Theddlethorpe History Club
WALKS
Join us for a walk around a local area, learning about history as we go.
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Every Other Friday, usually meeting at 10am, we arrange details for the next meet up on that day.
Upcoming Walk Dates
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24th May
7th June
21st June
5th July
19th July
13th September
27th September
11th October
25th October
8th November
22nd November
7th February 2025
21st February 2025
Previous Walks
23nd September 2023: Mill Road ending at King's Head
Meeting at the village hall car park, then going up Mill Road, across the village to the a1031 then back via the pub path so good boots essential. Lifts for pickup of cars were available to anyone who wanted to just do part of it. Thanks to everyone who came and Thanks to Jackie Hutton for opening up the pub for us and providing the drink and snacks at the end of the walk.
6th October 2023: All Saints Church
Starting off from the Kings Head Pub at 10 am, reaching the church around 10.45 am for a history talk and tour. People could join at the church that was open to those not wanting to do the whole walk. Drinks and snacks at the Pub on completion of the walk.
A big thanks To Martin Chapman Tom Hays and Eleanor Milner for the information they have given me and information from Jean Simpson Archive she has left for us.
Theddlethorpe All Saints' Church, photo by Alison Gray-Green on 6th Oct 2023
3rd November 2023: Stain Hill
Looks nothing does it? We pass it so often and don't even give it a second glance but oh boy the History behind this amazing mound. Thanks to everyone who turned up for the walk and talk where the topic was Stain Hill. This place has inhabited sound Neolithic times. It was created at the end of the last ice age as Glacial Till. It has been an island in the shallow sea. It has been a Roman Trading area. It has been a medieval strong hold and played it's part in the English Civil War. Stain Hill has so much to tell.
Further Information and Links about Stain Hill
Aerial Photo of Stain Hill © Copyright Chris
Location on the map
The location of Stain Hill in the Anglo-Saxon Outmarsh (drawn by C. R. Green)
Stain Hill and the Lincolnshire Marshes in the Anglo-Saxon period by Dr Caitlin R. Green
The Changing Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Coastline of Lincolnshire, with Dr Caitlin Green https://www.youtube.com
Shaw, D. (2021). Report on a Scheme of Archaeological Monitoring and Recording: Stain Hill Farm, Withern, Alford, Lincolnshire. Lincoln: Allen Archaeology Ltd. https://doi.org/10.5284/1100429
Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer: PREHISTORIC FINDS FROM STAIN HILL, WITHERN WITH STAIN https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk
Castle Hill Withern http://www.castleuk.net
Castle Hill: moated site with Civil War earthworks https://ancientmonuments.uk
History, gazetteer, and directory of Lincolnshire, and the city and diocese Google Books
17th November 2023: Nature Walk Around the Reserve with Former Warden John Walker
Can't thank John Walker enough for leading the walk from Churchill Lane car park. What a lot we all learnt. Lovely Soup back at the pub too.
Walking Group on Theddlethorpe Dunes, 17th November 2023, photo by Travis Hesketh
Walking group on the Nature Reserve, November 2023, photo by Charlotte Graves
2nd Feb 2024 The Ship Inn, Old Brickyard, Old Watchtower etc
Meeting at Churchill Land Car Park 10am The walk takes in The Ship Inn, St Helen’s Churchyard, the old Brickyard and the old Watch Tower. Return to car park then travel to King’s Head for hot soup at around 12 noon.
16th February 2024: Smuggling talk by Peter Leak
From Brickyard Lane to Crook Bank
Peter Leak is a retired coast guard and has a vast archive of facts and photos to share. He co-authored the book "Washed in Washed out and Washed Away" with his wife Gemma.
Further Information and Links about Smuggling on our Coast
The Ghosts and Smugglers of Alford: www.youtube.com
There is Sorrow On The Sea by Gilbert Parker: online-literature.com/gilbert-parker
1st March 2024: The Lost Village of Mablethorpe St Peter
Big thanks to everyone who was brave /daft enough to join the walk in the pouring rain! From Crook Bank Car Park, a circular walk to Kent Avenue and back through the sand dunes with the ironic talk about the lost village of Mablethorpe St Peters. Then gathering at the King's Head to look at the documents that informed the talk.
On the 31st December/ 1st January 1287 a flood was recorded by the Louth Chronicles who said "The church of St Peters of Mablethorpe was torn apart by the waves".
Despite the weather the group enjoyed an fascinating talk led by Sarah around the area where St Peter's used to be.
More about the history can be seen here:
15th March 2024: Doggerland, Neptune's Bench and the Time and Tide Bell
The title of this walk, setting off from Crook Bank car park, was it's all about Doggerland not Dogging land. Whenever you mention the Theddlethorpe beach car parks there are always titters of laughter. When the villagers get together there is always speculation about who the hell Lofty High tower and Marilyn Monroe actually were and more recently how can we forget Annette Curtain? This beach however is so much more. It has tails of smugglers, pirates, lost villages, shipwrecks and of course the beautiful nature it supports. We took in Neptune's Bench and the Time and Tide Bell while hearing stories from the past.
It's hard to imagine living here on the Lincolnshire Marsh and coast that at one time we would have been very far inland. In fact, it was only confirmed after September 1931 when a Norfolk fisherman called Pilgrim E Lockwood hauled up a peat log containing a carved Deer antler spear head that fell into renowned Archaeologist Graham Clerk hands that this landmass existed joining Britain to the continent. Earlier people such as Robert Godwin Austin and Clement Reed had written books asking the question and proving some evidence, however it took until the late 60s when Bryony Coles first tentative map showing where this lost land could have extended to the Idea of Doggerland was brought to life in people's imagination.
