Day 119 – Ingoldmells to Wainfleet: 14.5m: 4.8h (Gibraltar Point route)

Very comfortable rooms (and possibly the effect of yesterday’s after supper malts) have resulted in a good night’s sleep for all and we meet in the reception area at 7. Because of the Anchor’s late breakfast, we’ve decided to get under way, walk for an hour or so and then find something to eat in or around Skegness, and we’re back on the Ingoldmells promenade and under way just after 7:05. Like the northern approach to the town, the path continuing along the seafront to the south is bordered by a number of fixed caravan sites which, after 45 minutes or so, give way to the vast expanse of chalets which forms the residential part of Butlins on the outskirts of Skegness. It’s still a good half hour or so to the centre of the town where, despite a couple of pessimistic comments from locals about the availability of somewhere which might be open for breakfast as early as 8:30 am, we eventually come across the Marine Boathouse which has just about finished setting up its standard – and reasonably priced – cooked breakfast bar. Over the morning’s sustenance, John and Mike decide to continue towards Wainfleet via the coastal route, despite (or perhaps because of?) the prospect of having to try and get over a 2 metre high gate at Gibraltar Point. Consistent with their customarily unadventurous attitude towards obstructions of this kind, Ben and Gary opt for a potentially less challenging inland route along a series of minor roads, lanes and field paths which eventually lead to a village called Croft and then into Wainfleet. En route, they receive confirmation from John and Mike that they have conquered the gate but, because the coastal route is almost 2 miles longer, they arrive in Wainfleet around half an hour after Ben and Gary have ensconced themselves in the Woolpack pub. Mike seem rather surprised that the nestler selected isn’t the Batemans’ Brewery pub on the other side of the station, but also seems perfectly happy with the product from the brewery which is being purveyed at the Woolpack. The train we’re all scheduled to catch from Wainfleet (Ben and Gary to Grantham, and John and Mike continuing to Nottingham) doesn’t leave for another couple of hours at about 3:15, but there are reports of delayed and cancelled trains between Grantham and London, so we decide to catch the 2:23 which might give a bit more flexibility to those who are King’s Cross bound. And, importantly, it still gives us all time for a further beer and some toasted sandwiches and chips. As it transpires, the problems on the London line ease during the afternoon and so, when Ben and Gary leave John and Mike at Grantham, they find that their designated train is neither delayed nor cancelled, which leaves them with 90 minutes to sample the delights of the town – i.e. to have a cup of tea in a shopping precinct. Rock ‘n roll.