Scunthorpe to Grimsby

May 23, 2022

via Barton-upon-Humber

It feels quite surreal to say this, but Scunthorpe reminds me of the United States. At least this part, around the Travelodge at the A18 intersection. The similarity struck me last night when I strolled over to the adjacent Old Farmhouse, which is not old and was clearly never a farmhouse. It's a fairly new purpose-built restaurant that belongs to a chain called Hungry Horse. The staff were nice, but it's soulless.

Travelodge is amongst a Mc Donald's, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, with a Costa Coffee further back from the road. All have ample car parking and it's basically a scattered mall consisting of metal-roofed structures built to a budget with no obvious consideration for aesthetics. The focus is on drivers.

I park my bike outside Costa at 8:00, get a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant, then sit outside under a parasol and look at Google Maps. It shows me there's a little way to ride to get into town.

Costa Coffee near the Travelodge - on the west side of Scunthorpe (or is it the USA?)

For some reason I get north and south mixed up and ride too far west on what I think is Doncaster Road, looking over to my right for signs of the centre, when it's actually on my left. I have to double back a kilometre and it turns out I'm not on Doncaster Road, but the A18.

I get pointed to where to go and a cycle lane on Ashby Road takes me north and I pass by an Art Deco post office built in 1939 and get to the High Street at about 10:00. Yes, two hours to ride to the centre of Sunny Scunny. Where did it all go?

My eyes are open for a place to get a decent breakfast.

Post Office on Ashby Lane - King George VI was on the throne from 1936 to 1952

Looking west along the High Street, Scunthorpe

Old photo of the High Street, Scunthorpe

The eastern secton of the High Street is now pedestrianised, but I have an old photo of the western part stored on my 7" tablet. The architecture hasn't changed much since before WWII.

As I'm taking a snap replicating the image, a woman approaches and asks if I'm touring around. She has a Canadian accent. It turns out she moved here with her British husband and confirms that not many people visit the town. It's a fact that Scunthorpe isn't known as a tourist destination, as it's all relatively new. It does have the UK's largest steel processing centre, but who wants to see that?

Part of a sculpture designed by Ray Lonsdale to honor Scunthorpe's steel workers

Many of the shop units in the pedestrian zone are empty.

This DSLR is very bulky and I'm not very happy having to lug it around and I call in at a couple of pawn shops looking for a small camera, but they don't have any.

I don't buy anything from the few charity shops and end up having a warm pasty from Greggs and sit near a recently made sculpture that honors the city's steel workers. It's made of rusting steel sections that have been welded together and has been designed to recall the 1940s, with one of two workers astride a traditional sit-up-and-beg bicycle.

After that I start riding out of town, heading northeast, past industrial places and warehouses on Winterton Road (A1077) before turning off at the top of a gentle climb onto a country lane to Appleby. The hill appears to have brought me on to a sort of plateau and there are decent views of green fields all around as I ride past High Risby before zipping down to Low Risby without seeing a soul. Each place consists of just a few farmhuses and barns made of stone that look like they've been standing here for a couple of centuries.

Appleby is at a crossroads and is bigger and I decide to explore the village's few streets.

There's a church, a picture-postcard cottage with a thatched roof and a few other old places. I set up my tripod on the traingle of long grass that I guess you'd call Apleby's village green and a local man who is likely retired strikes up a conversation and tells me about two other cottages in the village. They won't be hard to locate.

Taking a self-timed shot with this DSLR is not as straightforward as I'm used to and it takes a few attempts to get a photo of me riding by The Cottage (What else would you call it?) that looks OK. The timer's 10 seconds aren't really long enough for me to make a U-turn and ride towards the camera.

Church Lane heads further east from the church and a sign says it's a dead end and becomes Carr Lane. This soon turns into a gravel track and eventually crosses over a dyke. At a second dyke it all becomes quite remote and I wonder if I'll have to trun around at some point. My research did show a couple of old bridges crossing the River Ancholme that's just ahead, but I'm not sure about access to them from along the bank.

Thankfully the riverside path is decent and it's easy to ride north to Saxby Bridge, which dates back to the mid 1800s. It's quite ornate. Made of wrought iron, it has thick wooden planks spanning it that see little use now, as it really has no practical purpose, except for walkers and people like me exploring the Lincolnshire countryside by bike.

Probably still on Carr Lane - riding east from Appleby towards the River Ancholme

I follow a path on the other side of the river, but it ends in a bunch of tall nettles so I go back to Saxby Bridge and head east. It's a couple minutes' riding to reach the road that cuts through Saxby All Saints and I then start climbing up Saxby Hill. Actuially I walk, as it's quite humid and my energy is low, and I'm in no hurry.

At the top it's a case of following a lane along the edge of an escarpment before turning east towards Barton-upon-Humber. It's seriously rural and this lane is a gentle downward slope and my speed is pretty high and I cross over A15 and soon enter Barton. A windmill that looks like it needs some work doing to it marks the town centre. It turns out it's connected to a pub called The Old Mill.

