The night was calm but still overcast. The morning temperature was at 0 degC but there was no ice on the tent. I packed up and was on my way by 07:30. I was disappointed in how busy the road was and was concerned about theA74 I would be joining in a while. Approaching the A74 all I could see was an unbroken line of traffic trundling along with Heavy Goods Vehicles predominating. I joined the other road users and cycled on. I was looking forward to reaching Necton where I would turn right and leave the madness. I put up with the ride until the turn off and bliss. Turning right I was back into sanity and a quiet road. Although mostly quiet the landscape was very empty and my rise was surrounded by fields and not much else. For someone from Lancashire I found the place names of unfamiliar interest.

Little Dunham

River Nar at Castle Acre

Little Dunham had an interesting ring about it. I wanted to have a look at Casle Acre as the map shows a ruined abbey. I headed along a minor track and at first thought I’d gone wrong way. I knew there was a ford and when it came into view was a bit concerned because I couldn’t see a footbridge. The bridge was there but obscured at first by bushes on the left. Also on the left were the Abbey ruins across a field with a muddy track leading towards it. It was surrounded by a fence so probably wasn’t accessible. I continued up the track and into the village.

Gatehouse in King's Lynn

At the top the road went through an old stone arched gateway. I continued north along the line of the old Roman Road for a few miles then turned left and on through Gayton and on to King’s Lynn. I’d planned to cycle round the town centre and follow a cycle track by the river. There was an impenetrable one way system that didn’t seem to take me anywhere in particular. The signposts are for cars and of no use to cyclists. I gave up looking for the riverside cycle track and concentrated on getting out into the countryside.

New bridge and Old across River Great Ouse

I took the minor road through Terrington-St-Clement and hoped that I’d see shops and hopefully a chip shop. There didn’t seem to be any particular centre so I pressed on. For a while I had to join the very busy A17 but only as far as Sutton Bridge. The bridge is a swing bridge so I stopped to give it a closer look. I couldn’t see anywhere for pedestrians to get across. I took the minor road into Sutton Bridge and found a chip shop where I stopped for a bag of chips. So far on the ride I hadn’t seen a single lay-bye transport cafe which seem quite popular further north. The terrain east of King’s Lynn had been fairly empty of villages but now there were more settlements about.

Sutton Bridge

I kept to the B1359 and B1515 to Holbeach where I turned off on to minor lanes across open fields which had all recently been ploughed. I crossed the bridge over the River Welland and was amazed how large it was and how dark and dirty the water was. Into Spalding I rode into the traffic free area of the town. It was such a refreshing change from the traffic madness of Norwich and King’s Lynn. I saw the sign for the railway station and headed there as I knew a Tesco store was nearby. I called into the store to buy some water then continued on my way. I left the town to the west, heading for Pode Hole. This morning’s weather forecast was for heavy snow overnight and my planned camp was near Guthram Gowt along a long minor road. I reached the point but though it best to press on and not risk getting snowed in. A long rural lane took me by a large scrap metal processing plant with large lorries rushing to it. I reached the town of Bourne and decided to ride on till I found somewhere to camp. To the right of the A151 was a forest area with a parking sign. I wheeled my bike into a thinly wooded area and found a nice flat spot to camp.

Moulton Church and Windmill

Bike friendly Spalding