Off I go again - Lincolnshire but not by the sea

 I'm determined at the moment to make the most of this time between the lifting of Covid restrictions and any future Third Wave of the virus, so almost immediately after my return from the Yorkshire Dales I set about planning my next trip. Again, I was looking for somewhere not too far, and preferably somewhere new.

Doddington Hall

Now Lincolnshire as such isn't a new place for me. I lost count long ago of the innumerable times I visited the coast there as a child. Growing up in the East Midlands in the 1960s it was the place for holidays. My parents owned a caravan on one of the many sites near Skegness, and from Easter to October we'd be there any sunny weekend (or so it seemed).

Gunby Hall

The rest of Lincolnshire though was just somewhere to be driven through. Tattershall Castle was an iconic marker on the route, and Gunby a place I remembered for its huge traffic roundabout, but we stopped at neither. 

Bolingbroke Castle

Since then I've been back and mixed amusement arcades with stopovers at Tattershall Castle or Belton Hall  This time I wanted to go back and see what else I'd missed - so no slot machines or ice cream, and only a distant glimpse of the sea, but countryside, walking, and a spot or two of history in the Lincolnshire Wolds. 

We found a place to stay through AirBnB again - a perfect cottage for two in a village north of Louth - and laid our plans, with booked entry to gardens at Doddington Hall, Gunby Hall and Belton, and tickets to the castle at Tattershall. We were lucky with the weather - going away in the few days between torrential downpours and the Bank Holiday heatwave, and I've come home convinced there is more to be discovered - certainly more country paths to be walked - and resolved to re-visit

Tattershall Castle

Belton Hall

First stop - Doddington Hall gardens

Tuesday - Gunby Hall gardens

                 Bolingbroke Castle

Wednesday - 5 1/2 mile walk near Binbrook

Sunsets and seamarshes

Thursday - going home - Tattershall Castle

                                         Belton House gardens

A super-cautious socially distanced holiday

You may have seen from the last half dozen or so posts that I've been away on holiday to the Yorkshire Dales. Actually only for three nights but after more than a year of hiding away from Coronavirus being away from home feels strange and risky - probably more than it really is. Although I've been out walking locally at National Trust properties, and visited my daughters on a few occasions in the past year I haven't been inside a shop or eaten out, and certainly not stayed overnight anywhere, so going somewhere different feels odd.

Last year I missed out on holidays by being too cautious. When lockdown restrictions started to ease, I thought I'd wait, let other people dash away to the seaside or wherever, and go later when the rush had slowed down - unfortunately by that point (late August) there was talk of covid cases rising and before we knew it the autumn lockdown followed.

This year I was determined to not make the same mistake, so once Easter school holidays were over, we headed to the Yorkshire Dales. My husband had had both vaccinations by then, and I'd had my first, but I was still a little (lot) cautious about going on holiday while there's still a pandemic out there, and excitement was definitely mixed with a certain trepidation. 

In an ideal world, I'd have had a self-sufficient campervan and no need to stay under someone else's roof - but buying one for just a few nights away isn't a sensible option. 

At this point in the 'roadmap' self-catering was the only alternative - which was fine by me; after a year or more of social distancing I'd rather have as little contact with the outside world as possible. So we booked a self-contained

farmhouse annex through Air BnB. 

It was entirely separate to the farmhouse, had a fully-equipped kitchen to cook if we wanted (although we hoped to eat out), and a garden to sit in if the outer world seemed too busy. A rigorous clean between lets was promised and it seemed about as safe as it could be. I took towels and teatowels just in case I wasn't happy with those supplied but didn't use them - the cottage's felt thoroughly clean. Also, unusually, I took pillowcases, and we did use these. I figured that although the bedding would obviously have been washed between lets, my nose and mouth would be closest to the pillow, so just as an extra safeguard I thought it worthwhile. Was I being paranoid? Possibly, but these precautions made me feel more comfortable, and armed with my dinky hand sanitizer spray (so tiny it fits in a pocket!) I was ready to have fun.

Once we'd settled in, everything seemed fine - and almost normal. A lot of time on my holidays is spent walking in the countryside; so no need to change my habits there. Going after the school holidays seemed to have worked as most places seemed quite deserted. 

