At last, I've been out for a walk today, it was a suny morning so I got my skates on, packed a sandwich, filled a bottle with a fruit drink, and off I went. I started off from Scawby, a village between Scunthorpe and Brigg. There's a nice big layby there near the church. First job was to pop in the shop for a bag of choc eclairs, I like to suck a sweet as I walk.
There isn't a big choice of footpaths around here, so I took a quiet road, crossing the A15 trunk road, towards some woods. This seemed a popular place for dog walkers, and I soon got chatting to a woman who was going in the same direction as me. She told me she was off to Spain next month for some long distance walking. We parted company when we reached the B1398 road, I went south and she went north.
A short distance down that road and I turned off to the right down a narrow road to Manton. This is a small hamlet, with less than a dozen houses and a couple of farms. I remember coming to look at the church here about ten years ago, it was advertised for sale. Not that I could afford to buy it, but I was curious. It hadn't been used for a long time and was sadly neglected, but what a fantastic location. I would love to live in a church. Look at it now. Looks like it was bought and done up by someone with lots of money. They have had to make a completely new vehicle access road as there wasn't one before. Doesn't it look stunning, the brickwork has been cleaned up and it has a new roof. I would love to look inside. It's like one of those renovation projects that you see on the tele.
It was a lovely sunny day, but quite cold, best to keep moving. This is Cleatham Hall.
From Cleatham I took a footpath which went past some ponds. It was very pretty.
Once past the ponds, the path went straight on over a ploughed field. I decided not to go that way, and turned right down a farm track which came out on the B1400 towards Kirton in Lindsey. Just before getting into Kirton I passed the railway station. There are still a few trains that pass through, but not many. This is the platform at the back.
And this is the front of the station. It has been turned into a house, so someone lives here.
When I got to Kirton I called in at a shop to say hello to an old friend. I haven't seen him for about a year, so it was nice to have a chat. He tells me he will be 50 this year, I said, don't worry, it's not that bad, ha ha. This is Kirton Town Hall. It looks nice and tidy.
The rest of the town looks a bit shabby though. The pub could do with a lick of paint.
This funny little barber shop always makes me smile. It is a small three story building stuck in the middle of the square, surrounded by roads and parked cars. It's got a side door which presumably is the entrance to the flat upstairs. A strange place to live, with hardly any privacy.
I left Kirton on the B1398 heading north. Not far along there is the Windmill. It's a working windmill, they make their own flour and bake their own bread. There is a tea room and a shop. I have no time to stop, as I'm a bit behind time because I stopped far too long to talk to my friend. Must press on.
The next half an hour was spent staggering and stumbling over ploughed fields. I thought this was safer than taking my chances walking down a busy road with no footpath. At one point I wondered if I was going in the right direction as I seemed to have lost the sign posts. Luckily I came across a farmer in his tractor ploughing a field. He pointed me in the right direction, I wasn't far out. Eventually I came down a minor road into Hibaldstow. These guys were in a field at the junction where the two roads met. Aren't they lovely. As soon as they saw me they came running across the field towards me. The big black one was bellowing, he looked quite fierce, but when they came close to the fence, they were real softies.
Someone must have been to feed them as they had dropped some hay on my side of the fence. I threw it over and a third one came running across to get some.
Edit to add this link
It was a case of following the road back to Scawby then. I could see this beautiful sunset over to my left but I couldn't get a good photo of it as the houses were hiding it. Then I reached a road junction which gave me a better view.
What better way to finish a walk than to have some fish and chips. I was surprised at the price of them, I am sure I only paid about £4 when I last had some. Mind you it was a long time ago, These were £5. Bit of a rip off really, but they were nice.I brought them home and zapped them in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
It was good to get out again and blow the cobwebs off me. Got to keep the old legs moving, don't want to sieze up, ha ha.Total 13.20 miles, I'm chuffed with that.
Toodle pip.
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