Today is our last day in the fens. I am woken by the gulls screeching at 04:34, but soon go back to sleep. The alarm goes off at 05:30, however, as we need to get going early to avoid the heat. Thankfully, Morrison’s Daily in Boston opens at 6am, so we can stock up and be on our way by 06:20.
We start off along the river Witham following cycle way 1. The conditions are perfect, cool and breezy and we both feel well rested after our days off. As we turn away from the river, we start on a footpath that rapidly becomes overgrown with the usual grasses, nettles and thistles; only this time the thistles are at chest height and some of the oats are taller than Rich! To add a frisson of danger, we are on top of a ridge with a deep drain on one side. The healed scratches on our shins start to reopen and our socks fill with grass seeds again.
We stop for breakfast a while later: Belgian and cinnamon buns and fresh orange juice from Morrison’s - all delicious. We also both end up breaking the walkers’ golden rule and remove our boots and socks to deseed them. We cross a road and see two hares standing stock still at the edge of a field. I reach for my phone to take a picture but a car drives past and they scatter. We also see a yellow hammer flying between the hedges. Before we turn off again, we see a signpost for New York heading up a narrow metalled track. It goes with Boston, I suppose.
We stop for lunch just before midday as we are only a few miles from our destination and we’ve been on the go for several hours. While we’re resting, I read that the Prime Minister has also been visiting Coningsby to see the typhoon jets. Our paths do not cross.
We arrive early at The Leagate Inn where we are staying and the room is rather grander than we expected. Because of the weather, we will be up early again for a short day tomorrow and then have a rest day on Tuesday when the 40 degree heat is forecast. This works well as it was going to be a six day walking week in any case, so we’ll do it as two and then four. Rich keeps saying we’ll miss the heat later on, but I’m not so sure.
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