The rights-of-way project, part three

The next nearest footpaths appeared to be around the village of Stickford. Confusingly very close to Stickney, both on A16. I found Stickford charming,  particularly St Helen's church.

The first was this very straight path of just over a mile. 

It crosses some very pleasant fields and, today, one freshly-ploughed one. 

 The church is small but covered with interesting carved gargoyles and faces.  It also had a bench perfectly placed for reflection and refreshment of body and soul.

The far end of this path has a pub marked on the map (both my paper Explorer and the OS app, which I assume is up-to-the minute). Said pub is the Jolly Sailor, Hagnaby Lock. It's a very pretty location but the pub is no longer open, so no refreshment for weary sailors or walkers. 

I retraced my steps most of the way back, but headed off up the road at this point to pick up the footpath and bridleway just to the North:

It's lambing time. It felt quite special walking among these new mums and their bundles of joy but at the same time a little awkward. I'm sure that neither they nor the farmer wanted me there at that time, so I didn't walk that path both ways, instead circling around using the road, crossing the A16 and back to my starting point. This made a circular walk of around 1.5 miles

Once again I've discovered a place close to home that I'll certainly be visiting again. 

The rights-of-way project, part two

After last week's epic walk just to reach the first footpath, I decided to change the rules slightly. 

Walking on our roads isn't much fun, you're constantly stepping onto the verge to let traffic past. I enjoy a cycle ride, so I've decided to cycle to the footpaths that I want to walk. 

This worked a treat. I locked my bike to a barrier and then continued on foot. The first was longer than either of the two that I walked last time, crossing several fields and a railway line.

There's the pedestrian crossing in the distance. No lights or barriers, just good old-fashioned keeping your wits about you. Only slightly scary.

The blackthorn blossom has been around for a while but it's great to see the hawthorn leafing up at the same time. 

Once out into the fields, I felt that this was the most enjoyable path that I've walked for a long time. (The great weather helped too!) Only slightly uncomfortable due to no clear path across one young crop but otherwise It felt incredibly peaceful. 

I walked that one both ways, then a short distance along the road is this one:

I shared that walk with three deer. There were a lot of hares darting about as well. 

The rights of way I've visited so far are fragmented but checking them off in a systematic way like this is fun and I'm discovering some great relatively-local places to revisit.

The rights-of-way project, part one

The part about walking that I like the least is the driving. 

So I've begun a project to walk the public rights of way within walking distance of my house. This will not take long; there aren't many. This may be related to the fact that the land is reclaimed (drained marshland) so doesn't have a network of ancient established paths that you find everywhere else.

I had to walk a 10-mile circular route to be able to reach these first two paths. They're both short stretches but in both cases it was very pleasant to get off the road.

First I want to mention Lade Bank Pumping Station. It has a distinctive chimney which you can see for miles because it's a very flat area. I've driven past a number of times but this is the first time I've been past on foot and stopped to have a good gander. 

You can feel the history. It turns out that the first pumping station was built here in 1867, replaced on the original base in 1936 and is still helping to keep this land drained and my home dry today. I've just enjoyed Ben's video about it.

The first public right of way for today is very short, around a third of a mile, and is a dead end. But I found it well worth the walk to reach it and a very enjoyable walk both ways. 

It was a very pleasant place to park my butt and have a little picnic away from the ever-present heavy vehicles on the local roads.

The second is longer at two thirds of a mile and this time it usefully joins two roads and so formed part of my circular walk. 

It's marked Stoodale Drove on the map. No, I didn't know what a drove is either. Apparently it's "a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture".

Half of it is lined by poplars on an adjacent property and half looks like it's used by farm vehicles to access the fields. Again, very pleasant walking.

I've called these 'rights of way' but you can see that Ordnance Survey has marked them with green spots, meaning "Other route with public access. For rights and restrictions contact the local authority" which I will try to do. 

Neither of these were signposted at all, making me a little uneasy. I couldn't help picturing a red-faced angry farmer with a gun coming out of a farmhouse to challenge me. At this point don't take my word for it that these are open to the public. If the footpaths officer at LCC confirms or denies, then I'll post an update here.