Velobiking With The Historian and The Ladies

 It was a beautiful morning as Heather and I loaded the bikes onto the car and drove over the Wolds to Cadney. I had never been to Cadney and enjoyed the ride. Brian and Heather had just arrived and we soon had the bikes off the car and were riding along the delightful back roads the short distance into Brigg. Here we had the obligatory coffee stop to top up The Historian's caffeine levels; the scones were excellent. From the Angel we cycled through the town to the banks of the River Ancholme. The route finding was easy from here: follow the river as far as Saxby Bridge and then return. As we left Brigg and the noisy M180 behind it became more and more isolated and peaceful. Things were fairly quiet on the bird front but we managed over 20 species, the highlights being buzzard, sparrowhawk, marsh harrier and Kestrel. There were large numbers of dragonflies on the wing, the most common being migrant hawkers, many in tandem as they mated on the wing. Brown hawkers were also numerous and there were a few common darters. There were still a few plants in flower and we recorded 17.

 Once back in Brigg, it was time for an excellent lunch sitting outside the Pantry in the sun. All that was left to complete an excellent day was a potter through the lanes back to Cadney where we had time to explore the attractive church. I was taken by the 13th Century green man in the sanctuary.

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

Le Tour Du Rodney. Warm up to Woodhall.

As we pulled into the car park at The Rodney in Horncastle (our home for the next couple of nights) the sun was out and the weather looking promising.  After at least a week of cold easterly winds and rain, conditions had improved and it was at last pleasant and warm.  Friends Brian and Heather arrived shortly afterwards and we soon had the bikes off the racks and we were good to go.

We were soon riding across the Wong and then alongside the River Waring looking idyllic in the summery weather.  I was reminded of Norman Clark an old family friend who in his 1950s book Country Gleanings describes taking his lunch breaks here in the 1930s and watching kingfishers.  A little further along we joined the River Bain by the municipal swimming pool.  Now a modern facility, I remember it in my Horncastle Grammar School days in the 1960s when swimming lessons were held here.  In those days it was outdoor, unheated, diverted, brown river water and those lessons began regardless at Easter.  The memory of having to jump into the freezing water are still vivid. Continuing we joined the old Kirkstead - Horncastle branch line, now the Spa Trail, a delightful off road walking and cycling route.  Butterflies were plentiful in the warm sunny weather: brimstones, common blue, spwckled wood, small tortoiseshell and speckled wood.  We followed the trail until we could turn off onto the quiet back road route down Kirkby Lane into Woodhall Spa, my childhood home.  We chose the Teahouse in the Woods for lunch hoping we wouldn't experience the same weather conditions Brian and I did a few years ago when the heavens opened for our final stretch into Horncastle.  After lunch we parted company, the ladies heading for the shopping hotspot of Woodhall while Brian and I pottered along a longer route back to the Spa Trail and Horncastle, calling in at the Bridge cafe for a welcome cup of tea and to feed cake crumbs to the large chub cruising under the bridge.

We are now ensconsced into the Rodney looking forward to a beer and dinner before a nightcap and bed.

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The River Bain as we leave Horncastle

Dog Rose

Dog Rose

On the Spa Trail

Returning to Horncastle along the River Bain.

Returning to Horncastle along the River Bain.

Velobirding

 We hadn't had our bikes out for a while and, as it was a pleasant day we opted for a favourite ride from 'Lockdown': Waltham, Tetney, Tetney Lock, Tetney Marshes, Humberston Fitties, Cleethorpes Country Park, Weelsby Woods and home.  It was a very enjoyable ride and surprisingly productive on the bird front, the highlight being my first sedge warbler of the year.  We only spotted one butterfly, a small white, and, sadly, there was no sign of the great crested grebes on the country park lake.

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Tetney Marsh (taken April 2021)

Tetney Marsh (taken April 2021)

Biking and Early Purple Orchids.

 Gasping for breath I finally breasted the top of Ashy Hill - well half way up as far as the roundabout.  I was surprised and pleased to see that Heather had made it up without climbing off.  It was the first time out on the bikes for nearly 8 months and boy didn't I know about it!!  My heart rate on Ashby Hill shot up to 161 when my maximum should only be 150.  If the hospital check tonight's heart data down load tomorrow they will wonder what I have been doing!!  I used to breeze up Ashby Hill as a matter of course on a daily basis on my way to work, but never have I found it so tough.  The only way can be up!!

We had ridden from home through Waltham and were next heading along Barton Street for a mile or so before dropping down off the Wolds into Grainsby Park.  Here we turned off road onto the bridleway to Ashby Cum Fenby to have our picnic lunch at the spot where we had found early purple orchids last year.  I hadn't realised that I found them in prime condition on the 19th April last year so they were looking a tad tired.  Still they made some pleasing images and it was good to see them.  I enjoyed experimenting with the 80mm macro lens with the 1.4 converter attached as well as a wide angle shot.  There was a good display of cowslips here as well.

By the time we reached home my rear end knew that it was the first ride after 8 months!!!

• Early Purple Orchid
• Cowslip
• Hedge Garlic
• Red Campion
• Bluebell
• Dandelion
• Daisy
• White dead nettle

• Chiffhaff x3
• Green Woodpecker x2

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A Day on the Bikes and a Picnic.

A Local Day out on the Bikes with a Picnic.

An excellent day out on the bikes today with a couple of good sections of off-roading.  The weather was perfect: low twenties but muted sun which meant for perfect conditions.  Our route took us to Brigsley, ou along Waithe Lane and then an off-road section to Grainsby Park where we had out picnic enjoying watching our first house martins of the year and a pair of blue tits busily feeding chicks in a nest in a hole in the church stone work.  We continued on through the park and the second off road section across to Ashby cum Fenby before joining the main road back into Grimsby and retracing our outward route.  An excellent 17 miles.

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