Day 8 - Elsham Wolds to Brantingham

8 April (0730-1645)
Distance: 19.5 miles
Fitbit steps: 47000
Weather: mainly dry, some showers, only one violent; cool
Number of very long bridges crossed: just the one

The rain finally abated last night and, in between further showers, the sky cleared. With condensation then a-go-go, there was no opportunity for our already soggy tent to dry out. In spite of the dampness all around us, we were perfectly comfy in our bed, until that moment this morning when we had to throw off the quilt and put our nice warm feet into wet socks and wet shoes. At least it was a sunny start to the day, though.

The most remarkable thing for me about today's walk was that I remembered none of it except the approach to the Humber Bridge, the bridge itself and the couple of miles after. Some of the route was pretty noteworthy too, and it definitely featured in our E to W walk (it's the section Mick and I did separately), so it bamboozled me how I could have no memory of the majority.

The Humber and the bridge were the main features of the day and we could see the bridge from early this morning. Had we taken a direct line towards it, it wouldn't have been many miles away. However, that would have involved walking exclusively along roads, so we opted for the longer, but scenic, route which saw us heading away from our objective for a while before swinging back towards it. It was particularly nice for me to have the view of the river and the bridge today; last time I walked this section the haze was so thick I only saw the bridge just before I reached it (maybe that explains why I didn't remember today's surroundings - I couldn't see them last time).

It was as we reached the bridge, where the 'High Wind' warning signs were showing, that the one violent shower of the day passed through. The wet weather gear we donned ("Careful nothing blows away!") was a good idea from a warmth point of view too; it was not a warm day today and was even chillier on the exposed walkway of the bridge

After a prolonged grocery stop in North Ferriby, we only had 5 miles to go, but whereas the first 14 had flown by, the last 5 were long (not helped by a wrong turn and back-track, something in which I'm specialising at the moment!). We arrived at our night-stop in the end, and being paying customers of a B&B tonight (well, £6 to pitch the tent in their field and have use of a toilet and shower) we didn't have to worry about where or at what time we were pitching.

On reflection, I'm rather glad there wasn't a room available for us in Barnetby last night. Whilst staying there would have avoided the wet kit we incurred, I'm not sure I would have fancied an extra 4 miles on today's walk. Happily, I've just totted up and realised that (based on where we actually finished today) tomorrow is 1.5 miles shorter than I had it on the itinerarararary :-)

(Conrad - we too stayed at Holcombe Guest House when we passed through on our E to W and it was the fact that it offered such good value for money that lured us into trying to get a room yesterday. It's no doubt the same reason it was full!
Martin and JJ - thank you for the further weather reports. We particularly like ones which feature the word dry ;-))

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