We knew that there was a large reservoir, Covenham Reservoir, close by so decided to walk on Saturday to find it. We took the canal path from about 200m away from the campsite, past the old mill – the possibilities of what could be done with that place!
We quickly came across several cows grazing alongside the canal and then went through a gate to a section where cows clearly hadn’t been grazing for some time (they were on the other side of the canal here), which made for a lot of concentration; making sure that we didn’t step in cow pats, brush past nettles and thistles or fall off the bank!
We stumbled across the correct route completely by accident; coming to a narrow bridge across the river and finding a public bridleway crossing diagonally across the fields. From here we found a farmyard equipment graveyard lining the track down past a farm.
Again, completely by chance, we looked right at the right spot to see steps leading up the side of the reservoir and a stile to a footpath across the field. It was quite a steep climb and at the top we sat on the wall overlooking the water (quite a feat for me trying to get up onto the wall with my short legs and lack of agility these days!) and ate our lunch, before walking all the way around the reservoir.
We were surprised at how quiet it was on a sunny Saturday in the school holidays, but guess it was due to it being the 1st weekend of the holidays with people perhaps disappearing away on holiday. We chatted to a lad who was there with his jetski who told us it’s normally really busy. He and his mate had the water to themselves!
We walked 7 miles in total in the sunshine – much warmer than we were expecting!
The next day the weather was rather different as we headed to Grimsby. We thought we’d better as we were so close. From what we saw we would, unfortunately, class this as somewhere that ‘..we went so you don’t have to..’ To be fair we went mainly to go shopping and the shopping centre that we found, Freshney Place, was okay. It kept us dry as well!
There was a very confusing 1-way system in place, which saw us driving round and round trying to find a way into Halfords car park, before we eventually gave up, parked in the bingo and walked. We could see a tall tower that looked interesting, but after, once again, driving up and down trying to find a way to it we realised it was hidden away in the docks and we couldn’t get in to see it.
This was the Grimsby Dock Tower which is actually a Grade I listed building.
Sadly as we drove round Grimsby it seemed to be almost totally closed. There were no pubs or bars obviously open and no real signs of life. We came home via Cleethorpes and as we drove along the road into Cleethorpes the outlook improved and there were pubs and bars open and a lively atmosphere – the difference was tangible.
I had seen Old Clee on the map and wanted to have a very quick look. It was a very small area with the church, which is the oldest building in Cleethorpes and a couple of other old buildings clustered around it.
Coming this way made for a pleasant drive back to the van.
On Monday morning Calv broke his razor so we arranged to go into Louth later in the day to collect a new one from Argos. Before that we opted to head out to Market Rasen, having seen it on the map… It was okay there, cheap parking, a pleasant walk around the town but nothing particularly special to see.
So, we headed down towards Woodhall Spa, which I had heard about, but didn’t know anything about. We parked up for free on the main road, but there were a couple of car parks where you could park for 2 hours for free and then it was just £2 for the day.
There is a lot of history here and there are a number of information boards bringing you up to date with the history. As we wandered around I spotted a sign for the ‘Kinema in the Woods’. This I had previously heard of but had no idea it was here!
This has been here, as a cinema, since 1922 and was previously the cricket pavilion. There is an old abandoned structure next to it that turned out to be the old spa – such a shame that it’s gone to ruin 😦
The cinema now has 2 screens and is fully functioning as a business. It is charming inside and we ended up buying tickets to return the next day to see Dunkirk (quite a way to travel to the cinema!) There was a book on sale in the foyer detailing the history, so I bought it and it is really interesting 🙂
Woodhall Spa is an absolute delight and we’re so glad we visited 🙂
On the way home (that is back to the van) we passed Tattershall Thorpe and saw the Camp Visitor Centre. Unfortunately it wasn’t open as it’s only open at the weekends, and also Wednesdays in July and August.
Finally a quick drive around Louth looking for Argos. Another nice little town with a little history. We spotted an impressive church, an old theatre, several very old buildings plus almshouses opposite Morrisons. And, of course, the church tower we spotted that was obviously part of a much older church than the 20th century building in place behind it now!
I ended the day very much looking forward to the next (returning to Woodhall Spa!) and Calv ended it by spotting the resident barn owl flying out of the barn!
turnrightoutofportsmouth 