We woke to be greeted by a nice steady downpour, not the best start. After hanging around, to see if the crowds might amass for the start of our epic adventure, at St Nicholas’ church we finally got underway at 0910 as we trekked off in the rain. Lovely!Unfortunately Sean was unable to join us for the start of the walk as his son Dylan was taken to hospital the previous day; he hopes to join us this evening.
After 6 miles passing through Honington, Barkston & Belton we arrive in Grantham on schedule at 1100 the rain stopped and we were able to shed the coats and cool down a bit, brief pit-stop in Sainsbury’s and we were ready for the challenge of the dreaded 1.5miles of Somerby Hill, we steadily trudged up it and thereby conquered the first real mental obstacle.
On reaching the top Martin was then live on BBC Radio Lincolnshire with Martin Daniels, son of Paul, but the traffic and wind meant he couldn't be heard, so taking refuge in the car in a pub car park the interview was completed with all the salient points and a chance to rest the legs at 11 miles.
We set off fully expecting to find pubs strategically placed along the route so we could stop for a drink and a bag of crisps.
Unfortunately, in the villages in Lincolnshire the idea of 24hr licensing hasn't taken off. We ended up doing a 4hour/12 mile stint along the A151 which with no path, no verge and national speed limit (60/70mph) was very scary. We seemed to be getting way too close to the traffic; nobody seems to move out or even slow down! This walk was going to be a real mental challenge as opposed to the physical challenge we had been expecting. Those 12 miles drained us mentally and physically. However, two events on that stretch did raise the morale.
Walking along near Corby Glenn, a guy pulled out in front of us, drove on for a distance then stopped, he then got out walked back at a great rate staring at the road, as though something had fallen off his car, then came across the road and cash in hand said "anyone walking through this god forsaken place deserves some cash, here's some shrapnel..." then promptly got in his car an drove off. Leaving us a little shocked! A couple of miles further on a lady, with her two daughters, stopped in her car and said she'd heard us on the radio and came out to find us, then put a good amount of change into the bucket.
Thank you !
Luckily Suzanne and Jo arrived at Grimsthorpe Castle just in time for a pit-stop, refresh of drinks, dextrose sweets and sesame seed biscuits (which we are still finding stuck to our teeth!).
We finally arrived in Bourne and the Dormy House Hotel at 1810, feet feeling as though they were on fire but certainly happy with our achievement. Checking the pedometers Martin’s read an impressive 52,805 of which 51,090 registered as aerobic exercise over 448 minutes! This is more than we had probably done in the last 10 years. Dave’s pedometer read 47,550 which is 5,255 steps less than Martin’s I guess that’s the advantage of being 6’2”After doing a follow up interview with Lincs FM from the previous it was time to get food and a beer! We found the Nag's Head in Bourne which met the aforementioned criteria. After speaking to Martin's parents it turns out they have friends Norman & Jean living in Bourne. Jean popped down to see us, which was nice, and we had a good chat. They are "well known" in the Nags Head! Jean left us to finish our excellent meal and for us to hobble back to the hotel. When we got to the bar to settle we found there was no bill to settle! Thank you Jean & the Nag’s Head, such kindness is a real morale booster and with the feel burning and legs tightening up, it helps.
Time for bed!
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