Day 78 - Hunstanton to Holbeach hern

 

 Date: Thursday 7^th July  2011   Distance: 46.45 Miles

 

It was a super breakfast. Apparently they are in Woman and Home next month. He is an artist of still life. One he had done in the bedroom looked like a photo. His breakfast had the same attention to detail- all local produce. I’m not a sausage fan but they were lovely especially with the spiced apple rings, tasty bacon, mushrooms and sautéed potatoes. http://www.bbinhunstanton.co.uk

 

We left Hunstanton via the promenade even though it said no cycling. The officials stationed there said it was OK when there weren’t many people about. The groins were zig zagged to perhaps help lessen erosion of the beach. We rode as far as we could till we turned beside a caravan park on a little road to Heasham.

 

It was a little bit of main road to Snettisham which is a beautiful village with houses of warm sandstone. We loved to see the fields covered in blue for a change with the linseed.At Ingoldisthorpe we walked up a long hill at the grand height of 50 metres!! There was a good view of the sea. Just before Sandringham Saw mill we had to shelter under a tree in a sudden burst of rain. The forest around is beautiful making impressive avenues for the roads, a sure sign of royal influence. The wall around the Queen’s house was low enough for me (though not Bob who was concentrating on the road) to see the Victorian building that I thought at a glance to be Tudor with its lofty spiral chimneys. We had a coffee break at the visitor centre but at £11 each decided not to visit.  The wide wooded road was long and straight and part of an official cycle route. We emerged on a busy major road (Queen Elizabth’s way) with, thankfully, a cycle way beside it taking us to Kings Lynn.

 

We liked the look of Kings Lynn with its many old buildings. We had lunch in the Globe pub, a bit like the Weatherspoons.  It was unfortunately colder inside than out even though it was raining again as the air conditioner couldn’t be turned off. We ate huddled in our coats!

 

We took an alleyway to the ferry crossing the river but the water level was several steep, slippery steps down and fast moving so we chickened out. We rode to the nearest bridge past many solicitor’s offices and suited gentlemen of that type.

There was an old and curious customs office (1683) on the wharf. By the waterside is a stone compass bearing the names of famous sailors with kings Lynn connections. Buildings of different eras, were at twists and turns of one way streets- some black others in local stone. A lofty church was as ornate as a small cathedral and housing a beautiful altar screen. We passed Saturday Market Square and South Lynn then took the first bridge to West Lynn.

 

The sandstone houses of Clenchwarton seemed more modern overspill. Just past a little school at Terrington St.Clement we collected a drawing pin in a tyre which gave us the second puncture of the entire coastline so far.

 

Yet another closed down pub at Walpole Crosskeys so we journeyed on into Lincolnshire. We’d passed grasshoppers, skipper butterflies, red admirals, lots more wild flowers at the sides of the roads and fields and now it looks like farmers have allocated allotments at the side of the fields for  the locals instead of leaving it for conservation of wildlife.

It was a quiet road towards Suttonbridge and at the bridge we decided to walk as the railing was quite low. Cranes dipped over the water and we took the byway to Guy’s Head picking our way through impressive dock machinery, strange that the public are allowed to get so close to it!

 

We travelled alongside the water for about 2 miles as people walked their dogs passing beside 2 small lighthouses either side of the cut (Nene outfall cut-water) Then it was many wheat and cornfields until we got to Gedney Drove End where the first pub was shut but a 2nd had an open door so we walked in to the Wildfowler on the Wash.

 

 The only other customer left after formal goodbyes and after our drinks we realised, as we too left and the publican bolted the door after us, that perhaps he wasn’t open after all but had been meeting with a rep. We’d had beer from Cambridgeshire that was marked as local which surprised me, but then Wisbech was only 11 miles away.

The open country here makes it difficult for answering calls of nature and the pub had been opportunely placed for me! Closed down pubs are probably endemic of the current economic climate and people like us riding through the countryside rely on them for our comfort.

 

With the wind against us ,the next 8 miles were really hard but we avoided more rain despite ominous black clouds. Strange vegetables were growing in the fields looking a little like a cross between broccoli and a low Christmas tree. Beautifully laid out different shades of green and purple lettuce and asparagus on low furrows contrasted with dying cabbage seedlings untouched by the sprinkler systems seen everywhere for miles since Suffolk. The ground was still dry despite showers and the occasional deluge!

Our B and B, The Garden House was built in the grounds of the Vicarage. It is modern with arts and crafts from around the world our hosts being very interested in World Music. They have 5 tandems and only accept cyclists and walkers as guests. They have written 3 guide books for cycle routes in Leicestershire, the Chilterns and Cambridgeshire. We were welcomed with tea and cakes.

 

We had a meal in the pub 200 metres away where we played cribbage, the people were friendly and beer came straight from the barrel in the cellar. “Spot on!” said Bob. The meals were ok as we were hungry but not quite what we had hoped for, never mind!

 

This was a nice location, out in the sticks, and after a sociable breakfast with homemade jam we set off soon after 9.