Normanby Hill Wold Top – 168m / 551ft – 30/11/2019
It’s taken me a while to get this one written up, Christmas etc just an excuse really, but having just spent a week supporting the Montane Spine Race my motivation is back. I’m planning more walks this week so I thought I’d better get up to date before the memories start getting confused.
So County Top no.2 started with a drive out over the Humber Bridge into Lincolnshire and about 25 minutes later I was parked up outside The Salutation Inn in the village of Nettleton just south of Caistor. The plan was to follow the Viking Way trail from the village as far as Acre House Farm and then skip across a couple of fields to find the trig point and return by the same route.
The morning was cold sunny and clear, the overnight frost had left some ice on sheltered roads but had not really bitten enough to make the boggy, muddy fields any easier to negotiate. Route finding out of the village was easy, a lovely church, tea room and farm with horse stables before out into the fields.
Following the course of a stream meant the path was quite waterlogged and muddy typically at gates where cattle congregate. Nevertheless PJ and I managed to find suitable solutions and avoided getting too bogged down. Eventually it got easier as the path began to rise up into the wolds – PJ got spooked by some nesting birds scattering as we disturbed their hiding place in an old quarry hut and I struck up a brief conversation with a trail runner out for a training run.
I reached the muddy farm track at Acre House not knowing if a left or right turn would be the best way to get to the fields I needed to cross to access the trig point. Of course (and I’m sure there will be more of these situations) I made the wrong choice, found no entrance and had to double back past the farm and along the road a short distance to find a gate that opened easily. There was no public footpath so with PJ on a short lead I found my way around the edge of two fields, finding the trig point easily.
I was expecting a farmer to come out asking questions and had been rehearsing some possible replies, however it did not materialise so I took a few photos and recorded a video before retracing my steps back to the road. Unlike East Yorkshire, the views from Normanby Wold were quite expansive, especially to the north and west. Over the brow of the hill to the south was the dome of a radar station.
On reaching the road I had a choice to get back to the car, muddy fields again or minor road descending gradually with the vista to the west for a while longer. I chose the road!!
There was hardly any traffic, a couple out for a stroll and what must have been a squaddie running with an enormous Bergen style backpack which looked like it weighed about 30 kilos. Not long after passing on his way up the hill he came back the same way – I noticed his calves were like bricks sticking out of the backs of his legs!
After descending gradually at first the road suddenly became quite steep and at the same time very icy, so much so that I slipped a couple of times in my worn down shoes. Without further mishap we reached the village and I thought a coffee at the tea room would be nice until I realised I had left my wallet in the car. So we went straight back to the car to discard muddy shoes and towel off muddy paws before the short drive home. 2 down, several more to go. Lessons learned – PJ is ok when there are no animals around, I may need to be patient trying find access points to private land, don’t leave wallet in the car!
