The 5:30am arrival of pickers in the field next to my tent meant an early start. I ended having breakfast next to a portable pickers toilet next to a field of broccoli. Ok I did nick a bit of broccoli to go with my noodles 😀.
After an initial panic with another road closed sign I was soon going along a very pleasant tree shaded sea wall. Then I came to Her Majesties Prison , North Sea Camp.
THe footpath goes through the prison grounds and for me to carry on I had to ring the prison and an officer had to be sent to escort me. I have worked in prisons so tucked my phone and GPS well away. Waving either of those around in a prison would make my life very complicated.
HMP North Sea Camp is an open prison but even open prisons don’t normally have footpaths through them. This apparently is the fault of the Ramblers who kicked up when it was to be closed off. There is a perfectly good alternative route and the security issues in my view and the officer’s should have been enough to close it.
He was cheerful enough as he escorted me off the premises and I made my way now in the rain to Boston.
I bumped into an ex farmer now in his 80’s who on hearing I was going to Boston joined the rest of the people who said I should be careful there.
I can see why the 80 year old farmer had difficulties with Boston, lots of youngsters, most of them not speaking English and a mass of European food stores. The shock of the new.
However I stayed in a lovely pub called the Carpenters aka the carps. Absolutely cracking local pub with good food and very decent beer.