Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

This morning I met up with Mick and Chris and we did a 10 mile circular walk beginning in the small Lincolnshire village of Ropsley.

We parked up on the high street and put on our walking gear. Chris was already in a mutinous frame of mind, saying ‘I didn’t sign up for this!’ referring to the drizzle mizzle that was enveloping us. It was also a chilly 7 Deg C.

I wondered what state the fields were going to be in and hoped (fingers crossed) that they would be passable.

Setting off down the high street we passed a cottage where Richard Fox, the founder of Corpus Christi college, Oxford had been born. There was a plaque high up on the wall.

I always feel a sense of history when walking in old villages like this – how many people had trodden the road before us?

Towards the end of the village we saw the footpath sign that led us up a drive between two houses. I worry when walking so close to other peoples property – it almost feels as though you are intruding. The path took us through a narrow lane, hedged either side, and eventually brought us into open fields.

It wasn’t long before we found out that the fields were still very wet and boggy. Oh dear! Good job I had waxed my boots yesterday.

We passed the first of a number of wooden bridges on the walk today.

Myself and Mick had walked this route back in the lovely sunshine of last August so I ‘sort of’ remembered the route. I say ‘sort of’ because we had reached a point where there was no clear path (at least in my mind) and confidently I said , ‘the route is this way’ and headed off over the field. Mick piped up that he was sure we were going in the wrong direction and we needed to be heading in a westerly direction. No yellow way markers were visible across the field. As is usually the case, Mick was correct, and after reaching the opposite side of the field, I ate some humble pie and said that Mick had been right – infuriatingly, he has the uncanny knack of remembering our previous routes!

Having got on track we headed across fields to reach the small hamlet of Little Humby.

We passed through an empty ford where we could see that there had been plenty of water recently.

Heading out of Little Humby along a tarmac road that was part of The Cross Britain Way, we passed a field where the sheep were enjoying a late breakfast (or maybe an early lunch!).

We reached a good farm track, with open fields either side that took us up towards Ingoldsby Wood. The light rain had eased off but it was still misty restricting long views.

Through the woods we walked – slip slip, slide, slip slip, slide in a steady rhythm. The path was quite muddy. Lincolnshire is renowned for its muddy paths.

After a mile or so we left the woods and entered more open country as we made our way towards Boothby Pagnell.

There was a glimmer of blue sky in the almost grey vista and wondrously, all of a sudden, there was a rainbow. Things are looking up boy’s ! and we will soon be at Boothby Pagnell for a cuppa.

Along the way Chris was getting his binoculars out to check out the bird life – we were seeing red kites and other species that I cannot quite remember right now.

Arriving at Boothby Pagnell we sat on a wooden bench opposite the church and slurped some tea and some of us had a butty or two – Chris is being ‘good’ and trying to control his food intake so disappeared for a closer inspection of the church graveyard. Having seen nothing interesting he joined us on the bench, sat down, pulled out his flask and an extra large china mug and proceeded to enjoy a large cup of tea!

So far we had met only one other person – a jogger- along our route.

Leaving Boothby Pagnell we crossed some open fields and found ourselves walking along side Kirton Wood, once more along muddy paths. It is a bit like walking in platform shoes as the mud layers build up and then release themselves as gravity overcomes the stickiness.

Further on we had a good stone path for a while before returning to muddy fields.

I have noted that during our walks there seems to be a theme in the chatting. Todays was alcoholic beverages which was far better than the chat on our previous walk which was Death!

It wasn’t long before we were heading back into Boothby Pagnell where we met a friendly dog walker who enquired where we had been walking.

There was an interesting bell tower in the local school.

So, the three amigos arrived back at their cars with Chris on a mission to buy a breathable waterproof jacket in readiness for our next adventure. I think there was mention of him going for a swim followed by a sauna later- its all right for some!

If you have managed to read to this point in my blog thank you very much and I hope that you enjoyed it?

Happy Walking 😊🚶‍♂️