The National Park had handy signs informing the public about social distancing. I didn't see any red squirrels, or even spaniels, to check this out on, but there were plenty of sheep, cows, and landrovers around.

Picnic lunch in the car which was pleasanter than my grimace would have you believe. We'd planned to eat out in the evenings in a pub garden but luckily had taken food 'in case' as this plan fell through due to chilly weather. 

And I even went in a shop! 

All in all it's given me the confidence to get out more - though May's weather hasn't co-operated with that plan. 

 

Linton Falls

One last set of waterfalls pics from my holiday. 

This time from the small hamlet of Linton near Grassington, where the river Wharfe tumbles over man-made weirs, and rests serenely in the mill pond above.

Linton today is a quiet slumbering sort of place, apart perhaps from if/when the tourists descend in summer, but it gives the impression of having once been a bustling place of whirring mill-wheels.

Early in the 1900s the building on the far side of this weir was set up to produce electricity, but fell into disuse after the development of the National Grid. Now the building has been renovated and new 'screw' style turbines installed, and it's producing power once again.

There were footpaths we could have explored on both banks of the river, but as this was just a short stop on our homeward journey I didn't have time to wander further, before heading back up the path to Grassington. This is definitely somewhere I want to come back to though, not only to walk along the riverside, but to find out more about the history of the area.

 

Aysgarth Falls

Basically this is a photo post - lots of waterfall pics. 

Following our walk along the Skirfare, and a rather late lunch, late in the afternoon we headed north to Aysgarth hunting waterfalls.

This is another of those places geared up for crowds of summer visitors - huge car parks, a visitor centre, and well-laid, well-signposted paths.

There are three distinct sets of falls - Upper, Middle and Lower - as the river Ure drops down the valley, and we started at the upper level. There's an honesty box charge here to get close to the water, but downstream the access is free.

The route crosses the road (probably very busy in summer), and leads through woodland towards the other falls. There are seats along the way, and a good viewing spot of the Middle Falls for anyone who doesn't want to walk down, and back up, the steps. Even as close as it's possible to go, the falls are still at a distance.

Back up to the path then, under tress and passing banks of wood anemones, which are a beautiful sight. I've never seen them growing in this much profusion.

Here the river bed drops in steps with several smaller waterfalls.

 And at last you can get down to water level. 

As with Janet's Foss, the water level was quite low, and I wish I'd been there after heavy rain. Maybe something for another trip.

Riverside Walk - Hawkswick to Arncliffe

Walking at Malham left me exhausted, but being only in Yorkshire for two full days I didn't want to spend much time sitting around resting, so next day we started with a gentle amble beside the Skirfare river and back along a quiet road (as recommended by our AirBnB host); three miles there and back.

Just upstream of Hawkswick the river is crossed by this pedestrian bridge, and from there a path follows the water, then crosses sheep pasture, before returning to the river before Arncliffe.

It's an easy enough path to follow, flat and undemanding but some of the stiles and a smaller footbridge could be tricky with fully laden rucksacks.

 

At the end of April the water level was low and the river flowing slowly, but some recently carved 'cliffs' showed how furious it could be in spate. 

From the open fields the path moves back to the riverside, following it into Arncliffe by the church.

Arncliffe's a small village with  relatively few houses surrounding an enormous open green space. Maybe this was once a village green, or perhaps a market place? Now, it's planted round the edges with daffodils, and diagonally cut by the road. 

There's a pub (too busy unfortunately for an outside lunch) and a couple of interesting bridges - a single span over Cowside beck, and a larger one over the Skirfare. 

Our route back took us over the latter, across a field with views across the river to the church, and then along the quieter of the two roads which run up the valley.

It was really peaceful, with just a couple of cars and a cyclist passing us, but one of those roads where you need to remember to turn round and look at the views in both directions.

At first the road was flanked by open sheep pasture but as we neared Hawkswick it was lined with blackthorn bushes, still in flower this far north, and banks of primroses and bluebells.

It was a pleasant not-too-energetic walk to stretch my legs, and leave me fit for further ambling later in the day.