Another island walk today and we chose a sunny but blustery day to tread the high and exposed embankment loop. It was fine when the wind was behind us but a little more arduous when walking into it. Great paths though – so well maintained and much appreciated.
I’m still not 100% well so agreed to be part rambler/part chauffeur today – handy also in that the island is somewhat remote in terms of public transport. This being a large nature reserve, we parked up in the RSPB car park and, in the absence of any other walkers or twitchers, we got talking to the friendly RSPB man. He was so helpful in showing us the route on a map, informed us that the path was easygoing (I put my walking pole back) and pointed to his collection of wildlife photos. Amongst the pictures of birds, hares and butterflies my eyes were drawn to a photo of a snake! “Oh yes, we have adders here” he casually said, “You’ll find them basking on the sea walls.” And so a lot of heavy stomping went on today, to warn those pesky slithery things that ‘the Rambling Roses are coming, you better skedaddle!’
Besides that worry, it was a beautifully scenic walk, and as promised a huge variety of birds, colourful wild flowers and lots of perfectly tiny blue butterflies everywhere. We saw seals basking and swimming in the shallow waters too – always a treat.
Seals basking in the sunshine x
Not sure how we did it but the island walk turned out to be a mile or two longer than estimated and the last stretch by the marina was particularly narrow and high. My energy levels were dipping by this time and I felt extra wobbly, had to concentrate fully so as not to tip over the edge. 9 miles in and I was really flagging – we could see the car parked in the distance and I was willed on by the thought of cheese and pickle sandwiches awaiting us.
And like the bull worry a few days ago, no adders crossed our path today – thank the Lord!
After our picnic lunch, Steve walked on to the pretty village of Paglesham. I donned my chauffeur hat and drove there, parked up in the shade and enjoyed my book for an hour until my fellow rambler completed his 12 miles for the day.
That completes our walking for this little breakaway to Essex. Steve has walked 80 miles in that time – I’ve only managed half of that!
We have loved the area, loved the exquisite house we’ve been staying in and absolutely fallen in love with Bertie – the resident ginger cat. Mary and Doug have said we can come back anytime and I have a strong suspicion we’ll be taking them up on that offer. “Au revoir” as they say, “until we meet again.”
Loved this area of EssexThe gorgeous Bertie – loves having his tummy rubbed xx
A rather pleasant day today although walking 15+ miles after a 3 mile parkrun does make for a lengthy day … even more so because my normal walking buddy decided to rest up.
So it was a day walking either side of the River Roach, accompanied by a cacophony of cuckoo sound and the absolute treat of watching not just one game of cricket but two!
It’s unusual to see one game of village cricket these days let alone two but it appears that Rochford CC, a small Essex village, are able to do just that! Lucky them and lucky me.
Anyway enough sport distraction, this is a tale from the river bank – a gloriously sunny day, spectacular estuary views, birds a-plenty and a bus back home for dinner, having been dropped off in Paglesham by Mrs R just four hours earlier.
Along this coast we’ve seen shells used as decoration and thought they may have been washed up by the tide – but inland this is surely the largest pile of shells ever seen?They even make farm roads from the shells!Shells from the opposite bank.
Whilst being recognised as the England Coastal Path it seems that not many folks have walked along this section, although in late spring the grass and cow parsley is in full growth mode, making it almost a case of wading through the waist high undergrowth! The views though are amazing and can be doubly appreciated as you walk the other side of the river on the way back. This Essex coastline has endless such inlets to be covered.
I have to say, our coastal path walking has highlighted that parts of this delightful small island we live on remains pretty much undiscovered … you can walk for miles with not another person in sight. A lonely 15 miles completed, just the birds, cricket and sea shells to keep me company!!
Oh yes please, what fun!! A nice easy start, catching the regular train from Thorpe Bay station into Benfleet and from there a 200 yard walk to the path onto Canvey Island.
Neither of us had any idea of what to expect and we were both immediately struck by the organised signage, the well maintained paths, the incredibly stylish houses and the general neatness …. I’m talking Stepford Wives neatness. Nothing out of place and signs saying ‘not to do this and not to do that ..’ – we felt we needed to be on our best behaviour.
