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!!
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.
…. 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!
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!
Woke up to yet another beautiful blue sky day – perfect Spring weather. Up and out sharpish as today we were walking Spurn Head Spit, where tides can be an issue – we weren’t going to take any chances. Decided to drive as the bus journey was going to take two hours. Didn’t end up saving ourselves loads of that time due to tremendously stressful traffic diversion and congestion in the city – road closures – and then further on the roads were largely restricted to 30 and 40mph. We drove through some gorgeous villages though, some with magnificent churches, and it gave us a clearer picture for further days of walking.
We managed to take the last parking spot in the car park at Spurn and predicted this was going to be a busy old place. Turned out there was a European Angling Competition taking place and the anglers were all spaced out, with all the gear, along the whole stretch of beach. We got chatting to one competitor who told us the first prize was £4,000 for the weightiest cod or ray. He loved talking all things fish but seemed completely uninterested in our coastal walking chatter – funny that!! We continued our walk up the sandy beach, a little miffed that the fishermen were hogging all the firmer sand … mustn’t grumble. After two miles we were led on to a path that took us off the beach and behind some sand dunes. This shortly turned into a concrete path … being nature lovers we’re ashamed to say that we love a concrete path occasionally – today it was a lifesaver.
Setting off on today’s walk of Spurn Head SpitThe eager Anglers
Spurn is a narrow sandy spit that juts out into the Humber Estuary and curves round to the North Sea. It has a lot of history as a defence location, it has a lighthouse (open for visitors and refreshments) and a redundant lifeboat station. The spit’s main purpose now is a Wildlife Haven – you just have to be aware of the unpredictable tides that can leave you stranded. We were aiming for ‘The Point’ at the furthermost tip, so an out and back which we reckoned on being about 6 miles. We felt comfortable, although not many but other walkers heading the same way – we reckoned we’d be safe.
Spurn Pilot Station
There were glorious views the whole stretch, sea all around and sandy beaches, just wonderful. Shortly past the lighthouse, the signs for ‘The Point’ took us through a long and winding stretch of sand dunes. Steve did suggest we skip this bit and just head back but I said it was a shame to get this far without getting to ‘the point’ … ha ha! Did I ever regret that comment. Because (1) ‘The Point’ was literally a bench with one of those signposts that tells you how many miles it is to Timbuktoo and (2) after that it led us back to the beach. Now I love a beach but not walking another 4 miles of it on soft sand, I’d much rather admire it from something firmer. I confess to getting a little grumpy. If ever you find yourself on Spurn Head, take my advice … maximise the use of the concrete path.
This is ‘The Point’ of it all ….
By the time we got back to the car we had clocked up nearly 9 miles, 3 more miles than estimated. We found a spot on the beach to tuck into our picnic lunch and hot chocolate – always a great soother. We could relax while watching the anglers do their stuff – well not much really, they just seem to sit and look at their lines … saw no fish activity at all.
So, despite some grumbles and some achey legs from soft sand walking, the point is … we had another fabulous day.
Naturally, bright and early we hotfooted it to our usual Saturday morning activity and today’s choice was the Humber Bridge parkrun. For anyone planning to do this one, leave yourself plenty of time after parking up as it’s a fair old walk to the start and down a particularly steep set of steps to boot. And remember those lovely steps are waiting for you to climb up on your return, so pace yourself! But what a fabulous route – three trail laps around pretty woodland – this Country Park was originally a quarry.
Before setting off on today’s Coastal Path walk we sensibly checked in to a Greene King pub for breakfast – turned out to be pretty disastrous. We were pointed to a table without being given any instructions, so we fiddled around trying unsuccessfully to download the app. Our table was right next to an ever growing table of cheery bikers – they were lovely but incredibly noisy and we were just drowned out! No-one came to serve us so we moved to a different table and then just decided to help ourselves to the buffet. We had to search around for plates – the food was good but cold by the time we’d waited for the bread to toast! And there were no mugs so NO tea! Oh well, we had some sustenance which is more than we accomplish sometimes!
We parked up again at the Hessle Foreshaw car park (it’s free) as today we were walking the other side of the estuary. We caught a bus to Barton on Humber and a train from there to New Holland. We had a very smooth connection (timing is everything) and enjoyed our little countryside ride.
Disembarking in New Holland, we found ourselves walking amongst impressive seaport industrial sites -it is a tidal dock, almost entirely used for the import of timber. The path eventually led us on to the more peaceful environment of embankment wall where we had spectacular views to our right of the Humber Estuary and to our left a nature reserve gleaming in the sunshine. We could see the Humber Bridge in the distance and as we walked the views just got more and more magnificent.
Started our walk from New Holland Railway Station
The weather was glorious again today – blue skies and sunshine. I was walking in my t-shirt most of the way, Steve clung on to his layers and thick jacket! And the spring flowers and blossom make this time of year even more joyous – it’s a good to be alive day!
Stunning blossom
Just before the bridge we dived into the Humber Hideaway cafe where we indulged in lashings of tea and raspberry and coconut slices – yum! From there it was a short walk to the bridge – we eventually found the access route to get on it, one pedestrian side was closed. It was a stunning walk over with views of the Humber river and the surrounding area stretching for miles. Then back to Hessle to find the car.
So, 7 miles clocked up in coastal walking + 3 miles of parkrun – think we got our steps in today.
