I stayed in Boston at a Premier Hotels - partly to try them out and partly because I have heard that they are OK when you want a place to stay without having to worry about how quirky they are. Given that I booked a the last minute over the web it was easy to sort out. Unexpectedly I got the same treatment as when I stayed at the Royal Hotel in Hull. They were quite happy to take my bicycle and lock it away in the back room for the night to keep it safe. There was a "Pub-Restaurant" next door which made my decision on what to do for dinner easy. In fact on the last part of the journey I had already decided that it was going to be a pint and some pasta. (Pasta is a good cycling food - but I just like pasta really.) I arrived around 7pm - all that stopping to take pictures! Had a shower and as it was convenient, went to the restaurant next door to eat. The Past was good and the beer good (Adnams) and the service prompt. The only downside is that I couldn't resist the Sticky Toffee pudding - which was underwhelming.
They did send me a text on the day confirming the booking and giving a link should I need directions. I'd already programmed a route through Boston with my GPS though.
Although these are formula hotels the room was large and at the back and looking out onto some grass and a hedge. The only noise that woke me was the dawn chorus. Once again I got up early to a much brighter and sunnier day. The staff on the desk advised me to stock up on food at breakfast, apparently they will give you a doggy bag if you want. Once again the breakfast was freshly cooked and you could customise it - more or less bacon, tomatoes etc. No Black pudding though.
The Restaurant - conveniently opposite the Hotel, I assume that there is common ownership?
Before I set off I applied suntan lotion, switched the GPS on and followed the route I'd selected to get me back onto the Sustrans 1 cycle route. On the way out of town I passed an Hexagonal Signal Box. You can see how clear the skies were at around 8am. Actually one of the other things I did before leaving the town was to stock up on fluid, I bought several bottles of water and also put some diet coke into the pannier and drank a "sports" drink at the shop. My experience of these routes is that you can find yourself nowhere need shops just when you feel the most thirsty and given the sun in the sky it could well be a day requiring lots of hydration.
While stopped to take the above photograph I realised that the rail track headed straight into the docks - where was the bridge. Well here is the answer it was in the middle of the water. It rotated to bridge the gap between the tracks either side - I am impressed that it was sufficiently strong to carry a goods train across. The Swing Bridge crosses the Haven to the Riverside Quay. For train lovers here is a website featuring the various railway tracks and buildings. Interestingly it shows the Hexagonal Signal Box boarded up- but with the resumption of trains to the docks it has been re-opened. Certainly my cycle rides have opened my eyes to extent of the railways in the 1950s and interestingly we seem to be at the start of a resurgence in rail interest. I think that it is due, in part, to the fact that we are running out of fossil fuels and that the realities of alternate ways of powering cars make a straightforward replacement for the petrol car a bit of a pipe dream. Whilst looking up details on the signal box I found an interesting website with pictures of old Boston. Here is an old picture of the railway station.
Looking across the Haven here is a picture of the Dock activity. Apparently it handles wood, paper and agricultural products and latterly steel. There are (or perhaps were, with car industry in the doldrums) two steel carrying trains per week with each train carrying around 1,000 tonnes of steel. The port handles around 750 vessels per year.
As I headed out of Boston the countryside was flat - just as flat as the Flatlands around Cambridgeshire - not too surprising really. The route followed small country lanes, again there was not much motor traffic around, but these roads tended to wiggle around a little more so the views were more interesting. Actually I was probably less tired and so more interested in the scenery around me. The church peeping out of the trees is at Frampton.
Here is a purple-flowered potato field - they seemed to follow the trend in the Fens of purple flowers versus the white-flowered potato plants I saw between Hull and Lincoln.
As to be expected when the land is flat and quite close to the coast there are quite a few waterways to cross. The River Welland is quite large and so the pleasant cycle route had to join a major road the A17 at Fosdyke Bridge as that was the only place to cross for miles. The cycle path allowed cyclists to use the pavement but advised cyclists to walk across because of winds - presumably both blowing up the river but also because of the draft from large lorries as they passed by. I stopped to take some picture mid-bridge.
I am not quite sure why I included both compositions in the Blog - but having uploaded them did not know which to delete.
My GPS showed that the route then followed the road for a short distance - oh dear this could be quite unpleasant, a fast road, lorries and not much space at the edges.
Fortunately I was able to avoid the road, there were Sustrans Route signs pointing to one side. That is why you should not pay too much attention to GPS systems and the routes they suggest, things change and require a little common sense.
It looks as if as part of the Sustrans route planning and construction they built a path alongside the main road. This most felt like cycling in Holland although perhaps the cycle path was not quite as wide. My experiences of cycling in Holland are a little out-dated, my wife and I cycled and camped for our honeymoon. Maybe not the most exotic location, but very enjoyable and I believe in living within your means. Anyway well done to the Sustrans folk - it is a pity that most roads don't have this sort of facility though.
The route quickly turned away from the main road, the strength and weakness of Sustrans country routes is that they wiggle around a bit. At this point there was one cloud in the sky so it got its picture taken.
Once away from the main roads it was quiet again, very few cars, good road surface and unlike the bit between Lincoln and Boston that was on boring roads, these wiggled around a bit and so were more interesting.
Mind you, if anything, the fields are larger. Each side of this road were potato fields stretching out into the distance. This is one side - the other side was pretty much the same and they were as wide as long. I hope the potato prices hold up and the farmers make a reasonable return from them.
One thing I found was that despite feeling pretty tired the day before and finding sitting in the saddle a little tedious, I started the day's cycling feeling fit and refreshed after a nights rest and no reluctance to sitting on the saddle. (Which translates as no sore bits.) I did try to stop a little more regularly and drink fluid as it was quite a bit hotter than the previous day. I stopped by this church in Fleet.
My trusty steed.
I'd barely made it to the next village, Gedney, before I was taking another picture of a church. I liked the strong silhouette. I perhaps should have stopped as checking on the Internet both the Fleet and Gedney churches appear to be named after St Mary Magdalene.
Eleven 'O Clock - time for elevenses - although I had those at the last stop the village before.
On the way out I cam across a field of Linseed - grown for the oil. When I was a boy you aspired to own a wooden cricket bat, that had to be treated with linseed oil. I've grown out of that though - I have had no interest in cricket since the age of 16.
This was a crop I could not identify - it seems that single cloud in the sky is following me though.
One thing I did find on day 2 was that the route was not quite as well signed as on the previous day. It might be that I was not so bothered and relied on the GPS and so did not bother to look out for the Sustrans signs - however there were occasions when I am sure that the signs were missing.
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