It turned out to be a great camp - the soft, pine needle-covered ground was dead flat and really comfortable, and I was undisturbed until the birds woke me up around 5am. I was, however, absolutely freezing cold. This was a bit confusing, as the forecast had only been for 4 degrees or so overnight - but it felt a lot colder. I put on all my clothes but was still shivering.
By 6 or so I was up and had got the tent down. Moving around warmed me up somewhat, and making coffee with my new kettle finished the job. Had a couple of macaroons (I can't eat much this early in the morning) and then saddled up in the lovely morning light.
Ready to go again. I don't think anyone would guess I have enough to camp in there.
Today I would need to re-enter the fens, to head around The Wash, the big square bite that the North Sea takes out of Eastern England between East-Anglian Norfolk and the large county of Lincolnshire. I would avoid King's Lynn, and head directly to the West to re-cross the Ouse.
I decided to head directly out the woodland to village of Wormegay. This was easier said than done: the bridleway bridge crossing the deep Petticoat Drain had been deemed unsafe and was thoroughly closed-off with two big metal barriers. I continued until I found a rather unofficial bridge, and emerged back into the village dominated by huge vegetable farms. I got friendly greetings from villagers I passed, so I can't have looked too terrifying (yet). Then it was back on the road to cross the Nar and Ouse rivers on their way to the Wash.
Working my way around the woods, trying to find a way to cross the otherwise impassable drain. The very dubious wooden bridge did the trick.
Traversing the shallow basin of the Wash, I had to cross three major rivers that drain into it from most of the southern part of East England. I'd already crossed the Ouse at the southern corner; next was the Nene, which flows up from Peterborough and Northampton; and finally the Welland, from Stamford.
The only crossing points of these broad, canalized rivers are a good 10 miles inland, as part of the only main road, the A17. I wanted to stay off this none-too-pleasant road, but was constrained to return to these crossing points, the first at Sutton Bridge. In between I planned to take very minor roads, out into the settlement-free hinterland of the wash.
After an interval of clearing mud out of my brakes on an off-road stretch - it had actually jammed the caliper closed, no wonder pedaling was more effort! - I reached Sutton bridge and crossed the river.
Sutton Bridge to cross the Nene. Fortunately there is a walkway, so I could avoid cycling the fairly heavy traffic on the narrow bridge
It turned out to be this amazing standing bike-contraption! Note the panniers attached below. They were bombing along the A17 like this, and I lost sight of them...
After crossing the Nene, I headed on backroads back towards the sea. Things started to feel maritime when I spotted this lighthouse, on Tycho Wing's channel - after a Lincolnshire engineer named after Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, of all people. He drained the surrounding countryside, which is now called Wingland.
I was within a kilometre of the sea now, but still couldn't *see* it. Most of the fertile, rich land here is at sea level or below, and The Wash itself is behind that large flood defense bank.
I now had 35km or rattling through back lanes, unfortunately getting something of a headwind again from the south-west. The country was had a distinctly back-water feel - no major villages, and barely any traffic other than the huge vegetable lorries transporting cabbages out the fields. The roads were so narrow I would pull over to let them past, and every one gave me a wave or flash of thanks.
I was struggling a bit against the wind, but making good progress. It's a featureless and eerie part of the country - it would probably be best to save this for a very fine day with a tailwind. The final stretch took me back inland to Fosdyke to cross the Welland, directly into the teeth of the wind, and grueling few kilometres.
Signposts to nowhere. Note the "Holland county" sign. This low-lying portion of Lincolnshire has historically been known as the "Part" (division) of Holland. Interestingly, while the landscape does resemble the Netherlands, the word apparently has a quite different origin to the Dutch Holland.
A semi-automated cabbage picker. On the overcast, windy day this looked pretty purgatorial (the workers were probably looking at me struggling along and saying the same thing).
I had made good time and it was still early - but the distances out here seemed huge. 65km in and I'd only just crossed The Wash. I wasn't even in Boston, the old town of the Lincolnshire fens and my first target, yet - and I planned to make it all the way out of the fens and into central Lincolnshire before camping.
Fortunately turning north on good back roads towards Boston and the going became a bit easier. Boston is something of a provincial place, but is a major agricultural centre and even has a port attached to the Wash. Its medieval church tower, Boston Stump, is one of the largest in the country and can be seen for dozens of miles over the level fen - apparently from as far as Norfolk.
I could see the Stump, looming out of the mists, long before I saw Boston itself
Graham FinchI stayed a night in the White Hart... not too expensive. My snap looks pretty similar! Reply to this comment 3 years ago
Jon AylingTo Graham FinchAh yes, when I pulled up here I did immediately think "hang on, this looks familiar!". Yep looks like a nice place, in fact the whole centre of Boston was quite impressive. A lost was closed up when I passed through though. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
In Boston I took a breather - it was before midday and I'd covered 80km - and hit up a poundshop to see if I could replace my toothbrush and (something else I'd forgotten) get a USB cable so I could actually charge my electronics from the battery I'd brought. Amazingly, they had everything I needed. Good - even after one day my teeth felt furry.
Leaving Boston I picked up the path alongside the river Witham - this flows from Lincoln, and would take me 40km all the way to the green, hilly centre of Lincolnshire and out of the fens. To my amazement I saw a familiar figure...
It's the tall bike contraption! I finally got a closer look. They got away from me before I could say hello, though.
After I stopped for lunch, the cycleway followed very minor roads along the river, on a dead-straight course towards Coningsby, on the edge of the fens. Coningsby is famous for the large RAF air base, and I was accompanied by the roar of military jets going over.
The weather had vastly improved - I had entirely blue skies now, and the wind was finally leaving me alone - and despite clocking up to the 100km mark felt pretty good, which is unusual on the second day of a tour.
My plan was to press on past Woodhall Spa, all the way to Bardney with its several inviting lime woods. This was easily done, as I could follow the river (now on a traffic free route) basically all the way. I stopped in a petrol station near Woodhall and managed to buy some more beer and replace my cheese, then quickly covered the remaining distance.
I spotted some pretty attractive camping spots right by the river, but figured I would be stealthier in the woods, so at Southrey I pulled away from the cycleway and headed away from the river.
In a jiffy I spotted the wood I had checked out and knew was open access. It was overgrown and a bit of a struggle pushing in the bike, but once in I had a great clearing in which to set up the tent and was totally hidden from the road. I got the tent up while still nice and light, and prepared pasta with pesto, olives and cheese for dinner using my (slightly too large) new cookset. This is its first run out, after I gave my last one to an Estonian guy who was travelling without money near Vienna.
Then it was pretty much straight to passing out. I was a bit bothered by a weird, sourceless buzz, for half an hour or so - and then it stopped as quickly as it had started. Strange sounds in the woods at night.
Today's ride: 118 km (73 miles) Total: 227 km (141 miles)
