Introduction
Spring was in the air; the clocks
had gone forward and another winter of restrictions was behind us. It was time
to learn to live with Covid and complete some unfinished business. Autumn last
year left me halfway through the Viking Way (VW). I did not quite get to
Lincoln. My trip was abandoned at Fiskerton, 5 miles and a short bus ride from
the Cathedral. So I started this year’s campaign by reversing my homeward
journey with an early morning train to Stockport and Sheffield, to reach
Lincoln at 11am. The 11.15 bus dropped me in Fiskerton village at 11.45 and I
set off directly from the bus stop on a beautiful sunny morning, much warmer
than forecast.
Monday 28th March 2022 Fiskerton - Harmston
Lincoln Cathedral
Knowing the route out of Fiskerton was a great advantage. The narrow passage between two cottages must only be known by locals but I was quickly out into the flood meadows and heading for the wooden footbridge where I had called it a day last year. Amazingly the only two people in the entire landscape were sitting on the raised bank of the River Witham and they willingly took my photograph and recorded the start of VW Part 2. I was soon sweating profusely under my winter walking clothes. Stopping to take off two layers, I was mesmerised by a Little Egret rising majestically from the river’s edge and flapping slowly up-stream. More white birds, swans this time, glided on the slow flowing water. A couple of volunteer footpath conservationist put me on the right route to the Saxon church at Greetwell Hall. Only an industrial estate stood between me and the centre of Lincoln.
Passing the County Hospital and a small park, the route headed uphill passed the Minster School to emerge opposite the east window of the Cathedral. A quick look into the great nave (there was not enough time in my schedule for a tour), and then it was through the west gate and into the old town and its steep cobbled streets. Jenny’s café in Saltergate provided a quick lunch. High Street seemed endless but eventually I found another ginnel out onto South Common, passing my accommodation for the night. But there were still five miles to be walked so I pressed on across the common and over Grantham Road onto a rising field path. A young girl offered me some nettles for my compost heap but I could only thank her profusely and walk on.
Fiskerton dep. 11.50, Harmston arr.
16.50
GPS 12.35 miles in 4hr 22mins 23secs
walking time with a 40-minute break in Lincoln
Stayed at the Tennyson Guest House,
South Park, an unmanned house a mile south of the city centre. A pint of Lush
(4%) from Tiny Rebel Brewing in the Golden Eagle was followed by Summa This (4.2%) from Branscomb Vale Brewery
and a chicken tikka masala in the Ritz.
Tuesday 29th March 2022 Harmston – Marston
Street of Ermine
With an unstaffed hotel, breakfast
comprised of a porridge pot and a slice of toast. A bus from round the corner took
me back to Harmston crossroads where I re-joined the VW and a half mile section
of roadside footpath. It was a damp and cold, foggy morning with dew on the
grass. As the trailed headed back to the edge of the high ground, all yesterday’s
views had disappeared. The lovely church at Coleby appeared out of the mist,
Navenby was completely bypassed and the path did not emerge onto a road again
until Wellingore. I was hoping to find a café or shop in the village but,
stopping a postman on his round, I was told there was nothing in Wellingore.
So, rather forlornly, I had to press on.
My phone beeped. My daughter was
seeking a chat which I suggested might be delayed until I reached a boring
section of the route. I then had to navigate carefully over a series of
ploughed fields before arriving at Ermine Street, an old Roman road and one of
the straightest tracks in England. The first few miles passed quickly as I
chatted on the phone but then I had to concentrate on keeping up the pace on
this undulating six miles of grass track. After almost two hours, I saw some
vehicle movement ahead and realised I was approaching the major junction at
Byard’s Leap. I stopped to talk to a lady in a van parked on the grass. She
must have appreciated the conversation because I found it hard to get away. The
café near the junction was closed on Tuesdays, the only café directly on route
and I had chosen the wrong day. So I walked a further mile, turned into a field
and sat beside the path eating a banana that I had taken from breakfast.
After clinging to high ground
since leaving Lincoln, the VW finally descended into the lower world of Carlton
Scoop. There were signs of life at the golf club but nothing anywhere else.
After a brief look into the church, a rising farm track led me to a quiet lane
near Carlton Ashes. A mile of downhill brought me to a farm track heading west
towards tonight’s destination. But this promising line was soon thwarted by a
southward excursion into the headwaters of the River Witham, which I had not
seen since Lincoln. A very busy railway dominated the view ahead as high-speed
trains flew across the landscape. The VW passed under the line and around a
sewerage works and waste disposal site before emerging into Marston. Near the
church, I left the trail and headed down Tollbar Road to find my hotel.
Harmston dep. 09.37, Marston arr. 17.00
GPS 20.91 miles in 7hrs 9mins 42secs
walking with a 10 min break. (20.37 miles on route).
The Old Barn Hotel was a low
series of buildings just outside the village. I felt disincline to use the spa
facilities but headed instead for the bar and a very expensive pint of Goose
Island IPA (5.9%). I chose chicken breast with tarragon cream for main course
and a stick toffee pudding as a dessert.
Wednesday 30th March 2022 Marston
– Buckminster
Got My Drift?
In an attempt to beat the rush, I was in the breakfast buffet before 8am
and eating a full English. Settling my bill before queues began at reception, I
was out onto the busy road before 9am heading back into the village to re-join the
VW. The temperature had dropped even lower and the gloves were on to counter
the cold, damp air. The route over to Long Bennington was in the main on flat
and firm field paths. I met several dog walkers, one gentleman in particular
was up for a good long chat. The small hamlet of Westborough had a beautiful
church looking a picture with its foreground of daffodils. The VW hardly
touches Long Bennington. Soon after the footbridge across the River Witham, the
path emerges into a built-up-area and the VW turns southwards towards the A1.
