As we are based in Grimsby we’ve had a good look round and oh dear………Grimbarians have a lot to put up with. There are apparently a few historic buildings, but the only one we see houses Wetherspoons – the rest of the town centre consists of empty boarded up shops and unloved public space. I had previously surmised that the Vikings had named the town “grim” meaning “ugly” and “by” meaning “town” but it was of course another era. Google has another theory: “The name Grímr is common across the Scandinavian world and recorded several times throughout Lincolnshire in the Domesday Book. According to legend, Grimsby was founded by a Danish fisherman called Grim. In Old Norse, ‘by’ means village.” I still prefer my own theory……………………

So before we move on to today’s walk I would like to share with you a snapshot of the town…

Think that’s enough………………………

Today we are walking clockwise again, as we did yesterday, it’s all to do with logistics. Our plan is to take the train to a place called New Holland and walk back to Immingham. Best laid plans……it appears our train has been cancelled and there is a rail replacement bus due in thirty minutes, we are the only passengers. Coming out of the station we head for a gated area of huge metal warehouses at the end of the road – turns out it’s a sawmill.

Arbour Forest Products is a family business and at the moment is the largest privately owned timber merchants in the UK – we walk through the gate wondering which way to turn until we catch sight of a weary footpath sign pointing to the left.

There is a wonderfully heady smell of wood resin and creosote and it obviously goes to our heads as we miss the next turning – this is Damian going the wrong way………….

Finally we end up on the bank of the estuary turning right to head south – the grass path is wide and comfortable to walk on and we make good progress.

Until ………………………………..

With a sigh we turn around and head for the next turnoff inland – a track which takes us past a tileworks and on to a minor road that will lead us back to the coast path. The sign at the entrance to the works seems to imply that it is normal to carry on working with a minor injury – or have I got that wrong?

We join the path again at Goxhill Haven through a farm gate where someone seems to have lost their boot………..how do you do that?

On we go along the seawall, fields on our right and mudflats to our left. At one point we are presented with another mystery – nearly what?

Yes, great slabs of mud – I like the different textures here of sand, stones, seaweed and mud.

At last we can see in the distance the faint outline of the Humber International Sea Terminal – a massive facility built to serve Immingham Oil Refineries and allow for the import and export of coal, steel and more recently wood pellet. The terminal also allows for roll on/roll off cargo ships carrying cars, trucks, motorcycles and buses. We are hoping there is a way of walking through it…..

Just before the terminal we walk past the ruins of the Wilkinson and Houghton brick and tile works – its kilns and chimney are listed buildings. The red brick gives the impression of a friendlier type of industry than the steel and concrete of today.

Moving on we meet a local dog walker who is not optimistic about our plans for walking through the terminal and on to Immingham.

Fingers crossed we approach the jetty, climb over some slightly rotten wooden beams and then lo and behold find a sign that directs us along a tall metal fence with a gate at the end. By the side of the gate is a button which we are instructed to push and out pops a security man to open for us – I can hardly believe it! We are then sent down another fenced off concrete path which, from the amount of weeds, looks like it ‘s not been used for a very long time.

And then we’re through ….but to what? We are by now very tired and I am at least feeling a little intimidated by the roar and clank of fast moving container lorries and flashing lights. The path does continue along the bank but according to my map just evaporates into the maze of the oil refinery and impenetrable Immingham Docklands. Moving inland along a minor road is a possibility but the lorry traffic is heavy and fast and there is no verge to walk on. After ten minutes of hopping on and off the side of the road I take an executive decision and begin the process of finding and calling for a taxi.

We wait twenty minutes and ask the driver to deliver us from this inferno and drop us a mile away from where we know we can get a bus back to Grimsby.

Distance:10 miles