I have a photo of a piece of water and it's near Waterside Lane, so I ride around in search of it. As I get to the bridge where the photo must have been taken, a cyclist on a loaded bike pulls up. His name's Tim Holder and he has a guitar slung over his back. He's doing a 2,000-mile tour, starting out from London and heading up to Scotland, then back south - camping wild most of the time. We chat for a few minutes and then ride off in oppsoite directions - he's going over the long Humber Bridge. My next destination is an abbey, to the south east of here.

Waterside Road viewed from Maltkiln Lane in Barton-upon-Humber

Tim with his guitar, heading north to Scotland

Before riding out of Barton I call in at a Coop and get a few things to eat and have a picnic lunch (at 3:00), sat on a bench. teenage school children in grey uniforms are on their way home and across the road is The Old Mill. A man who has obviously got some mental health issues is ranting and raving at nothing in particular and a middleaged woman who passes by tells me he's harmless enough.

There's a gentle climb out of Barton and the sky ahead looks a bit dodgy. It takes me nearly an hour to get to Thornton Abbey and I feel quite smug at being on schedule. There's a train to hop on that leaves at 10 past six, giving me over an hour and more to explore teh grounds, but the entrance is locked and a notice says there's construction work going on. It's all quiet at the moment, with no workers in sight, but I don't want to climb over the wire fence and get reported.

I ride towards the small staion at Ulceby and have over an hour to kill, so pop over the road to a pub called The Yarborough Arms and have an early dinner.

Picnic outside the Coop in Barton at about three o'clock

Riding south on Burnham Road, going roughly south from Barton

Fish and chips in the Yarborough Arms, Ulceby

The train slowly pulls into Ulceby on time. The guard onboard says he doesn't have his ticket machine so it's a free ride to Grimsby. Nice.

Once off, the first place I see is a hotel called The Yarborough and a room is sixty quid and the receptionist says I can carry my bike up to the room.

That's basically it for today, except for having a pint once I've showered. The most expensive beer down in the bar is only £2.25, so I push the boat out.

Waiting for the 6:17 from Ulceby Station

My room in the Yarborough Hotel next to Grimsby Station - £60 without breakfast

Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 634 km (394 miles)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	9

Scott AndersonPush the boat out! I’ve never heard that, had to look it up.
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1 year ago

Graham FinchTo Scott AndersonI always assume English idioms are known across the pond, but I guess some didn't make it.
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1 year ago

Keith KleinHi,
There’s a slug of English idioms unknown to us yanks. I think I would find your morning surroundings depressing. The Travelodge might be ok but the rest of it yuck. But your dinner is about the most English thing ever, to the point of being a cliche not just in America, but here as well. I hope it was good.
Cheers,
Keith
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1 year ago

Graham FinchHave you had sticky toffee pudding? Custard is also very British.

...I miss it here in Taiwan.
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1 year ago

Andy PeatI have a mini-tradition of buying small Tetra pacs of custard as a treat when touring in the UK. They can be be a real pick-me-up when you're flagging and you can find them in small village shops. Highly recommended.
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1 year ago

Graham FinchNow you tell me... I can't recall seeing any of these Andy.

I toyed with the idea of bringing Bird's some custard home with me, but there's pudding here to have it with.

I did bring a small jar of marmalade, which is something that surprisingly is not available in Taiwan - not in the main supermarkets anyway.

It's a shame I didn't have more allowance to bring some Branston pickle, but my luggage was alrady 55kg, plus 8kg of carry-on... I brought a lot of hefty pottery back with me!
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1 year ago

Andy PeatHaving a pottery collection is always going to be bad news for your luggage allowance. Hopefully you weren’t tempted to pick up any new bricks too.

Yes, keep an eye out for the Tetrapacs. Indestructible, so not going to burst everywhere in your bags. If you’re just going to scoff it there and then, you’re looking for this sort of thing:  

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-vanilla-custard--taste-the-difference-500g

Custard has moved on since we last lived in the UK.

I’ve been doing some multi-day walking trips and have been carrying some (add water) powdered custard as emergency restorative calories. Haven’t had to resort to it yet so the same pack has done me the last three trips.

You could try making your own marmalade or pickle in Taiwan - there’s no shortage of oranges. I made some red onion relish and HP-style brown sauce. Not as hard as it sounds.

I had a pork pie topped with Branston Pickle last night. Very good.
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1 year ago

Graham FinchTo Andy PeatI like the pickle with cheese on toast.

Making some sounds like a good idea. I recall buying various jars at market stalls and finding a recipe online should be easy. I'll keep you posted.

I was thinking of you when looking around Edgar Wood's buildings in Huddersfield. Had you seen any of his designs before?

Carrefour here is selling out and it'll be interesting to see what the new owners stock. Maybe custard will arrive.
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1 year ago

Andy PeatTo Graham FinchI hadn't heard of him. His buildings seem to mostly be in the same region of the north - Middleton, Huddersfield, Rochdale, Oldham. It might be he's overshadowed by MacKintosh up here.

You're sorted with a Carrefour. I think they've closed in Singapore but other supermarkets import Waitrose and the higher-end Tesco range.

Looking forward to self-timed future journal photos of you unwrapping the grease-proof paper from your marmalade sandwich packed lunch.
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1 year ago