It was mostly sea defence wall walking but with pleasant views of the island itself and also across the water we could enjoy the spectacle of the Kent countryside. The sky was so blue today, practically cloudless, the sun was shining although a little breezy too. We rambled on quite contentedly, lapping up the flat and easy terrain. We came across Shell’s Marina Tearoom after 5 miles and treated ourselves to an early break – Steve had a mid morning snack of bacon and cheese toasted flatbread and I resisted, just had a caffeine top up!
Looking across to KentAn early rest break at Shell’s Marine Tearoom
There was a more touristy section of the island with bars, cafes, amusements and funfairs – I’m sure this is popular in the summer months. And there is a man made beach and promenade which made for a pretty stroll, plenty of people about. At said beach, 6.5 miles in, we considered stopping for our picnic lunch but then decided to get a little further. Of course, big mistake, hindsight and all that … it was another 3 miles before we found a suitable spot to stop. The main reason being that we hit a stretch of industrial eyesore with an unpleasant stench of gas, not conducive to tucking into sandwiches and fruit.
Canvey Island football stadiumThe beach
Feeling replete once again, we headed on, leaving the heavy industry behind and enjoying an area of countryside. Some beautiful birds today and wild flowers but a noticeable lack of butterflies. Sadly, this is where the day’s enjoyment took a bit of a turn. We came across one of those gates with the dreaded ‘beware of the bull’ warnings! My anxiety immediately went up a couple of notches while Steve came out with his typical country boy confidence, saying “well, do you really want to turn back!? After 11 miles of walking you find you don’t give the response you think you might!! I stayed close on Steve’s heels for the next couple of miles, constantly scanning the area and trying to come up with a contingency plan. I’d seen a solo magpie earlier and, although I’d said “Good morning Mr. Magpie,” I just felt there was an element of sorrow looming. Suffice to say, no bull showed up and we lived to tell the tale.
Then, after a mile or two of that angst, the coastal path turned into the narrowest of high paths that became increasingly overgrown the further we went. There was nothing we could do, we just had to suffer it in silence, I absolutely hated it. You have to close your mind off to what might be lurking below and tread carefully so that nothing trips you up. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, we broke free and made our way to the road and off the island.
Try picking your way through this for 2 miles!
So a day of mixed terrain and mixed emotions … but we did complete the 14.5 mile loop. It certainly hasn’t shifted this illness that I seem to have so, change of plan – I am now going to rest for a few days … apart from an easygoing Parkrun tomorrow.
Saturday 10th May 2025
Southend Parkrun – a beautiful 3 lap course. More looping!!
We’ve just arrived home in Deanshanger after almost three weeks in the stunning county of Yorkshire … and we have definitely left a piece of our hearts there. This is the final blog for now to catch up on our last few days there.
The formidable Yorkshire Moors
Saturday
It was Dalby Forest Parkrun for us this week and without doubt it was the most scenic one to date – wished I’d stopped running to take photos – it was like Switzerland. Lots of forest, rivers and sheep on the sloping hillside – but great paths and not too hilly a run at all. We were joined by Lynda and Rebecca – great to have their company. Coffee after naturally then back to Lynda’s for a magnificent full English.
With Lynda and Rebecca
In the afternoon we drove out to Hutton-le-Hole for a picture perfect walk in a typical Yorkshire village. Apparently these villages are packed in the summer months but we managed to get a table in the tea shop – picked a good time of year to visit. So so pretty.
Sunday
Lynda and Paul very kindly drove us to Bridlington today so we could coastal ramble our way to Bempton Cliffs where they would pick us up. So good of them to ferry us around like this but they said they were enjoying some time off from their house renovation and also getting to see parts of the Yorkshire coastline they’d not yet visited.
