This is the day we leave Lincolnshire behind – yes!

Starting in New Holland we leave the car opposite the charming community centre, pull on our boots and head once again for the sawmill.

This time we follow the other arm of the footpath sign and without too much trouble find the very clear track leading west – the cranes of New Holland pier behind us, the ubiquitous shopping trolley stuck in the mud.

If you look closely you can just about see the silhouette of the Humber Bridge which we will be crossing today – I am so excited.

Getting closer…………….

After a mile or so the path leads us through a small harbour with its own timber yard and station stop – this is Barrow Haven.

Again the smell is heady….reminds me of the wooden fence around my grandfather’s garden in London – heavily creosted.

Most of the wood seems to have come from Latvia………..despite the fact that it is packaged in plastic bearing a Viking ship logo. The Vikings were never in Latvia, they had their own tribes, but I later discover that the timber is sourced and distributed by Scandic Timber – a UK/Latvian company based in Riga.

It is very quiet and peaceful here, obviously not a working day.

From the information board……………..

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/thornton-abbey-and-gatehouse/

Today, there are just a few people tinkering with their boats…………………

Crossing the railway line we find the path again and continue along the estuary for about two miles to the edges of what is marked on the map as Water’s Edge Country Park – we now have to figure out how to get up on to the bridge.

This involves quite a detour – first to the visitors centre for coffee and information and then over a small bridge spanning Barton Haven, We then go in the wrong direction up a minor road which looks like it’s heading for the bridge but in fact is a viewing point – passing a very cute ice-cream van on the way.

I love ice cream vans in England with their jingly jangly versions of popular nursery rhymes, calculated to capture a child’s attention. In Denmark you get a monotone bell ring that sounds more like “bring out your dead” – give me Teddy Bears Picnic and Pop Goes the Weasel anytime.

Anyway, we ask again for directions and find ourselves walking under the bridge, down a lane lined on the one side with beautiful rust coloured roof tiles and on the other curious cows.

Until we finally reach the pedestrian approach road to the bridge………………

This has got to be a before and after photo sequence if I survive intact……………………

The path is both a cycle and pedestrian lane, suitably far away from the traffic but the noise is deafening.

It’s a long way down ………….but the views are breathtaking – almost feels like we are gliding over the tree tops.

The bridge is a mile long and it is somewhat of a relief to get away from the din of the traffic – an exit path leads down into the edges of a country park where we get lost for a while but then discover a small alley that leads back to the bank of the estuary.

It is time for coffee and sandwiches and Hessle Haven is the perfect stop – with an empty bench and a view of the bridge. The sign on the fire beacon tells me that Hassle is twinned with Bourg de Thizy, a town in eastern France. Town twinning started in the UK in 1926, the original idea being to encourage human contact and cultural links between communities in different countries, an excellent idea.

Wondering whether this entourage on the plinth behind me is a legitimate extension of the idea or a local potter feeling inspired.

This is my “after” photo, fired up by the Humber Bridge experience.

After lunch we carry on on the bank for a while but are then forced to deviate on to a busy road with a hardly discernible path running alongside – at least there is a fence between us and the traffic.

Fortunately this does not last very long before we reach an industrial estate with a footpath sign pointing right back to the river. Unfortunately, there is a sign on the post warning of coastal erosion and as such the path is closed. We decide to ignore it…………..

Choosing instead to fight though nettles, brambles and bullrushes with no real idea of whether the path will become impassable further on – we cannot see the water at all.

On the map this route is called the Trans Pennine Way – someone’s having a laugh. We meet this elusive trail later on when trying to walk out of Hull but that’s another story.

Eventually, the trail morphs into a tarmac lane running past a heavily graffitied brick wall leading back to the river.

The muddy banks come into view and again – what is it with shopping trolleys?

Looking back we can just about see the outline of the bridge………….

Tired, we decide to stop soon and not try to get to Victoria Dock in Hull. Instead we trudge past a line of fishermen and lie down on the verge of the carpark at St. Andrews Quay, a busy retail park – not the most fitting end to an exciting walk. And we’re in Yorkshire!!

Distance: 12 miles