Lincoln Marathon Walk

[caption id="attachment_3674" align="alignleft" width="219"] Greetwell Hall - Chapel[/caption]

On 20th June, Leigh Watson and Keith Hall of Lincoln House undertook a marathon walk from Woodhall to the Arboretum in Fiskerton, along part of the Viking Way. They've raised around £250  in aid of Lincoln District Scouts - fantastic!

Keith has sent in a full report of the day's activities, together with lots of photos, so let's join him and Leigh on their walk... 



First job of the day was to get to the start point, so off to Lincoln to pick up Leigh at 05.30 and for once he was on time and waiting for me.

We then drove to the small car park at the far end of the Woodhall golf course which is where the car was to remain for the day.  It was a bit chilly to start with but by the time we had walked through the golf course into Woodhall it had warmed up considerably, but not as warm as it was to become later on.

We picked up the Viking trail proper, i.e. On footpaths and tracks on the river side of Woodhall, and the next civilisation we would visit would be Stixwould. This is a very small village and we were through it and back onto farmland in a very short time.

We also tried to photograph all the local wildlife but the birds just wouldn't pose.  So the pics are very few and far between, but we did see the odd owl, bird of prey and unidentified various finches.

The next village en-route was Southrey, this if anything was smaller than Stixwould and just as pretty. Again we were througth there in a couple of minutes and then on to Bardney for a pause and photoshoot. We were not quite halfway at 11 miles and it only took us 3 and a half hours.

So after a quick drink of water with some biccies and of course the picture for the Scouting organisation off we went. The footpaths took a turn for the worse although it was supposed to be the New Route. Luckily we had a map tucked away, so we did stay true to the Viking way.

The next real town would be Fiskerton but until then we passed through various farms and villages, and of course the odd points of historical interest such as Tupholme Abbey and what remains of Barlings Abbey

One of the villages we passed through was Stainfield and it must be said that it was a very well kept village except maybe for the village sign which was completely hidden from view by foliage.

We were now on the final leg of the walk and as we arrived at the river in Fiskerton we had the Cathedral in our view. It would stay in view as an inspiration to us as the walk along the bank was very strength sapping because the grass was up to waist high. So 4 miles along the bank seemed like considerably more.

By the time we got off the footpaths and onto the industrial site we were beginning to fade so the sight of the finish which was the Arboretum was welcome.

We made straight for the cafe and the age difference showed as I had a cup of tea and Leigh had a can of Vimto.

Looking at the GPS at the end it showed 42.03 kms which is just about exactly the length of the Marathon. It took us 9 hrs 29 mins, which I think is quite good.

Quite good? It's excellent Keith. Thanks for sending in your travellers' tale and photos :)