Arnside to Boston

Day 1 - Tuesday 19th May

Three train changes. Two of the trains were several minutes late. I just managed to make the connections but it was close.

Arrived Boston 12:18 pm. It was a bit early to go to my b and b so I had a look round and a café snack. Two immediate impressions - the number of people smoking and an apparent majority population of eastern europeans. Practically all conversation overheard was foreign. The surrounding area is devoted to arable/produce/vegetable farming with a big demand for seasonal and casual labour.

The Y-Not guest house b and b was ten minutes walk from the town centre and I arrived at 1:30. This was pre-booked and I had told Mrs McGarry I would be arriving fairly early. There was nobody at home. I rang two phone numbers with no result. At 2:45 I had just written a note to say I was departing to find alternative accommodation when Mrs M phoned. She was back in ten minutes having forgotten about me. She showed me her book which was blank, but she did then remember our phone conversation about my walk etc. I was a bit cross at first but she had obviously made a genuine mistake and she was very pleasant and welcoming with everything in her b and b at a good standard.

A priority job is to get all my tech on charge. I have a backup Nokia pay-as-you-go phone on Orange as well as my Vodafone iPhone and I found I had left its charger at home. I only bought that phone last year from the Orange shop in the Trafford Centre and it appears it is already obsolete. Two mobile shops (the first owned by a nineteen year old Polish guy who could hardly speak English) could not supply me and then I found one of those dubious techy shops where they "unlock" or "jail-break" mobiles which is something I know little about - it all seems a bit subversive.

There seemed to be very few eating places in the centre of town and no proper pubs. Eventually I found The Duke of York over the footbridge. Here again the proprietors had gone out shopping leaving the pub in charge of a guy who could not put wheels in motion for food so I waited and read my book, Borrowed Time by Robert Goddard - Kindle/iPad version. When the landlord and wife returned I had: a pint of Fosters, sausages, mash and giant Yorkshire Pudding, and finishing with chocolate sponge and hot custard all for £10.15 ! 'Twill be different in the Cotswolds I reckon. It was only 5:30 and I was the only customer.





St. Botolph's church ( Boston Stump)

I took a couple of other photos and have taken others when passing through on my Broads to The Lakes walk and it always seems to be leaning. It can be seen for miles around in this expanse of flat arable land.




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Location:Langrick Road,Boston,United Kingdom