Mablethorpe

We only had a few days but needed to blow away the cobwebs, so we decided to throw a few bits in the camper and head off to Mablethorpe. Pretty much directly east from our home until we hit the sea, the 140 or so mile drive takes about three hours. We headed for a Crook Bank car park right beside the sand dunes two miles north of Mablethorpe and at the back of Theddlethorpe beach (N53.3704, E0.236397). This car park is actually for the nature reserve and there are signs that say that there is no overnight parking allowed, however we have stayed here on several occasions before, its a quiet and isolated and only used by the odd dog walker. There used to be a couple of semi-permanent campers parked up, but this time they were both gone. We arrived in the afternoon and had time to have a great walk over the dunes and along to the start of Mablethorpe beach finding "The Time An Tide Bell", and art installation by Marcus Vergette. The waves at high tide cause the bell ring, supposedly reminding us of our connection yo the sea and of the constant between ourselves and our environment. Its pretty cool and very loud, this is the 4th one we have seen, as they are dotted around the UK coastline.

After the last dog walker had left around 7:00pm no-one else came until the following morning when a small trickle of cars with their dog walker drivers came and went. Whilst the weather was good we went for another walk back along the beach, but this time walking right into Mablethorpe passed the bell and beyond. Now you have to remember you are here for the beach, there is an 8 mile stretch that is stunning, uninterrupted , flat and sandy, and for the most part the beach is flanked by dunes, Mablethorpe main beach taking up 2 of those miles. However Mablethorpe town itself is small, run down and mainly populated by slot machine emporiums, chip shops and souvenir shops. I'd like to say a typical British seaside town, but its not, its just a bit small and a bit sad. Our walk took us through town and back up the beach, in total it was just over eight miles and the sun was shining all the way even though the wind picked up a little towards the end of the walk.

Following our walk we checked the weather and decided to move inland a little as a storm was working its way up the country, so we headed for RAF Coningsby's runway viewing car park around 35 miles south west (N53.0919, W0.185995). The car park allows overnight says for free, but also gives you the chance to see the RAF tornadoes taking off for practice runs. Its was a deadly quiet night, but unfortunately what we didn't realise is that as it was the bank holiday there was no flying at all, so we decided to to take a walk along the River Bain to Tattershall castle and the Holy Trinity Collegiate Church, both National trust properties and the church reputed to be the final resting place of Tomb Thumb, the man that English folk law suggests was the smallest man that ever lived.

The church itself dates way back, built between 1431 to 1451 meaning the man the hand made the stone blocks probably died before the continent of America was even discovered and nearly 200 years before the Mayflower landed with the Pilgrims! Unfortunately even though it should be open, the church was closed, but the outside architecture and graveyard were interesting enough and an insight into a time long passed. Following our walk back to the camper we made the long trip back home, Mablethorpe will always be one of our go to locations as the beach is so fantastic,