On the bridge over the Great North Road, a vehicle pulled up beside me and the
chatty dog-walker, now in a white van, wished me a good day’s journey. Then I
turned into a dead straight road, Sewstern Lane, which I was to follow in its
various guises for the rest of the day.
This lane follows the line of an old drove road once used by, amongst
others, Scottish drovers taking their cattle to the London markets. Whilst some
parts are wide dry tracks, other sections have been churned up by off road
vehicles, mostly grass track motorbikes. Deep ruts over water-filled channels
made fast progress impossible. After an unmanned level crossing and a major
road there was a four-mile trek to where the route joined a canal. A short walk
through a narrow woodland brought up the spectra of a pub and all thoughts of a
fast time and early finish disappeared. I crossed the canal on the old
humped-backed Woolsthorpe Bridge and ventured into the Dirty Duck for some
sustenance. This included a brie and bacon baguette and two beers from Batemans
Brewery, Gold (3.9%) and XB (3.7%).
I certainly went well in the afternoon. Along the tow path of the
Grantham Canal and over the first bridge, then uphill onto the Wolds where the
route passes Brewer’s Grave. I saw no dead beer producers. One of the most
pleasant sections of drove road, known as ‘The Drift’, is a wide grass-way now
designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. A jay flew along in front
of me and red kites circled overhead. A war-time airfield (Salty was the base
of the Douglas C-47’s flown to France to support the D-day landings) was
crossed, the route running along the runway around the hangers to the gliding
club. A steep-sided wooded valley was crossed, a horribly mudded section being
negotiated with care at the lowest point. Then it was up to civilisation and a
long road toward Sewstern. At Stainby Road I turned right towards Buckminster
and stepped into Leicestershire.
Marston dep. 08.56, Buckminster arr.16.55
GPS 20.46 miles in 6hrs 59mins 49secs
walking time plus an hour in the Dirty Duck at lunchtime. (19.50 miles on the
VW)
The Tollemache Arms in Buckminster
had reserved a lovely room on a room only basis. From the bar, I ordered
several pints of JHB (3.9%) from Oakham Brewery in Peterborough. I ate a large
plateful of fish & chips. I enjoyed good company with a fellow VW walker,
Simon Butterick from Darlington. So, instead of a dessert, I had another Oakham
beer, Bishops Farewell (4.6%), and continued our conversation a little longer.
Thursday 31st March 2022 Buckminster – Oakham
Early Start in a Blizzard
What a shock to look out of the window at dawn. Snow was falling and the
roads were covered in an inch of the white stuff. As there was no breakfast on
offer, I decided to don my full winter gear, thermals and over-trousers, and step
out into a blizzard. To be fair to the hotel, the kitchen had produced a sandwich
for me to eat on route. And they had refused any offer of a payment. Soon after
7.30am I was outside the hotel and
playing in the snow. Some kids waiting for their school bus took my photo to
record the rather unseasonal weather. It was unnerving walking down the busy
road in these dangerous conditions with heavy traffic struggling to keep on the
straight and narrow. There was a brief break in the snowstorm when the sun came
out but, as I struggled with the mud and ruts in the tracks south of Sewstern,
the blizzard returned.
Nearly two miles of busy roads made for faster progress on the approach
to Thistleton. Then some firmer paths across snow-covered fields led round the
end of the runway of Cottesmore Airfield looking sinister behind its ‘Official Secrets
Acts’ signs. At the entrance to Great Lane, now a cycle path to Greetham, a
bench provided a suitable place to eat my sandwich. South of Greetham, the
track broadened into a wide gravel lane that wound its way round Exton Park. In
Exton itself, I momentarily made a navigation error and had to backtrack onto
the correct road out of the village. Pleasant field paths led across a low
ridge of high ground and descended gently into Whitwell and its busy road. A
sheet of hail came down once again as I braved the traffic and made my way down
to the car park on the side of Rutland
Water. I ignored an open coffee kiosk and walked on westwards along the north
shore of the reservoir.
It was a good three miles into Oakham, much of it on tarmac beside the
main road. Signs were being put out for the half-marathon race scheduled for
the following weekend. The weather was improving and there was no snow lying here,
no indication of the awful conditions I had come through that morning. At the
by-pass, the VW heads straight into the town centre, along Stamford Road and
into the Market Place. A dark alley led to the spectacular parish church which
looked a picture in the sunshine. The maps indicate that the trail continues
along Northgate to its terminus. I followed but could see no sign of an
official end point. But I was next to the station so I bought a ticket for the
next train and asked where the nearest café was. Look no further that the Grainstore,
the brewery next door, said the station master. And I didn’t.
Buckminster dep. 07.37, Oakham arr.13.34
17.72 miles in 5hrs 56mins 26secs .
Conclusion
I sat waiting for my train, eating
a very welcome lunch, my first proper meal of the day. It was too early to
start on the wonderful array of Grainstore beers lined up at the counter. A
cappuccino was more suitable for this time of the day. I sorted through my
notes and just had time to summarise the last four days, my second and final visit
to the Viking Way, I had covered 71 miles in completing the trail, all but a
couple of miles being on route. The accommodation was close to the route and
had worked out well except for one missing
breakfast. Even this had been
turned to an advantage and it had enabled me to get an earlier train than
planned. I was soon travelling through the East Midlands countryside, heading
towards the pleasures of Birmingham New Street. As I got home so early, there
was no one to meet me at the station and I got in another 1.5 miles of walking
as an encore. I felt really good as I walked home and my feet were still in
good condition. I am finally getting the hang of this long-distance walking.
