Best bits: celebrations
Worst bits: path diversions and road walking
Distance: 22 miles
Yesterday I stopped at the pier in Cleethorpes but this morning I decided to start walking from Asda in Grimsby where we were parked just missing out a couple of kilometres.
Fortunately there didn’t seem to be any ill effects on my feet from the first time of wearing my new trainers and a distance of over 23 miles.
As I walked down towards the docks an impressive enormous tower was dominant on the skyline. The Grimsby Dock Tower is a hydraulic accumulator tower and a maritime landmark at the entrance to the Royal Dock, Grimsby. Unfortunately you can’t get to it as it is in the middle of the docks. I could get a photo to do it justice.
The first diversion of the morning was because the walkway over the road bridge was closed so I had to backtrack and go around different way. I walked through the fish docks, which surprisingly didn’t smell like fish. It was mainly timber from Latvia
Then I walked alongside the Grimsby Immingham Super Highway
There were row upon row of Volvos ready for transportation. There were literally thousands of them. They must have an elaborate system for the keys.
Later on, I was to see other sites like this full of white Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen vans.
All of a sudden there was an odour of fish but I couldn’t see the source. Of course there was another sewage works. Then lots of industrial units and the Grimsby power station.
Unfortunately, the seawall from Grimsby going north was completely closed due to massive upgrades of the sea defences. That meant I had to walk on the road all morning. It was a very hairy experience as HGVs came with past at great speed and in huge numbers. The backdraft was awful. I had to hold onto my hat and close my eyes every time a truck came past. I have to say that the drivers were all very mindful of me walking on the side of the road and pulled out where possible.
At one point there was a convoy of brand-new Kia cars that obviously were being driven in a circuit, I guess to keep them roadworthy. They passed me several times.
Lynn and Harb were waiting for me at the roadside on Prince Andrew Drive next to Kings Road and Queens Road, we all commented on the royalist nature of this.
There were lots of tall chimneys, some of which were throwning out plumes of black smoke and others had bright flames on top. There was a distinct smell of petrochemicals in the air.
One area of the port had huge piles of coal which I assume was being imported rather than exported. I had to cross Marsh Lane Bridge over the railway.
I finally made it to the seawall at the LPG gas terminals. The last time I had seen these was at Milford Haven. The seawall was in a state of disrepair with big clumps of grass growing between the slabs of concrete, obviously nobody uses this as a walkway. There were two old disused and dishevelled lighthouses sitting amongst the pipework on the backdrop of a huge what I imagine to be a petrol chemical plant.
My heart sank when I saw the barrier across the seawall and heavy industrial machinery. It was at a point that crossed an inlet and at first it looked like there was no obvious way around. I walked a bit further on and there was some semblance of an effort to create a crossing over the inlet. A pedestrian path that was now completely overgrown had been created through the works site. I walked on without much confidence that it would take me to where I needed to go so I crossed my fingers and just hoped.
A very nice young man, the security guard on the final gate stoped the dock traffic of container lorries to let me across the road and back onto the path.
After 13 miles of hard walking, I finally arrived at lunch break. It lifts my spirits seeing the familiar shape of Lynn and Harb‘s little VW hightop. This time at a little wildlife reserve with lots of birds. It was like a little oasis in the middle of such industrial sprawl.
After lunch I reluctantly got back out and onto the sea wall. Across the river, I could see the silhouettes of cooling towers and the power station, cranes, a P&O cruise liner and what looks like an oil rig.
Looking across the Humber, you get a real sense of the industrial nature of this river and its estuary.
After a long slog along the grassy sea wall, roads and across fields I arrived at my destination where Lynn and Harb were waiting.
It took about 40 minutes to get back to Asda which gives a sense of how far had walked.
Once back Lynn and Harb decorated Priscilla to celebrate me walking 3000 miles tomorrow. We decided to celebrate this evening as I am on my own tomorrow evening.
Jo and Paul had kindly left a bottle of Champagne in my fridge and so we popped the cork which shot out across the car park.
Lynn had also made a cherry cake and purchased 3000 candles, well 4 candles. We toasted 3000 miles, Jo and Paul and Harb as it’s her birthday tomorrow.
Importantly we also toasted Angela who loved a glass of fizz. I drank mine from the glasses Angela and I drank from at the Eiffel Tower in Paris in February 2020. Cheers Darling ♥️
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