So, we started off with a stretch of funfair filled promenade walk in Bridlington which led us on to some clifftop walking. We covered 6 miles in the morning sunshine and despite some pretty testing ascents and descents we loved it – coastal walking at its best – scenery beyond your wildest imagination. I was glad I had my trusty walking pole with me though, a little slippy in places and a lot of deep steps to climb down.
The path was so populated today – it was Sunday of course, and the sun was out … plus at Flamborough Head there was a huge colony of grey and common seals, basking on the rocks and in the water, so lots of families out enjoying the spectacle.
Colony of seals at Flamborough Head
Talk about 5* service – we were met half way by Lynda and Paul with the most delicious of picnics – this was certainly a more stylish ramble today. We tucked into gammon, cheese, mayo and pickle sandwiches, tomatoes, cucumber, crisps, a selection of fruit, carrot cake and lemon drizzle cake – it was like a full on banquet. As soon as I’d taken my last mouthful I was whisked off by Steve to complete the next half of today’s walk. No chance of letting the food settle!
The next 6 miles was equally as stunning in terms of the views and terrain but unfortunately the weather took a turn – the wind picked up and we were walking into it with gloomy skies overhead. This can so alter your mood and whereas I’d loved the first half, my spirits dropped in the second half … everything seemed to hurt. Fortunately Lynda, Paul and Sneeze the dog walked out a mile to meet us – it made a huge difference having their fresh and encouraging company to get that last mile done.
Paul and Lynda to the rescue
The most incredible feature of this section though was the nesting birds on the cliffs – our destination at Bempton Cliffs is an RSPB reserve – the most spectacular of sights and a cacophony of sound. We were just a few weeks early for puffins sadly but it was amazing to watch and listen to the thousands of gannets – it is known as ‘Seabird City.’
12 more miles achieved today … exquisite section of coastline but I think I’ll be taking a rest for a bit.
Monday
Steve walked 18 miles (see previous blog “Reporting from the Yorkshire Moors”)
Lynda and I drove Steve to his start point in Scarborough and after waving him off we embarked on an 8 mile look around this wonderful seaside town … and Sneeze came too. Another sunny blue sky day for us to enjoy strolling along the beach, watching the magnificent waves, seeing the town’s wonderful old buildings and pretty harbourside, climbing up to the castle and back down for more beach. Fitted in a mid-morning coffee and – it just had to be – chips with salt and vinegar on the sands. And back to Bempton Cliffs to rescue our weary coastal walker!
Pretty Scarborough BeachI made a new friend!Scrumptious fish and chips
Tuesday
Absolutely no coastal walking but still two walks. Farndale Daffodil Walk in the morning – an incredible experience to both walk and drive through these mind blowing Yorkshire Moors, it’s like another world. Sadly there was not the carpet of daffodils we were expecting, possibly we were a little early – a gorgeous walk all the same. Then in the afternoon we drove to the market town of Helmsley – again, chocolate box prettiness – a dream place to live I imagine, wonderful shops.
The gorgeous ‘Sneeze’ xPretty market town of Helmsley
We have managed to tick off a further 170 miles of coastal path on this trip – we’re getting there!
These 5 days in Kirkbymoorside with Lynda and Paul have been fabulous – they are just the best hosts ever. We have eaten like Kings (Lynda is an amazing cook), we have laughed, chatted, played games, explored the area and consumed a fair amount of vino … not to mention the cheese and port. They have a beautiful home in this perfect town on the edge of the Moors …. I’m not at all envious!!!!! They are lovely friends and we will be back.
Today we left our house-sitting assignment in Kirk Ella and headed up to Kirkbymoorside in the north of the county, to visit our friends Lynda and Paul. But, us being us, we just had to stop off for another walk on our way up. We parked up in Withernsea, had a wholesome Full English Breakfast in the cafe, then caught the bus to Aldborough. Note to selves: Stay on the bus a little longer in Aldborough – we could have saved ourselves a mile of the walk!!
