4 miles of boring

The first four miles of the Viking Way between Woodhall Spa and Horncastle is a straight (it's an abandoned railway line), beautifully manicured footpath through the woods. The first 20 minutes is wonderful echoing bird song and leaves rustling in the breeze. After that it becomes a little boring as you can only see forward and backwards.

Occasionally you come across the inevitable piece of public art. At least this is relevant and well made... and it breaks the boredom.

World's tallest

When it was built in the 1960's the Belmont TV transmitter was the tallest structure of it's kind (cylindrical tube) in the world. You would think that it would spoil the landscape but I kind of like it. If it was erected in the Lake District I would probably think different.

The Lincolnshire Alps

Continuing my random wanderings along the Viking Way into the Lincolnshire Wolds...

Taking pictures in the picturesque landscape of the Lincolnshire Wolds is difficult. The Wolds have a grand beauty of their own. Intensively farmed big fields on gently rolling hills lends itself to a minimalist approach though, this can easily lead to the trap of style over substance.

Lincolnshire Red cattle in open pasture on top of the Wolds. This rare scene is how we imagine cattle should be reared and this is probably some of the happiest prime steak in the country.

Unfortunately, away from the Wolds, factory farms are the norm, where cattle rarely or never see daylight. Don't believe the supermarket marketing imagery of happy animals on packaging and delivery trucks.

At 450 feet above sea level, the village of Fulnetby proudly boasts, on an information sign, of being the second highest village in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The local church offers refreshments to weary travellers. After that climb I'm not surprised ;-)

It's the top of an old lorry used as a shed though, it appears so much more sinister than that!

Barren land

I've been sick the past couple of weeks so, I'm getting back into walking, here's a varied selection images from my local neighbourhood...

Some of the locals are so conservative that they did not approve of the church being used as a polling station (North Carlton).

It's a dry spring, no rain for weeks and none forecast. What passes for soil in this intensively farmed landscape is now suffering moisture deficiency as well as nutrient deficiency. Crops can no longer be grown on this land but for the injection of chemicals. The soil has no life, it is just mineral, no organic matter to retain moisture, no bacteria to break down matter and provide nutrients, no worms and bugs for wildlife.

Even the field edges are made barren by the use of weed killer, to stop nature encroaching.

This is the inside of a car dumped at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Contents included the dashboard and armrest console, the air conditioning unit, various drugs related paraphernalia and a taser!

Platform 1, Southrey

Southrey is a small village at the end of a dead end road, you would hardly know it exists. It once had a railway station and a ferry across the River Witham, it took only three hours to get to London. All that is left left now is a platform and a sign and a smattering of cyclists along the river. The village itself thrives but, like most villages these days, more as dormitory than an entity in its own right.

Bardney

Bardney is strange and off the beaten track. Pilgrims of all kinds have come to this thriving village in the middle of flatland nowhere for centuries. Home to a 7th century abbey whose ruins are hardly ever visited today and responsible for the Lincolnshire rebuff to anyone not closing a door, "do you come from Bardney"*. In 1972 Bardney hosted a pop festival 'The Great Western Festival', with International acts including Status Quo, Roxy Music, Rory Gallagher, Joe Cocker and The Byrds - in BARDNEY! Bardney is also home to the smallest Catholic Church I have seen, a sugar factory and of one of the best butcher shops in the county whose 'award winning' pies are truly magnificent...

Cake and Offal

*Bede relates that Bardney Abbey was greatly loved by Osthryth, queen of Mercia, and in about 679 she sought to move the bones of her uncle, St Oswald there. However, when the body was brought to the Abbey the monks refused to accept it. The relics were locked outside, but during the night a beam of light appeared and shone from his bier reaching up into the heavens. The monks declared that it was a miracle and accepted the body, hanging the King's Purple and Gold banner over the tomb. They are also said to have removed the great doors to the Abbey so that such a mistake could not occur again. Hence the rebuff  to a door left open - "do you come from Bardney

The Viking Way

I have taken this road trip off road for a while and I am now walking the Viking Way. No, that's not a euphemism for a silly walk, it's a long distance footpath (about 140 miles) which traverses Lincolnshire and Rutland. I am hoping to see a little more of the actual land rather than what is at the roadside. Here are some images from the first few miles near Grantham...

The Viking Way way-marker displays the most recognisable symbol of the Vikings, the horned helmet. Something the Vikings never actually wore. I guess it's an invention of Hollywood, the Victorians maybe, operatic costume designers, comic books etc. Myth becomes history!

The Viking Way is mainly farm tracks and cross country footpaths - time to buy some serious walking boots!

Oil dereks and solar panels in the same field. With energy production being more profitable and less hassle than food production farmers are really milking the land.

Red Kites were extinct in Lincolnshire until recently, I never saw one as a child. Everywhere you look now you see Buzzards, Kestrels, Sparrow Hawks, though, there seems to be fewer owls these days.

Making the most of non arable land. Part-time grazing and motocross track.

Julian's Bower

Julian's Bower, one of the few remaining turf mazes in Britain was first recorded in 1697 is sited at Alkborough in the furthest northwest corner of Lincolnshire. It overlooks the the reclaimed land of the River Humber. Maze patterns were adopted by the early church as a symbol of the of the Christian path to salvation. The pattern can also be found on the floor of the local church and on gravestones.

Happy New Year

Big Issue seller, Lincoln

Most people's NY resolutions are about themselves (keep fit, stop smoking etc.), which is a bit of a selfish way to start the year, particularly after all the self-indulgence of the holiday season. I thought I would make this years resolution something that benefits those less fortunate.

New Year resolution 2017 - be generous!

Cleethorpes revisited

I view seaside resorts with mixed emotions, I love the whole escapism bit but it also cuts against the grain. The job of the 'Fantasy World' is to fleece visitors of as much money as possible. In winter the lack of activity exposes the recumbent underbelly of the money making machine that is reliant warm weather and people's wish to escape from reality.