Thursday 22 September 2016

Viking Way, Stage 8: Lincoln Cathedral to Wellingore

We were again lucky with the weather for stage 8 of the Viking Way.  On our drive across Lincolnshire to meet up with Dorothy and Steve at Wellingore we started out in bright sunny conditions, passed through fog and arrived in low overcast.  This soon cleared, however to leave us with dry, if at times overcast, and hazy conditions.  We parked up on Nettleham Road just north of the Cathedral before walking round it and to the busy Castle Square.  We are incredibly luck to have Lincoln as our local Cathedral.  Such a majestic building as it stands at the top of Steep Hill dominating the city beneath it and visible from miles around.  It is somewhere we often visit for the pure enjoyment of such a magnificent building and the peace it brings.  One of my favourite times to be in the building is when the morning sun shines through the stained glass windows, painting the floor and pillars a myriad colours.  From the cathedral our route took us through Lincoln, first down the tourist area of Steep Hill and then along the busy High Street before leaving by South Common.  Over the years I have run many cross country races here first in school races and county championships and later in club league races.

We climbed up the steep slope the the top of the common from where we had magnificent views over the city to the cathedral and close to the new Bomber Command Memorial and its towering spire.  After walking along the top of the common our walk took us to the edge of the steep scarp slope of the Lincoln Edge with expansive views over the Witham and Trent valleys.  The Viking Way took us through the villages of Branston heath, Waddington, Harmston, Coleby, Boothby Graffoe, and Navenby before we finished at Wellingore.  These villages are built of the warm Lincolnshire Limestone the same beautiful building stone as that used in the Cotswolds, which the Lincoln Edge runs into.

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