There is some serious cliff erosion along this section and in Aldborough a road had literally gone over the edge! There were ‘road closed’ signs – these seriously needed to be taken notice of. There wasn’t an obvious way down to the beach so the first mile was a stroll along the crumbling clifftop, picking out a path not too close to the edge, until we found a slope down. Like yesterday, our plan was to walk along the beach all the way, there seemed to be no other coastal path alternative.
Once down on the beach it was fabulous, perfectly firm sand – but a little chillier today, waves crashing and unfortunately we were walking into a pretty strong wind. The first 7 miles there would have been no access to get up to higher ground again … started to get a little worrying (the thought of having to walk all that way back) but as we neared Withernsea the cliffs got lower and lower, so there was always an escape plan. After a total of 10.5 miles we were back to the cafe for tea and cake and then the car for our onward journey.
Some recent cliff erosionSafely back in Withernsea
We arrived in Kirkymoorside at 5.30pm for the next chapter of our Yorkshire trip. The journey up was joyous and where Lynda and Paul live is such a stunning area. Surprise surprise, the first evening started with non-stop chatting and a whole load of eating and drinking. Let the fun commence.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Not a lot of evidence of the occasion on the path today apart from some Pogues music blaring out from a seafront bar in Ingoldmells and a rather tiddly lady wearing a green felt hat on the bus.
Today we drove to Mablethorpe to start our walk to Skegness, knowing we could get the bus back. Back in the land of public transport! The drive takes us 1 hour 20mins from our accommodation in Hull and along some winding country lanes with deep eaus (colloquial name for ditches) either side, so luckily today completes this section. Again, we parked up in the Seal Sanctuary car park.
Mablethorpe beach
And what an absolute joy, after one mile’s walk along the road into the seafront of Mablethorpe, we had miles of easy and pleasurable promenade strolling. It’s marvellous to be able to look around and take in the views of the sea and golden sands without having to watch your every footstep as we do on most of the other coastal path terrains … keeping a lookout for trip hazards, coastal erosion … or snakes!!
Occasionally we hit a few yards of soft sand where the wind had blown it over onto the path and this seemed to get worse and worse. Then we spotted a digger ahed, clearing the sand from the path – what a hero. As we neared, we paused behind waiting for him to stop and wave us through. After a good 10 minutes he was still clearing away so we carefully sidled our way past, only to be subjected to a torrent of abuse from an old chap with no teeth but a fine set of shiny earings – the digger driver – “You could have warned me. Are you stupid?” Our heckles rose but we bit our tongues and without making eye contact kept walking forward.
The angry man in his digger
We’d walked 6 miles by now and there were absolutely no public toilets open – they don’t open till Good Friday! So we were thankful to come across ‘The Vista at the Boatshed’ cafe, where we could both relieve and refresh ourselves. We were sat enjoying a cappuccino in the sun when who parks up and comes marching in but the digger driver …. we thought he had chased us down. Luckily he completely ignored us and left with his takeout coffee in hand.
After a little farmland walking we were taken on to sand dunes and today they were pretty much soft sand the whole way, which is tough especially on already tired legs. We soldiered on, stopping at 9 miles for our picnic lunch to re-energise. From there it was more soft sand dunes until we eventually reached promenade once again and that we relished. There was a 400 yard interlude of more soft sand as the sea defence path had been reclaimed by the golf course – we did divert to the beach but saw a way back onto the path – didn’t realise we were being naughty till we reached the end!!
By the time we realised it was too late!
When we passed Butlins we felt sure we were near but the views of the pier kept stretching ahead. Then finally, after 5 hours 16 minutes of walking and having burnt 1,688 calories, we arrived at Skegness Pier, having achieved 16.37 miles.
Finally approaching Skegness PierLooking windswept and exhausted at the end of 16+ miles …
Probably about 2/3 promenade to 1/3 soft sand I’d say – a fabulous walk all the same … just a tad too long!!
…. and this sunny weekend it was the lovely David Jockel (DJ) that came to our aid. Without a second car, this section would have been so difficult to complete – or would have involved SO many extra (non-coastal path) miles to get to start and finish points. David drove from his Lincoln home on Saturday to meet us in Cleethorpes, joining us for the parkrun and then stayed with us all day to walk a section of the path, enabling us to have a car at each end. Sadly Ros couldn’t join us due to car troubles – we missed you so much Ros and I particularly missed our ‘walk and talk’ and being told off for being too slow!! The boys were so good though, they kept pace with me most of the way.
