Day # 35 Sutton Bridge to Spalding, Lincs.

    Pic. at right shows a typical Lincolnshire 'Fen'.     

         At 7.30am I left the Riverside Inn, into a world of WIND. This four letter lady came at me from all sides, magnified by the fact that the Fen district is 100%, totally flat and low. It did not seem to matter which direction I struggled, she hit me full frontal. In order to beat the heavy traffic on the main A17, I struck off across the Fens, navigating my way towards Spalding. Spalding is somewhat off the geographical straight line required to get me to Boston tomorrow, but the minor route deviation was necessitated by the need to secure night accommodation in an area that is comparatively sparsely populated and the distances between towns, greater than to the south. When ones only motive power is the legs, a different routing criteria emerges.

         Known as ‘The Fens’, the region is very low land to the west and south of The Wash and is marked by large-scale corporate farming operations. These Fens serve the purpose of being defences against the sea in a region that is at, or below sea level.  I saw massive fields of daffodils being manually picked by eastern European labour, ready to be shipped to retail for the Easter market next week. In fact in towns like Spalding, there is a real Polish feel to the place, with many stores advertising their services in both English and Polish. My B & B hotel tonight advertises itself at ‘Polska Restaurajca’.

         Tired and feeling wind burned after a physically demanding day, I will retire early tonight, ready for day #2 of the battle of the Fens and well on the way into Boston.

31.5 kms. walked today per pedometer. Cumulative kms. covered: 848.5
Hours of walking today including rest stops: 7 1/2
Type of accommodation: Red Lion Hotel
Cost of bed & breakfast: pounds. 35.00 no breakfast.
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Please go to Flickr.com (traveller6666) to view pics of the walk.