We set off from Baston in glorious sunshine, although with a cool breeze (perfect walking weather), and found our way back to the Macmillan Way. I was familiar with this initial stretch having walked it many times. We passed through the hamlet of Obthorpe, Wilsthorpe and then headed towards Stamford. If someone had previously said to me, come on lets walk to Stamford I would have thought they were off their rocker - mmmmm how times change!
The scenery was changing again as we left the Fens and the river Glen, the countryside is more undulating (I love that word) and after 2 days of walking we came to our first hill. At the summit we were at a head spinning altitude of 150ft above sea level, you'll be pleased to know, there was no altitude sickness experienced by man or dog.
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| Looking back at Stamford |
This section of the walk included a few stretches of road walking but Oscar was much better (following our chat the previous day) and the roads less busy. He is so impatient, we had to wait at a level crossing, for what felt an eternity, and he kept trying to get his nose through the barriers. I had visions of the last train passing and Oscar being hoisted up head first as the barriers lifted, causing a major incident and stopping all trains on the east coast main line.
Stamford is the first of several stone built towns and villages that we will pass through as we follow the limestone belt all the way through to Dorset. Unfortunately the footpath enters Stamford via what I'd call the tradesman's entrance, past warehouses and industrial units, things picked up as we walked into the older parts of Stamford and we saw some beautiful stone built houses. We entered Red Lion square, where it was all very busy as a funfair was in town, so we continued on heading down hill onto the Meadows. It was at this point I should have paid more attention to the instructions in my walking guide.
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| Easton on the Hill |
I exited the Meadows and turned right to follow the river Welland. However I was blocked by a series of barriers and row upon row of motor homes and caravans for all the funfair workers. It would take more than this to stop me, cheeky buggers, who are they to block the Macmillan Way! So off we went through the barriers, I said a few good mornings to people we passed, but I could sense net curtains twitching, eyes following me and hear some very big dogs barking. Then at the end of the car park I realised, there was no path, and we were in the wrong place, oh god this is embarrassing! We made a casual retreat, sauntering back through the encampment, smiling at people as we went, the expression 'nob-head' went unsaid, I could feel the tension in the air start to relax as soon as we were on the other side of the barriers. I quickly re read the book, and headed back into the Meadows, to follow the river on the right, not on the left!
We followed the Welland for a short while and then headed off to cross under the A1 and enter Northamptonshire, next calling point Easton on the Hill. The thing about some of these place names is, that like Surfleet Seas End, the clue is in the name and Easton is definitely on a hill. So we made our second climb upwards of the day. After Easton we headed towards Ketton and crossed the border into Rutland, our third county of the day.
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| Rutland - County Number 3 |
As we walked down into Ketton, you see the massive blot on the landscape which is the Ketton Cement Works, it looks so out of keeping with the lovely countryside surrounding it.
Eventually we reached our goal, passing the beautiful St Mary's Church in Ketton and stopping for some well earned refreshment at the
Railway Inn. We were made to feel very welcome, good real ale, a dog bowl full of water and a possible Cluedo-esque murder mystery being discussed and solved by the locals! I wish we could have stayed longer to find out who done it, but my bath and chafing treatment were calling.
Well I'm quite chuffed, that's the first section of my walk completed, I planned to walk from Boston to the A1 which we did plus a bit more, a total of 43 miles. A rest day tomorrow and then off to work on Tuesday, with plenty of planning to do for my next section. I hope Oscar is not too disappointed with his normal walk tomorrow!!
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