The three amigos setting off from sunny Cleethorpes
We filled up with breakfast in a seafront cafe before leaving Cleethorpes. It was an easy promenade walk to get us started and, being a bright weekend morning, it was fabulous to see so many people about – families, dog walkers … even folk without dogs! We walked on a path alongside the mud flats for a while until we spotted that things were beginning to get a bit marshy. So, with some jumping and getting feet a little wet and muddy, we picked our way back to a more solid path.
A definite lack of coastal path signage today meant that there were several decisions to be made – some of these turned out well, others didn’t. Where we gained mileage by finding unexpected bridges in places, and choosing sand dunes over inland paths, we lost out again later when walking down an embankment wall that led to nowhere! Don’t you just love a U-turn!
Apart from being 4 miles longer than originally planned it was a great day of walking, it’s so flat in this area. And as a reward, David treated us to a stunningly delicious ice-cream from ‘Applebys Ice-Cream Parlour’ in Conisholme, on our way back to fetch our car. All was well in our world … or was it!!?
Just as we reached our car in Cleethorpes, Steve made the discovery that he had left his camera with zoom lens in the car park at Donna Nook, where he’d sat for a few minutes to recover and record his day’s activity on Strava. We were convinced it would be gone but made the hour’s drive back to look anyway, we had to. We were flabbergasted and so grateful to find it was there – some wonderful person had even tucked it in against the post to obscure it a little. Prayers answered and all was well again!
12 miles of walking plus 3 miles running at Parkrun.
Getting ready for the Cleethorpes Parkrun
Sunday 16th March 2025
We met up with David in Mablethorpe, at the Seal Sanctuary car park. Bonus – it was free as out of season! David then drove us to where we finished off yesterday in Donna Nook, leaving Steve and I to tackle the coastal path as two, once again.
I have to say that overall it was a pleasant day of walking. We didn’t see much of the sea apart from in the distance and a short glimpse at the end. The path took us along the edge of mud flats but incredibly today we had some perfect signage that guided us in and out of some unusual areas – we might have doubted ourselves if the ‘King Charles III Coastal Path’ signs hadn’t been there. We were in good hands. We were steered inland at times and walked through some interesting villages. Finding ourselves on a section of road with no pavement, we took a gamble in heading back down towards the coast, along a farm track and along the edge of a few planted fields. Our gamble luckily paid off and we made our way onto a sea defence wall.
The farm where we turned off – the farmer is clearly a collector of helicopters!
After a while this changed into an area of sand dunes, not our favourite as often soft underfoot but these were great as firm and grassy … although lined with sea-buckthorn which is extremely spiky. The dunes also provided us with some undulation – we like a bit of variety, this coastline has been very flat. We were joined in the dunes by highland ponies that are obviously being rehoused in these Lincolnshire lowlands. They didn’t seem at all phased by our presence.
WildHighland ponies on the Lincolnshire Lowlands
Another diversion inland took us through the pretty village of Saltfleet. On a bridge, a fellow walker summoned us to see the Kingfisher … but of course it flew off just before we got there! I’ve always wanted to see a Kingfisher – thwarted again. We did see a redshank there though.
Then we were back to country lanes and grassy sand dunes – it was more like a countryside walk than coastal, but not complaining, we were protected from the wind. Unfortunately, in the last section of sand dunes, we lost all signage – although we seemed to be following a path of some sort, it just went on and on like a maze, we felt like we were going round in circles. We were LOST IN THE SAND DUNES!!! I began to envisage it getting dark and us being here all night … my anxiety makes me so dramatic at times – it was only 2.30pm!! Finally we got a view of some caravans and found a way out … and best of all, it was 100 yards from our car.
The only glimpse of the sea we saw all day.