Friday 7th March 2025
Just to fill the gap in from yesterday – day off the coastal path – we went to Hull New Theatre instead to see ‘The Book of Mormon.’ If you haven’t seen it – go, it’s hilarious!
An altogether much brighter day – started in rain but ended with some blue sky and the sun trying to pop his head through the clouds – we’ll take that, so much better than yesterday. We started off walking from Knott-End-on-Sea, a pretty seaside village although somewhat deserted. Lowry used to sketch here, it was a great inspiration to him. So we had to get a photo by his sculpture – forever the tourists!
My kind of bench!!
We quickly picked up the sea wall path and it was such a treat to find it was tarmac, no squelchy mud thus far. There was a huge expanse of sand on the beach and we’re guessing the sea was there somewhere but was shrouded in mist. Some smart coastal properties too but their signage was well and truly letting us know that this foreshore was private property.
The sea wall came to an end after 3 miles and at this point we got chatting to a couple of cockle pickers who had just returned on their quad bikes, bringing in bags of cockles. They were a jolly pair too and were delighted to share all their cockle picking expertise – shame we missed a photo opportunity! As we left them, Steve started reciting: “I’m not a cockle pickernor a cockle picker’s mate, I’m only picking cockles cos the cockle picker’s late.” Well, I could not get that rhyme out of my head for the rest of the day!!
We picked up a country lane now so again pleasant walking for a few miles – we were using our OS app to follow the Lancashire Coastal Way. Surprisingly it took us onto a fairly major road (we found out later that the rest of the sea wall is closed off for construction). There was no pavement on this road and cars were whizzing past at 70mph – not idyllic rambling conditions. So, after a mile, Steve worked out a detour on to some country lanes that would circle around to where our car was parked. It was a huge agricultural area, both livestock and arable – not seaside but still interesting. It did however add another 1.5 miles onto the walk but we decided it was worth it for stress and safety reasons. And as the weather cleared we were just about able to see the mountains of the Lake District in the distance.
The bar was closed!!
We ended our trek in another lovely village, Cockerham, where our flask of hot chocolate was waiting for us in the car! The thought of it had kept me going those 9.5 miles. But today we’d had no mud and no wind … it was a good day.
After a fabulous two night stay with Alice and Jon in Lymm, we drove up to Lancaster on Saturday afternoon for a week’s house-sitting assignment. The house owners, Paul and William were off to Gran Canaria for a break and leaving us in charge of their stunningly stylish Victorian residence and their two wonderful moggies, Monty and Kit. We spent a great evening with Paul and William before they flew out the next morning – a deliciously home-cooked meal and the most perfect company. We’ve fallen in love with Monty and Kit who are 4 years old and brother and sister. They lay cuddling each other for hours each evening and love to wash each other … and they have the odd scrap too!!
Monty and Kit
We spent Sunday settling in and exploring the interesting city of Lancaster. We walked up to the Castle and the Priory and discovered the history of its prisons and the stories of the Pendle Witches. The city is steeped in history and has the most spectacular architecture. There is also a vibrant University student life here so quite a contrast to its Roman and Medieval past. Always great to discover a different city.
Lancaster CastleLancaster Priory
So Monday was our first day of walking and by use of car and bus we made our way to Fleetwood, to walk the Wyre Estuary. If the ferry had been operating we could have saved ourselves a lot of time and effort – it might have been cheating but we were sorely tempted … then the decision was taken out of our hands, it’s in for repair. Treated ourselves to a bacon ‘barm’ and a mug of hot tea in the ferry cafe instead.
Overall not a day to write home about – it was cold, grey and drizzly and estuary walking is never glamorous. The first side of the estuary was 4 miles of busy roadside then a mostly manageable path. One section of it did have a ‘No Access’ sign but apparently that doesn’t apply to us!!!! The ‘health and safety’ aspect of heavy machinery did not worry Steve a jot, especially as no alternatives were provided. So, when we reached the digger, we skirted around it on the soggy mud flats and gave the digger driver a cheeky wave – he didn’t seem perturbed. The path got somewhat wetter between here and Skippool where we had parked the car, but we waded our way through. And, despite there being some stunning properties, it was like a boat graveyard, amazing vessels just seemingly left to rot.
Back at the car we warmed ourselves up from our flask of hot chocolate and tucked into sausage rolls and sarnies, heater full blast. Feeling rejuvenated, we talked ourselves into tackling the other side of the estuary, rather than come back to do it tomorrow. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
In reality it was pretty grim. We were SO cold when we got out and our clothes were so damp. After a small stretch of roadside we hit the worst terrain of the day – ’twas the mud flats – that sinky, boggy sort of rambling that appeals to no-one! But it was just a couple of miles of that and then we were on to lovely country lanes. Later there was a section of very high and incredibly slippery embankment walls – boy I was smug to have my walking pole – it would have got very messy without! Then more country lanes, a golf course and and an easy path into the lovely town of Knotts-End-on-sea.
And we’d racked up 15 Miles – not a bad effort at all. It’s weird though, the colder and wetter it is, the faster Steve walks (and I try my best to keep up) – so it becomes a physical exercise rather than a sightseeing stroll. But it was a section that just needed to be done and hopefully it will get a little more scenic over the next few days, despite the unpromising weather!
The best part about the day though was the buses – the Lancashire buses are fabulously comfortable and warm and the drivers uber friendly. Our timing was perfect to catch both the buses, no waiting. And … I got to use my newly acquired bus pass – so finally I’ve found some benefit to being a golden oldie!!
The rambling roses 