Croxton Kerrial to Greetham: E2 Day 85

Although there were some pleasant sections, today's walk was spoilt by deeply rutted, muddy and wet tracks.

Leaving Croxton Kerrial along a busy road I soon reached the Viking Way at the "Drift". This section of the ancient pathway was a Site of Special Scientific Interest (an SSSI) due to the flowers, plants and insects of this lowland calcareous grassland. Cowslips and blackthorn in blossom were the most noticable plants. Approaching Saltby Airfield a man with a lively Springer said I had just passed some bunkers from the Second World War in the strip of woodland beside the trail. The conflict was also responsible for the airfield. Gliders from here had been involved in the D-Day landings and the less successful Operation Market Garden. There was a small stone memorial with three flagpoles and a few poppy wreaths remembering past comrades. Gliders again fly from the airfield, but for recreation not war. Later I passed yet another airfield, RAF Cottesmore, this one disused, one of the many built in Lincolnshire for World War II.

The Drift.

For much of the remainder of the day I was following byways used by 4 x 4's. These off-road vehicles had created deep, muddy ruts, often filled with water. Sometimes the water extended over the complete width of the track and with thorny bushes each side which made getting around the water a hazardous balancing act. Sometimes I was forced to splash through the brown water where I thought it would be shallowest, risking wet boots. Other times I risked slipping into a water filled rut as I made my way through slick, slippery, slimy mud on the ridges between ruts. People should be allowed to play with their off-road vehicles and as I was on an ancient byway they were probably legally entitled to use it, but it is unfortunate that a separate walking route was not created. It was not fun!

Track wrecked by 4 x 4 vehicles.

In between water filled, muddy sections, which required my full attention, I had the chance to look around and spotted a few red kites flying overhead (or possibly the same one following me). A hare hopped around the track ahead of me, sniffing, before disappearing into the seemingly impenetrable bushes beside the track.

One of the more pleasant parts of the walk.

A few villages were on my route. At Sewstern I was annoyed that the Viking Way took me down a road parallel to the village which had no particular merit, rather than down the main street. The latter would likely have had more interest with maybe attractive old houses or a shop, I shall now never know (although I did check with Google to make sure I did not miss a café). At the second village of Thistleton, I stopped at the church for lunch, eating the samosas I bought yesterday on a picnic table in the churchyard. Although no longer used for regular services it served as a venue for music and other events. 

I saw a sign for Rutland, which surprised me as I thought the county had been dissolved as part of some reorganisation. However it appears to have re-emerged as one of the smallest counties in Great Britain. Reaching Greetham I struggled to find the campsite. A local couple told me that the entrance was not from the village, as it might appear from maps, but from a more distant road. However there was a pedestrian side gate, which, when I found the correct one, could be opened remotely by the lady in reception in response to my phone call. It turned out to be a lovely campsite with neatly cut, flat grass, clean toilets and a convenient café on the site for diner and breakfast.