So a panicky end to a gorgeous day and … almost 13 more miles in the bag.
Thanks to DJ once again. Forever indebted to you for making this weekend’s 25 mile section doable for two old pensioners!!
Another absolute corker of a day. Intermittent showers but largely sunshine. Another easygoing path and …. after 8 days of walking we have finally completed both sides of the Humber Estuary!!
We parked the car up in the village of Welwick and walked a mile down a country road to reach the official Coastal Path. Lo and behold there was actual signage, beautiful new wooden ‘King Charles III Coastal Path’ signs – looked like we were going to be spoilt today. The path was wide and easy underfoot, we even had occasional stretches of newly laid tarmac in the areas where they had erected new bird hides – they must love those twitchers. Or maybe Charles and Camilla had been to visit – it was like red carpet in comparison to the usual terrain! There’d clearly been some titivation going on along these parts, all very smart.
Sparkling new bird hides with newly laid tarmac!
All ran smoothly until we reached the dreaded ‘no entry gate’ at Skeffling. We were obviously being diverted off but there was no hints as to which way we should go. We sort of guessed our way round and could see some construction going on. Spotting a ‘pedestrians’ sign we followed the roped off path and then saw a muddy hill taking us back up to the sea defence wall. There were lots of bright yellow diggers and men in high viz … we tried to slip by inconspicuously. We heard some shouting and beeping of horns and presumed they were just noisy builders communicating with each other. Before we reached the top, one high viz and helmeted man came running towards us saying “you can’t go that way.” Well, poor chap received the full brunt of our frustration at the lack of coastal path diversion signs – he was lovely though and listened to our woes and even showed interest in our walking project – we had such a friendly chat as he escorted us off site and directed us to where we could pick up the path. He even agreed to a selfie!
We stopped for our picnic lunch just past Kilnsea and re-energised ourselves for the rest of the walk.
At Spurn we decided to stick to the country path rather than risk the soft sands but a mile or so later we opted for beach walking (1) because the other option was to go quite some way inland and (2) we were so excited to see the sea and hear the waves. The two miles of beach walking was actually OK, not too soft and it was just amazing to be back at the real coast as opposed to the estuary mud flats. Back to my happy place.
Our lunch stop on Harry’s bench
And from there it was an easy wander into the village of Easington – another pretty East Riding village with a spectacular church. The size of churches in these Yorkshire villages is just mind blowing! This was our destination for today after 9.25 miles of walking. On discovering we had 50 minutes to wait for the bus we took the opportunity to have a rewarding drink in the ‘Marquis of Granby’ … and why not!
And for the rest of our time here now we’ll be at the seaside – lets get the buckets and spades out!
It took two buses to get us to our start point today but the connections went like clockwork. We picked up the sea defence wall where Steve left off yesterday, near the village of Paull. The terrain immediately seemed to be improvement from the previous day so that was a bonus. In fact the whole day was relatively comfortable underfoot.
There was something for everyone – some road walking, sea defence walls, farmland paths, a stroll through the pretty village of Paull, more sea defence walls, industrial backdrops and a housing estate, before an easy pavement brought us back to the main road to catch the bus back into the city. There was just about a mile of a narrow, muddy and slippery path towards the end – but with a slow pace and full concentration I managed to stay fairly upright – regretted not having my walking pole once again!
I’m so in awe of Steve and how he manages to plan these routes – I just always feel I’m in the middle of nowhere and then suddenly it all seems to piece together. It all worked like a dream today, even the buses.
Our pretty bus stop
Being a shorter walk, we decided to stop off in the city for a while. I deposited Steve in a Quayside Bar and went for a little cultural stroll around the Old Town and Marina. You can really see the effort they put in to earn their “City of Culture” status in recent years. As well as grabbing the opportunity to enjoy the marvellous architecture, I paid a visit to Ferens Art Gallery – not huge but some wonderful art. And of course I then joined Steve to enjoy a couple of glasses of wine to round off the afternoon.
And now to continue with the ‘easygoing’ theme of the day … it’s dinner, feet up and early to bed. We are so rock and roll.
