Since I began walking the Viking Way on 6 May I've now completed about 30 miles - a fifth of its total length. (Actually I must have covered nearly twice that much, since I've been forced to double back to my car on most sections.) I'm doing the trek intermittently throughout the year in sweet snatched hours and blissful stolen moments.
This is the section from Waddington to Coleby on the Lincoln Edge. This pond near Coleby made me think of Thoreau's Walden...
... and these roses reminded me of Gertrude Stein's 'a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose'...
This mock-Roman arch at the entrance to Coleby Hall recalled the times when Roman soldiers used to march along nearby Ermine Street and the Fosse Way on their way to Lincoln (Lindum Colonia)...
... and this moody sky brought to mind our great Lincolnshire poet Tennyson's lines from The Lady Of Shalott: On either side the river lie / Long fields of barley and of rye / That clothe the wold and meet the sky...
Here's the black stump of a ruined windmill tower near Waddington...
... and here the path runs between hedge and cornfield to Coleby church...
The Way is long, though often the miles race by. It can be delightful, and it can be tedious. The weather may be bright or it may be dull; the spirits high and sometimes low. But the Way continues, as it always does...
9 comments:
I think you have picked out the interesting points on that section Robert - I believe it goes near to Washingborough at some point doesn't it?
Your post inspires me to leave my canoe hanging in the garage and take out my walking sticks for a solitary saunter outdoors. Thank you, Robert.
I'm not familiar with the Viking Way, but it looks lovely. Is there any walk in England that is not lovely?
SW, I'm getting a lot of ideas from your blog for a secret project I'm working on for the UK next year. I'm currently working through your coastal walking series/saga as well - beautiful.
My only problem is forcing myself to admit that I can't do everything on a three-month visa!
The arch is wonderful. Well it all is. How fine to be consciously connected with our literary walkers while you walk, high and low.
Reading the reply's got me thinking...Robert are you working for the British tourism board or something? Trying to lure walkers from all over the world...fess up...
Yes, it follows the river Witham near Washingborough, Pat. A place with a lot of memories for you, I know!
Canoeing, cycling, walking, running - it's just great to get outdoors, isn't it, Dan?
George - well, there are quite a few, George - the stroll through the centre of Skelmersdale, for instance!
Glad to have inspired you, Goat. I think you need to extend that visa by three lifetimes! If you have three months, though, you could do a lot. That South West coastal Path would be a good choice, I think - but there are so many possibilities (the UK has over 600 waymarked trails of varying lengths.) I've only walked a small proportion of these, but I'd really recommend the Pennine Way as an introduction. Or the Dales Way. Or the Coast-to-Coast. Oh, there are so many lovely paths ...
Thanks, Ruth, for your comment. I think part of the fun and deep satisfction derived from walking is the protean nature of the activity - all those linkages with history, literature, philosophy, spirituality, landscape, art ... as I tried to describe in my series about walking earlier this year.
Karin - absolutley NO connection with the British Tourist Board, Karin! Over my dead body!
Thanks SR, so far I'm looking at the SW Coastal, Offa's Dyke, and the C2C. George at Transit Notes has some fab pictures of the latter.
Oh, how I want to be walking again. Your photos are beautiful Robert and the Viking Way seems green and pretty. I guess it helps that you had a sunny day.
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