Woodhall Spa to Lincoln: E2 Day 80

A lovely morning by the River Witham and a wet afternoon with an unexpected detour through the housing estates of Lincoln's suburbs.

I left the charming town of Woodhall Spa while the tea shops were still closed. Customers were already queueing at the butchers. Initially the route headed north across flat fens drained by straight channels until it reached the River Witham. In former times a railway ran beside the river. I joined the river at the former station of Stixwould. There a man on a tricycle with a collie dog stopped and told me of his recent wild camping trips. I enjoyed following the river on the old rail bed. There were informative signs, a sculpture and a pumping station. The latter was necessary to drain the land as much of the area was below sea level and the level of the river.

Walk on bed of old railway beside the River Witham, note sculpture on right.

Unfortunately the route of the Viking Way kept taking deviations to the north, as if blown away from the river by some southerly wind. Leaving the river I was intrigued by the wooden church of St John the Divine. Built as a temporary building at the end of the 19th century it was still a place of worship. Another church, this one of brick, seemed isolated with only a grand house nearby. However its clock was accurate and its noticeboard was offering "A Right Royal Knees Up" for the coronation of King Charles. A little later I was struggling through mud in a wooded section. There were a number of Abbeys around the River Witham in medieval times. My path led me passed the meagre ruins of Barlings Abbey. As on other days there were tracks through open fields, on quiet roads and between hedges in blossom before I reached the village of Fiskerton.

Views of the diverse paths.

Originally I had planned to catch a bus from Fiskerton to Lincoln, but as a sign on the road indicated that Lincoln was only 3 1/2 miles away, it seemed a pity not to continue walking. Both my map and GPS track indicated that the Viking Way followed the River Witham into Lincoln, a fairly direct route. However I noticed the Viking Way signs were pointing a different direction. It seemed wise to follow the signs as they might be the result of a problem on the river route that made it impassable. At first the route indicated by the signs seemed sensible enough, heading towards the towers of Lincoln cathedral which periodically came into view. Then, whoever was behind this new route decided to take hikers on a tour of the modern eastern and northern suburbs of outer Lincoln. This added unexpected miles to my journey and I was not that interested in recent housing developments. After a while I lost (or ceased to look diligently for) the Viking waymarks and took a direct route for the centre of town. I went through one of the older estates which made navigation easier as it was blessed with roads that ran in straight lines, rather than the curly streets and puzzle book mazes of modern housing estates. My problems were compounded by the rain that had continued since 2:00 pm at various levels of intensity. As my GPS had a damaged rubber coating it was no longer water tight and my phone did not claim to be waterproof, consequently I limited their use so I did not have a clear idea of where the Viking Way was trying to go, or how to head directly for the shelter of my hotel. 

As a result of the alteration of the Viking Way's route, my day, already long, became significantly longer, so I was very pleased to arrive at my hotel, and even more pleased that I had a planned rest day tomorrow.

Subsequent investigations found that the old route was on the 1:100,000 Ordnance Survey map on my Outdoor Active App, but that the 1:25,000 Explorer series map showed the revised route which was also described by the Lincolnshire walks website. I downloaded the Viking Way route for my GPS in March last year from LDWA website (the trip has been a while in planning). I now see that it was updated three times since then, including the new route through North Lincoln. Lesson is, get the most up to date gpx file.