Coastwalk

Holbeach St Matthew → Fosdyke Bridge

Distance: 6.98 miles
Ascent: 107 metres
Duration: 2 hours 7 minutes

Lunch at noon, GMT
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You learn a lot about the today's walk by understanding that the most interesting thing I found to take a photograph of is something I've been carrying with me on just about every walk - my GPS receiver.

Today was the day I finally reached Fosdyke Bridge - the third of the circular walks that replaced what would have been an eighteen mile trek from Sutton Bridge.

It's hard to describe just how flat the landscape is around here. Looking around is an immersive experience, and out of the corner of the eye you sense that you can actually see the curvature of the earth. Looking away from the path, the fens, the marsh and the sea wipe across in broad strokes of colour, reminding me of Meg Wroe's paintings of Iona.

Towards the end of the walk I crossed the Greenwich Meridian. This walk last crossed the Meridian four years ago on the south coast. I'd not expected to meet the line again until I'd reached the Humber but the fenland drains run so far inland that today, twice tomorrow and once more on Monday I'll pass from one hemisphere to another.

It wasn't planned, but I crossed the Meridian at noon GMT, a satisfyingly appropriate place to stop for lunch.