20 to 30 thousand years ago Modern Humans found themselves excluded from any part of the UK due to the ice sheets making the area uninhabitable. The sea levels however were thought to be as much as 150meters lower than current times. From 18000 years ago however a steady warming took place. The UK and Ireland were still all one big continent connected to the continent but it was open tundra. By 15000 years ago towards the end of the Palaeolithic era Humans following big game such as reindeer and mammoth started to enter the area from more southern parts of Europe. These populations were no more than a few thousand hardy individuals. At this time mainland Scotland was still covered in ice but a “Goldilocks Region” developed in England and Doggerland.
Something catastrophic happened in the Northern hemisphere around 12900 years ago. Following Randall Carlson's work, he and many other scientists’ hypotheses give evidence that this event was triggered by a string of meteorites. A chain of events occurred resulting in volcanic eruptions, earth quakes, massive deluge and huge fires leaving most of the north covered in a black matt layer. This time saw the disappearance of many Human populations together with all the Megafauna such as Mammoth, Mastodons, Woolly Rhino and the larger Wolf and Bear species of the time.
This time marked the end of the Pleistocene and the start of the Holocene the time we now live in. It got cold again for 1300 years during the Younger Dryas Period stunting any recovery, but after this time as we entered the Pre-Boreal period 11600 BP to 10800 BP of warm wet conditions. Our area looking out onto Doggerland became primordial Forrest the evidence of which has been seen on our beaches in our lifetime. We remained in the middle of this land bridge for the longest time even as Doggerland was slowly sinking beneath rising sea levels. It remained a perfect spot for human habitation with its rivers, lakes, marshes, hills, and alluvial planes, forests of birch, hazel, alder and oak. Plentiful food sourcing of fish, foul, wild boar, red deer, roe deer, bear, wolf, beaver, badger, horse, aurochs, wild cat, hare, seals, whales, porpoise, eels and crustaceans became a place of plenty as we entered the Boreal dry warm period from 10800 BP to 7800 BP. Here in Lincolnshire would have been prime real estate being a low area near to rivers and sea to the north East. People would be fairly settled with permanent and seasonal camps. Our land bridge remained to the continent but was forever shrinking to the point where people would have been unable to make it across without a boat. By 9500 years ago Britain and Ireland were permanently separated. The melting of the Laurentide ice sheet in North America resulted in massive amounts of water flowing into the Atlantic.
At this point another disaster happened. The combination of circumstances meant that Storegga shelf off Norway collapsed into the sea resulting in no less than 3 tsunamis happening at the end of October 8200 years ago. People who had returned from summer camps at high level to coastal and lakeside winter accommodation found themselves without warning facing a 10-meter-high wall of water that travelled 40km inland. It's thought some parts of Dogger Island did remain until 5000 years ago however no sign of terrestrial life has been found under the North Sea since the 8.2k event.
The surviving population here settled to a new life of agriculture in time. We are still fascinated by the sea. We remember the souls we lost in our celebrations in that time of year as the summer ends. We look up at the Taurid Meteor Showers and wonder and hope and wish upon it for long life and protection.
Further Information and Links about Doggerland
Not Drowning but Waving! The Rediscovery of Doggerland | Prof. Vince Gaffney | Megalithomania 2023 youtube: Rediscovery of Doggerland
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The Mystery of Doggerland… Atlantis in the North Sea?: youtube: Mystery of Doggerland
Doggerland Discoveries: The Incredible Lost and Found Artefacts | Ancient Architects: www.youtube:Artefacts of Doggerland
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An Integrated Investigation of a Lost Valley in Doggerland by Martin Bates: youtube: Lost Valley in Doggerland
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How Doggerland Sank Beneath The Waves (500,000-4000 BC) // Prehistoric Europe Documentary: youtube: How Doggerland Sunk
Randall Carlson's Ancient Catastrophe (Full Documentary): youtube: Ancient Catastrophe
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The drowned villages and eroding coastline of Lincolnshire, c. 1250–1600: Dr Caitlin R Green
The Time and Tide Bell
A Bell Rung by the Rising Tide: Mablethorpe info
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To celebrate and reinforce connections in local communities, between different parts of the country, between the land and the sea, between ourselves and our environment.
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26th April 2024: The King's Head, Churches, The Old Mill and Post Office
10th May 2024: Churchill Lane to Rimac and back
It was a beautiful sunny morning for the walking group to meet at Churchill Lane car park and do a circular walk to Rimac and back.
There was a lot of history to talk about going through the Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes National Nature Reserve: through areas that have been the site of many shipwrecks, a First World War army training camp, a family holiday camp between the wars, guarded from invasion in the Second World War, used as an RAF bombing range, becoming a nature reserve in the 1950s and 60s.
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Thanks to Travis, Sam and Ken for the photos
Some of the comments and feedback
What a fabulous time we both had today with the walking group. Sarah you make the walks so much fun and informative throughout and can't thank you enough for all your efforts with all your snippets of information on the local surroundings. Loving the post-walk group gathering at the pub, absolutely perfect finish to the walk with the inspiring talk from Sarah, the drinks, nibbles and sandwiches - what isn't there to like! Thank you Jackie for the warmth of the log fire too. Alison, always great to see our volunteer taxi driver on the hunt for any of us in need of a lift - what a great idea, thank you. Our walking group has a truly lovely group of people and look forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks. We covered approximately 7 miles today and we're feeling energised - Kathleen Roberts 3rd November 2023
Thank you so much Sarah Goodley for organising these walks. I have made new friends, found out so much about the social history of our area and become inspired to record as much as I can about the area which, for 15 years has seemed very blank. Even more thanks to John, who gave us such a personal insight into events as well as dating happenings to the whole area. Lastly, thanks to Jackie at The Kings Head for some very yummy soup! - Alison Gray-Green 17th November 2023
