Sunsets and sea-marshes

Holidays, particularly at the moment, are too short to spend evenings inside, so each evening I headed out after dinner for a short walk. 

The first evening we just went for a short walk round North Thoresby, where we were staying - or it was intended to be short, but the first footpath was flooded from recent rain and we retraced our steps, then followed another and eventually headed back along the A road. 

The last bit wasn't such fun, but at least we saw the dramatic red sunset. 

The second evening we went in search of the sea at Horseshoe Point. 

It was definitely out there somewhere. Walking along the sea bank, we could hear surf crashing onto hidden sandbanks, and see boats out on the horizon, but miles of salt marshes separated us from the sea.

Being on the east coast, I'd expected the sunsets to be hidden by hills or trees, but the edge of the land where it gradually becomes marsh is so flat that nothing impedes the view.

For our last evening we headed a little further to Rimac nature reserve just south of Saltfleet.

There's a gravelly footpath round the site, two higher points from which to see across the flat landscape, and off in the distance the sea. It's best not to try to reach it though as the mud flats hide unexploded ordnance from WW2!

The reserve itself felt more like inland countryside than somewhere only a few yards from salt marsh - with hawthorn bushes, and cowslips and orchids hiding among the grass. 

There wasn't such a spectacular sunset this evening but clouds cleared gradually away and the sky turned pink, reflected in the reserve's pond.

I was a bit disappointed to not be able to walk on sand, or go for a paddle, but at least I got to hear the sea, and to say how near this area is to the busy resorts of Cleethorpes and Skegness it's really quiet.