East to West Photos: Day 10

29 March (0900-1915)
Distance: 19.5 miles (Tot: 181) (Tattershall to Stenigot)
Weather: wall-to-wall sun till 3pm then high cloud

 

On the way into Woodhall Spa the sound of an aircraft doing aerobatics was heard. For a while we couldn’t see it, but Mick said “That sounds like a Spitfire”. Finally it came into view and as soon as it did Mick exclaimed “It is a Spitfire!”. He tries (with very limited success) to instil into me his ability to recognise any military aircraft at a glance, but it was at this moment in our walk that I came to realise that I am married to a plane spotter. I’m not sure how that fact had eluded me until now. Anyway, a bit of consideration of the map told us that we had passed within metres of the Battle of Britain Flight the previous afternoon, which satisfied Mick’s curiosity as to what a Spitfire was doing flying aerobatics in the area, and on we continued to Woodhall Spa.

Once we finally cleared the town, our way was along a disused railway line, which in common with many such lines, boasts some very long straight sections:

Disused railway lines, particularly those with such long straight sections and with trees obscuring views, can be a bit dull, but this one was made much more interesting by a series of art works.

Each work had an information board opposite it, telling you what the work was about (and in a public-friendly, rather than an overly arty-farty sort of way). There were also regular signs telling the history of the line and of the building of it. I’m a big fan of information boards of that ilk, so I paused to read each one.

  It wasn’t all metal art work either. Mick tried this sculpted seat for size, and found that he could fit in it even with his backpack on.

Elsewhere, all around us there was evidence of the industry of farmers on this sunny day. I thought that this tractor looked particularly like a Tonka Toy sort of a model. Green paintwork and red wheels, that is surely how a tractor should look?

Just before we left the railway line we passed an equestrian centre. Seeing a field of horses, this sign looked a little out of place – and not something I generally expect to see in English farmland!

The orignal blog post for the day (which I notice features a photo of another artwork, which I obviously didn’t snap with the real camera) can be found here.