Le Tour du Rodney. Tea and Scones at the Teahouse in the Woods.

 Nicely outside a full English, packed and steeds removed from the stabling and loaded, we headed off to Southrey on the Water Rail Way for a short ride to Woodhall and back.  It was the ladies' first ride along the old railway line on this trip and we all enjoyed bowling along towards Woodhall Junction pleasantly wind assisted.  Again bird song and butterflies were plentiful.  By the time we arrived at the Teahouse I was still replete with breakfast and made do with tea and cheese scone, both excellent.  Although we were riding against the wind, the return journey was largely sheltered and so not too onerous.  Driving home we were able to reflect on a splendid three days break.

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Sculpture and Southrey Station.

Sculpture and Southrey Station, the Witham in the background

The Water Rail Way

Green Lane, Woodhall Spa

The River Witham

The Team

Trailside Sculpture, referencing Tennyson's Brook

Le Tour Du Rodney, South to Southrey.

 What a disaster!!!  We rolled into the car park at the Riverside Inn at Southrey only to find it shut.  With no other eatery nearby for lunch it looked like we were going to go hungry!  Our journey had begun from the Rodney earlier in the day after the full English, which was now going to have to sustain us for much longer than anticipated.  Brian and I had set off in beautiful conditions once more: warm and sunny with a gentle breeze.  Our route started the same as yeasterday but we diverted at Martin Bridge; the road bridge over the old Horncastle branch line from Kirkstead Junction.  As pupils at Horncastle Grammar School in the 1960s, we loved it when our double decker bus crossed at the same time as a steam loco was going under; the billowing smoke and steam delighted us.  In those days I had a Saturday gardening job at Waterhouses Cafe and bakery in Woodhall Spa and the small garden was right on the side of the tracks.  When the black tank engines huffed and puffed by, snorting steam and smoke, I thought it was wonderful.  

Departing from the Spa Trail we followed the narrow winding back road through Roughton to Kirkby on Bain where we diverted to have a look at the old Kirkby Watermill.  This was a touch of nostalgia for me as I remember fishing in the mill pool in my boyhood and catching large perch.  We never managed to latch on to the large chub that now held position head into the current waiting for food to drift down.  The mill is private now and there are two very large houses built on the opposite bank.  Tempus as the saying goes fugit.

Leaving Kirkby on Bain we headed for Woodhall along Kirkby Lane, passing Wellsyke Farm, the old water works (now Kirkby Moor LWT reserve) and Ostler's Plantation; all scenes of boyhood exploits.  We called in again at The Teahouse in the Woods for coffee before continuing down Green Lane to Mill Lane where I was born - it seems like yesterday.  We rode through the hamlet of Kirkstead to the River Witham and stopped at Woodhall Junction station, the start of the branch line to Horncastle.  The station is now a private house and, though much has changed, the ticket office buildings and platforms still remain.  A new road bridge arches over both railway line and river replacing the old swing bridge from my childhood.  The railway here was the Lincolnshire Loop Line and connected Lincoln and Boston.  I remember journeys to Lincoln on steam hauled trains but the line went with the Beeching cuts and now the old track bed forms a superb walking and cycling route: the Water Rail Way.  The railway is not the only thing to have changed: the river water is now clear rather than brown and sediment heavy and there are no anglers fishing it.  In years gone by the Witham was the scene of fishing matches with hundreds of anglers, many travelling by train from Sheffield and other industrial cities, lining its banks and huge weights of fish being caught.  On non match days we boys would fish there and retreat to the delphs, which drained the adjoing fens, on match days.  The last fishermen's train rain in 1979.

The river seems more picturesque now and is probably richer in wild life.  As Brian and I rode along to Southrey we heard many chiffchaff, whitethroat and blackcaps singing in the trees lining the trail and common terns were gliding above the river.  Butterflies were plentiful, especially red admirals.

Having failed with lunch, Brian and I returned to Stixwould Station and then rode along byways to reach Woodhall Spa by Stixworld Road past the Petwood Hotel, once the officers' mess for the 617 Dambusters squadron.  We visited the Lancaster Inn in Woodhall centre for a liquid lunch and I reminisced about teenage visits to the old Gamecock pub, now attached to it and the 617 bar.

Retracing our wheels down Stixworld Road we rode along Old Woodhall Road, past the Wellington Monument and wood, erected and planted to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo.  We reached the Spa Trail once more and returned along it to Horncastle looking forward to some rehydration before dinner.  I seemed to need a double brandy tonight.

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Woodhall Junction today

Woodhall Junction as I remember it at 18.

River Witham

River Witham

River Witham

The Water Rail Way

The Water Rail Way

The Water Rail Way

The Water Rail Way

River Witham

The Water Rail Way

Rockrose

River Witham

A fen drain

River Witham

River Witham

The Water Rail Way

Sculpture on the Spa Trail

Viking Way, Stage 10: Honington to Woolsthorpe by Belvoir.

Our walk today began along the green lane of Frinkley Lane, first west and then south for a while where we could see both a Virgin train on the East Coast Main Line and a Virgin hot air balloon, which kept appearing and disappearing through the heavy overcast.  Autumn was in full swing now and ash trees, especially, were displaying excellent colour.  We made our way first past the River Witham and then over fields to the village of Marston.

We continued along quiet tracks and riverside meadows to Long Bennington where we had to cross the busy A1 via a bridge.  Beyond the A1 the route took us along the excellent green lane of Sewstern Lane an ancient Bronze Age drove road and later a Roman Salt Road.  Sadly today parts of it have been used (abused?) by off road vehicles, both two wheeled and four wheel and they have made an appalling mess of it, making it very difficult for walking and impossible for cycling without a great deal of determination.  Surely there is a case for this pastime to be pursued on purpose built courses in order to leave green lanes for less destructive means of transport.

The final section of today's walk was along the old Grantham Canal before climbing up a sunken green lane which was a riot of Autumn colour back up to the car.  The Grantham canal was completed in 1797 to connect Grantham with the River Trent.  It was closed in 1929 , but recently the Grantham Canal Society have been involved in a restoration project.

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