Fosdyke Bridge to RSPB Frampton Marsh

We'd intended to spend two days of this weekend on the King Charles III England Coast path in Lincolnshire, and at the beginning of the week the weather forecast had been promising. By Friday that had altered, with heavy rain now forecast for yesterday, so we cancelled our Travelodge booking and decided just to walk today. At home in Norfolk, yesterday was less wet than forecast, but there were heavy showers in the afternoon, and I think the Boston area was probably worse. So we'd made the right decision. The weather today was fine and we very much enjoyed the walk, especially when the sun eventually came out!

We didn't want to get to RSBP Frampton Marsh until after 10am (when the visitor centre opens) so we didn't leave home until about 9am. We were about half way through the journey when I realised I'd left my camera at home, so all today's photos were taken either on Richard's camera or my phone. The main car park at the RSPB reserve (TF357390) was already pretty full when we arrived, with birdwatchers complete with fancy binoculars and cameras with telephoto lenses; we felt distinctly "under-opticked" (and the same would have been true even if I'd remembered my camera!). After paying our £5 for parking,  we left one car and drove back in the other to the section of old road near Fosdyke Bridge (TF317524),  where we'd parked last time we were here. We walked onto the bridge for a view of the River Welland before setting off.

It wasn't only yesterday when a planned day of walking didn't materialise; we had also hoped to get out walking last Saturday, but we were both under the weather then following our Covid and flu jabs, so we had a gentle day instead.  If we'd have managed to walk then, I think we'd have seen the River Welland at high tide, but it wasn't to be; we had quite a lot of mud again today. However, in the fortnight since we were last here, a new King Charles III England Coast Path sign had materialised by the boat yard at Fosdyke Bridge! The route, shared with the Macmillan Way, was initially along a slightly overgrown track beside the boat yard, but soon we reached the sea wall and followed this, gradually veering away from the river. 

We noticed a couple of walkers on the sea wall ahead of us; we couldn't initially work out whether they were going the same way as us, or coming towards us. As the route veered further to the left we realised that their direction had altered, so they must be heading in the same direction. Before long we caught up with and overtook them, then our route too curved round to the left. By a little pumping station, we saw another couple of walkers, but they had descended from the bank and continued straight ahead, while we took a sharp right hand turning onto the continuation of the sea bank. As our route bent left to return to its generally north-easterly direction, some bullocks of a variety of breeds moved out of our way on the bank to graze most picturesquely on the marsh. Initially just one of them was left grazing at what looked like a most uncomfortable angle, then he too moved.

We'd seen Macmillan Way signs occasionally since leaving Fosdyke Bridge, though many of them were old and faded; the main route of the Macmillan Way goes from Boston to Abbotsbury, so this is reasonable; we were actually on its route for almost all of today's walk, up to the point where we turned away from the England Coast Path. However, for about a mile from the change of direction near the pumping station, we were also on the route of the Cross Britain Way. which is also in the Macmillan Way family, and goes from Boston to Barmouth. Even though the King Charles III England Coast Path is not shown on the OS map. the intertwining of the diamonds on the map showing the main Macmillan Way and the Cross Britain Trail took us a little while to work out. The signs confused us even more!

A road comes down to the sea wall at Kirton Marsh, and we could see a couple of cars parked a short  distance away. One of them probably belonged to the man who was out on the marsh with a child and a dog; I'm not sure what they were doing; fishing perhaps, or harvesting something else?  This is actually the point where we parted company with the Cross Britain Way, as it takes a more inland route between here and Boston.  We continued straight ahead, though we stopped close-by, for an early lunch near a little wind pump and a pond. 

Our route continued on the sea wall, around distinct corners hither and thither. There was marsh to our right (the seaward side) and also flooded areas to our left. We knew we were approaching RSPB Frampton Marsh, and I had no sooner commented that I'd expected more people, than we started seeing them. We could also see the carpark where we were parked. We left the England Coast Path and took a path towards the visitor centre, past flooded areas and the little parking area at the end of the road; we will probably try to park here before setting off on the next leg. 

From here, we continued on a path running parallel with the road, with a bank of sunflowers to attract goldfinches and greenfinches especially. The path was busy, again with lots of powerful binoculars and cameras with telephoto lenses. We realised that a couple were watching a goldfinch and we stood and watched it too. We overcame our feeling of inferiority and took a photo on Richard's little camera; I'm sure that it is not as good as the hundreds of photos the couple took, but it isn't bad.