Monday 10th March 2025 – New Holland to Immingham…… 12.5 miles
Tuesday 11th March 2025 – Immingham to Cleethorpes ……. 11 miles
When you think of coastal walking you imagine skipping along the shore on golden sands, clifftop paths with stunning views, buzzing promenades, the odd sea defence wall to divert you from the mud flats or even an occasional woodland. No-one imagines dual carriageways and miles of heavy industry. Unfortunately that has been our experience for the last two days and, although interesting for us Southerners who rarely see it on this scale, it has not exactly been the most inspiring. However, if we’re going to join up all the dots of this UK coastal path, it just has to be done.
On Monday particularly we got up close and personal with it. At one point during the day we found ourselves walking through an oil and gas plant with its gigantic tanks, pipes, smoking chimneys and rigging. It was a public footpath! Later we reached a locked gate and had to be escorted by a security officer through an incredibly busy freight terminal – it was a public footpath! And later still there was a designated walking area through a working timber yard with mountains of stock and moving vehicles. Again, it was the public footpath! Oh we do love to be beside the seaside!!!!
The locked gate – security escort across freight terminal
A fair amount of road walking too, including a two mile stretch along a dual carriageway, leading out of Immingham on Monday. We tried everything to find an alternative but there was nothing … I would recommend a taxi for anyone else embarking on this route. Said dual carriageway had no pavement so we scrambled along a grass verge which was OK until it became a mass of brambles. I nearly came a cropper right at the very end – I jumped onto the road and my foot caught in the bramble … I just managed to save myself from face-planting the A160!! I shall be writing to King Charles about this – he needs to know that this path named after him is at times ‘dangerous!’ It left me quite shaky and anxious about a lot of that day’s walk as nothing seemed straightforward.
The road walking we did on Tuesday was not glamorous but at least there were pavements … and for that we were grateful.
A beautiful ‘Tommy’ remembrance in Immingham
The majority of the walk however was on a wide concrete sea defence wall alongside the Humber Estuary. On Monday the foghorns were sounding consistently and we presumed it was because it was foggy and this estuary is such a busy shipping lane. We found it to be a real nuisance! It was only later in the day that we heard that two hours earlier a US flagged oil tanker had collided with a ship containing highly toxic chemicals and burst into flames. We saw nothing, such a tragic incident.
We were greatly surprised when we saw a car coming towards us on the sea defence wall – that had never happened before. Then others followed, it seemed that this was a popular area for birdwatching and also for fishing – cars were permitted for those who were unable or unwilling to put in the miles on foot! In fact, come to think of it, we were the only walkers we saw all day! We were able to appreciate the birdlife though – quite the ornithological feast … terns, oystercatchers, curlews and ducks, ducks and more ducks. Couldn’t help but think what a great life they have.
The coastal path on Tuesday continued to come with stark industrial views – more oil, gas, chemical plants and a power station. It was made worse as we were diverted off the sea wall due to repairs. So we not only had the gas and smoke smells but we also passed an outrageously stinking waste disposal/recycling site and then hit the pungent fish smells of Grimsby. It was quite a day.
Quite the white van man areaVehicles galore – waiting for new ownersWe were gifted with an F35 air show
Walking through Grimbsy was quite an eye opener although we saw signs that said it was a great place to live, work and play – maybe we were just in the wrong neighbourhood. And just as Grimsby emerged into Cleethorpes, we took a turn which brought us back onto the sea defence wall. We were able to enjoy the estuary and sea views as we entered this popular seaside resort. We had a race off with a couple in mobility scooters as we hit the promenade and made our way along the amusement lined path to Cleethorpes pier – our planned destination.
We’ve walked a total of 23.5 miles in the last two days with not one Coastal Path sign in sight. Maybe we went the wrong way!! Although it is said that the UK Coastal Path is complete – is it really!? Well, we’re still ploughing on, we’re still talking, we’re still walking … and hopefully our next two weeks here will get a little less industrious!
The rambling roses 