Today we leave Norfolk, a big county to go into Lincolnshire, an even bigger county. Before we leave, I spend 15 minutes sorting out my feet: protecting the hotspots and cutting any snagging nails. Last night, we spent 20 minutes picking grass seeds out of our socks and boots and every evening we have washed through our clothes. This kind of housekeeping is the only way to maintain ourselves and our kit for the long haul. We buy some lunch to take with us and find our way to the ferry.
It may seem odd that we are using transport but this is our walk and we’ll do what we like and both of us fancied the King’s Lynn ferry. Who doesn’t like a boat ride? We get on and pay the princely fare of £1.40 each for a single crossing. Of course, you shouldn’t pay the ferryman until you reach the far shore but, despite the Stygian atmosphere of the Great Ouse, I’m not sure that Charon would be as skilled with an outboard motor against an impressive tide as this boatman was.
We arrive at West Lynn and assess our route. The quickest way from King’s Lynn to Sutton Bridge is the nine miles along the A17, but that’s bad enough to drive so walking along it without a pavement is not an option. There is also the Sir Peter Scott Way along the coast, named after the naturalist and birder. This is fifteen miles long and is all straight along the coast, so might pall considerably by the end of the day. Also, Rich is a keen birdwatcher and can’t bear the thought that he might miss something without his binoculars. They were far too heavy to bring along. We decide, therefore, to do something in between the two.
Choosing your own route has the advantage that you can make it as intricate as you like and increase or decrease the mileage at will. The converse is that, as it is not a way marked path, some footpaths may have fallen into disuse and some landowners show no interest in maintaining them.
This plain between the sea and the fens has a gentle, ethereal quality, quite different from the last two days. I get to visit the places some of my patients come from, walking past sleepy Clenchwarton and into the more bustling Terrington St Clement. As we leave Terrington, we start to look for a footpath on the left. A woman stops to ask if she can help and tells us she doesn’t think anyone uses it anymore. We reassure her that we’ll be all right and retrace our steps. There is no sign of the start of the path but we make our way into the field nearby.
We soon discover that we are on the wrong side of one of the drainage ditches the fens are famous for. A sharp reminder that this section of the walk is all about the waterways. Rich suggests trying to jump the ditch but it is steep on the other side, full of nettles and who knows how deep it is if we fail to cross and fall in. Sanity prevails and we battle our way through the vegetation to a nearby road. If ever Norfolk wants to pick a county flower, it should be the thistle. The countryside is full of them and they grow lavishly.
We locate the correct path onwards from the road and walk along it to the county border where we take a selfie and have lunch. The rest of the afternoon is a simple walk to the River Nene and then along its bank up to and across Sutton Bridge and on to The Boathouse B&B. It’s been a shorter day, at twelve miles, so we don’t really mind that the nearest eatery is nearly a mile each way from our stay (we do mind really but what can we do?). The Anchor Inn has huge portions, however, and at last there are vegetables! It was definitely worth it.
Comments