Boswai two

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Walked from Wainfleet to Boston. A long but enjoyable walk. The section along the sea wall by the salt marshes is the highlight - the paths are good and comfortable to walk on, and the contrast between the wildness of the sea side and the agriculture inland is marked, and it is very quiet due to its remoteness. The other paths are all fairly clearly marked and the road sections are all safe, with plenty of verge space that can be used if necessary. The amount of unavoidable road walking is the only thing that stopped me giving it five stars.

Starting from the meeting place by the clock tower in Wainfleet, we walk towards the station, passing the Co-Op on the left (having arrived on the train, I missed this section out yesterday, but I walked it at the end of WAISKE1 on Wednesday). We follow the road past the station, the church and Batemans Brewery and take the left fork at the junction beyond the bridge. Beyond the trees a path crosses a lightly wooded area right, then continues across a series of arable fields to Friskney. Most of the field paths are clearly marked and the many footbridges are in good condition, but it may well be muddy when wet and I had to cross one freshly ploughed field.

At Friskney we turn left (there is a pavement on the right hand side) and head out to the A52, which we cross and go straight on (there is a pub here). We continue down what is now a quiet lane as far as the flood wall beyond the old Coastguards Cottages, where we turn right down a good farm track. Further on the path stays on the top of the bank, and is mostly on short grass. We pass a pumping station, beyond which we are on the main sea wall, with salt marshes on the left hand side. This area is very quiet apart from the bird calls.

We stay on the sea wall for a few miles, up to a junction where the sea wall goes further left and we go straight on along a lower flood barrier, which is grassy and grazed by semi-wild horses. There are also a number of pillboxes on this section, all easily passed on the left (south) side. Eventually we leave the flood wall on the quiet lane that takes us into Butterwick - there is a pavement through the village. We pass another pub - there is also a shop here just off route.

We turn left past the pub and follow the road out of the village and through Freiston, where we pass another pub, then on over the wide Hobhole Drain and into the outer suburbs of Boston. We turn right into Rochford Tower Lane, passing the oddly sited bowling alley, and taking the field path left opposite the tower.

The field path reaches a T junction where we turn left, then take the first footpath right across a bridge into a new housing estate (the second path is currently blocked by the next phase of the development). We go straight on on a newly paved path, and eventually we are forced slightly left to find the way out of the estate. I chose to go right and left down Monteith Crescent, but Hardiway would work just as well. We go left at the end then right along an alleyway path that takes us to Freiston Road, which we cross and continue on a paved path through a wide strip between houses, then turn right onto Wellington Road, The paved path continuing onto Windsor Crescent has a dog-leg. We follow the crescent around then take the path that follows the edge of the Maud Foster Drain.

We soon come to a footbridge where we cross the drain, then go more or less straight on to reach John Adams Way, which we cross using pelican crossings, then continue up South Square, which leads us up to Boston market place and the meeting point, which is overlooked by St Botolphs Church and its famous tower, the Boston Stump. Those who (like me) want to continue to the railway station can cross the footbridge south of the church and pick a route through the car parks to Lincoln Lane.

There are no facilities in the middle third of the route (if this is a problem, use the detour to Wrangle as per BOSWAI 1), but there are plenty of pubs and shops nearer to the start and end points.

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