carried away the roof. The register dates from 1564.

I want a railing around my grave like this :o)

Off we go again heading towards Poolthorne Farm and the village of North Kelsey. A narrow bridge of a single sleeper crosses the drain here.

I don't take photo's of Chapels very often because most of them are quite plain red brick buildings, but this one at North Kelsey caught my eye. It looks as if it is much loved and cherished the way the gardens are neat and tidy and it is kept in a good state of repair.

The old hand pump, in the centre next to the village green.

It is a twisty road through and this house is opposite the church on a bend.

Here we are at All Hallows Anglican Church. The tower dates from the 13th century. It used to be called St Nicholas until it was changed in late Victorian times.

I love the texture and colours of the weathered stone.

North Kelsey is a large village, which sadly lost it's Post Office in 2008. It has a village hall, a primary school, and two pubs. Time to head off back.

A lot of farms are a collection of old buildings surrounded by dirty and smelly yards. Not this one, someone is looking after this garden. Even round the back of the main house looked neat and tidy.

Across the fields once again, keep up.

It's a bit overgrown here, watch your legs on the nettles.

And into the field of cut hay which is awaiting collection.

We have to cross the river again so we are going over Hibaldstow Bridge this time, a bit further down. It looks the same as Cadney Bridge, a similar style.

I can hear buzzing in the sky. As we get closer to Hibaldstow we are walking at the back of the airfield. I walked along here about a year ago and wanted to take photo's of the sky divers, but couldn't get close enough, then they stopped jumping. All I could manage was photo's of the planes parked up on the airfield. here is one coming into land.

The inevitabe dumped rubbish left by some moron.

Ouch, I've been bitten, trying not to scratch it :o(

That's it folks, walk over. Did you enjoy it :o)

And here is my smiley dinner for tonight, well it made me smile anyway, ha ha. Can't beat a good old fashioned English fish and chips, sat on a bench, watching the world go by. Lashings of salt and vinegar, yum, a rare treat for me at £4.60

As usual I timed my finish to coincide with knock down prices at Tesco. I got a trolley full for £22.38, and a lot of that was Value tinned food for the store cupboard. But hey, what is this, they are giving away parsnips now, can't get much cheaper than this.

I laughed when I saw it and wondered what would happen when it went through the checkout. It flumoxed the lady on the till, who I often have a laugh with. This time we both laughed out loud. The computer said 'no', so she put it through as one lemon at 30p. About right I thought. Toodle pip.