Ampthill to Lincoln

Half way. Lincoln, as last year on the way to Durham.

But so much better with the lighter evenings; finally arrived here on the Scunthorpe bus at twenty past eight, the sunlight still catching the towers of the Minster over the rooftops as I made my way from the Peacock to the Old Rectory.
This morning, no-one in the restaurant for breakfast save me and the two scots terriers, one of which was called Daisy, the other almost certainly not Gert ...
Tawny Tiptree marmalade.
Time for a walk for the paper before returning to pack.
Sunshine, but an icy shower as I approach St Andrew’s. To my surprise, the church is open. Maggie, alone in the choir stalls, is about to say Morning Prayer. Would I care to join her.
So the two of us shared the reading, as priest and acolyte had done in that place since well before Henry VIII’s time.
It’s the vicar’s day off, Wednesday, so she pops in and does it for him.

waiting outside the Prince of Wales

X42 a little late for Bedford [“Historic County Town”]. A confused lady gets on at Ampthill, unsure where she’s going. The driver stops at the next stop, but she stays put. He thinks she’ll probably end up “back where she’s just got on ...”
Past the Chequers, where we ate a month or so ago, and the imposing Swan Hotel in the town.
But confused lady and I both get off in Bedford, where I catch the P41 in bright morning sunshine. Takes a while to get out of the built-up Bedford: Budgens and Brookside Business Park. 
Lovely almshouses in Abbey Square, Turvey – then it's into Buckinghamshire and Cold Brayfield. Castle Ashby House. Black clouds over Yardley Hastings. Northampton, twinned with Poitiers, boasts an Isaac Newton Shopping Centre, to which the dark and depressing bus station is attached. “AMMO FOUND IN TOWN PUB” says the newsvendor's poster.
The X4 to Milton Keynes turned up late – I took it, but decided not to risk missing the connection back at Grafton Regis [and running late with no further backup in hand]. Got off at Hyde Road, and waited 8 minutes for the return, which would almost certainly have meant a missed connection …
Back in Northampton, got off for a green tea in All Saints – nice little café in part of the church, after checking with the Tourist Office where the Leicester X7 would leave from. Groat photo at the taxi rank beside All Saints; walked up through a damp market to the Shopping Centre.
X7 left on time. Spring Hill is to be built over. Red earth explains the Old Brick Fields, and Brixworth. Yellow fields, Lamport House. Naseby, and into Leicestershire - “Heart of Rural England”. Not sure whether or not to be pleased that Subway couldn't make it in Market Harborough, even in a prime site. 
Into the city along the A6, past the Oadby Owl. But where is the Leicester Building Society, now presumably Santander. Could it be that expanse of rubble …
A stroll round the city centre. Brucciani's ice cream parlour still in Fox Street, off Humberstone Gate in the shadow of Lewis's department store.

Brucciani's Ice Cream Parlor

Could have caught an earlier Melton bus if I'd looked at the timetable – every 20 minutes. Wolsey works – named for the Cardinal, buried in nearby Abbey Park – is a few fragments of listed facade. Belgrave Road, Melton Turn, familiar childhood haunts. Open country after Asda at Thurmaston. Syston. East Goscote. Melton Mowbray - “Home of … Stilton Cheese.”
Suddenly, the college I'm looking for. Leap off, but I'm too late. No sign of the connection. Walkabout reveals a cattle market [false trail, this] a bus station, also opposite the college, and a helpful library. I need to be at St Mary's, a different bus station. The Picture Palace [and presumably St Mary's itself], recently demolished for the buses and cars; the graveyard still intact. Lemon cake and tea from a little café.
Waltham on the Wolds – sun and cloud. Hilary Mantel – A Change of Climate – best reading choice of any fellow passenger this week.
Twenty to six: Welcome to Lincolnshire. Grantham, twinned with Saint Augustin. Sur mer, presumably.
And on to Lincoln, past Belton House [National Trust] and into  open country. A607 – not alas via Sleaford, but Syston [again] in the evening sun. St Vincent, Caythorp on the Old Lincoln Road. An ancient wall on the left of the road, dilapidated, only fields beyond. A maroon Austin Seven drives past the Hare and Hounds, Fullbrook. Then half a dozen more …
Leadenham has a village school, a bowling green, cows, bluebells. “This England” country, and a striking contrast with the cosmopolitan Belgrave Road. Past a turn for Boothby Graffoe, and early, so pause by Welbourne's, Your Village Baker Since 1898. Much more ancient is the Lion and Royal, but before the King's Head, another coaching house is up for sale …
In along the A15 Sleaford Road. And from the bus park, the number 6 to Scunthorpe...





Later, supper down at Café Zoot, a stone's throw from Cathedral and Castle.