On Knight Street, in Pinchbeck village centre, take an alleyway called Gallery Walk just along from the Spar shop. Go through the staggered metal barriers and follow it to cross the junction of Brownlow Crescent and Bear Lane and continue out beside fields and a ditch. At the lane at the end go left, then in a few paces right, to resume the route between more houses.

At the end of Gallery Walk turn right on to a lane, then branch left on to Bacons Lane (which becomes Cuckoo Lane). Follow this quiet thoroughfare across the fields all the way to the main road on the edge of Surfleet.

Turn left and walk along the pavement to Surfleet Bridge. Don’t cross the bridge but cross the road instead for a narrow, signposted public footpath between houses and the River Glen. It leads along the end of an open back garden and then out along field-edges above the river. Beyond a slipway the route goes under the A16 bridge and continues along the riverbank past a golf course. Heed the warning about wayward golf balls. At the end go over a small concrete bridge and continue along a wide track to reach the sluice gate on the left. 

This part of the river is known as Reservoir because it has been significantly widened into more of a basin. Here you can extend the walk by crossing over and turning right on the embankment path out to the confluence of the rivers Glen and Welland. To return to Surfleet Bridge either cross the sluice and turn left at the end of the lane for a pavement route via Surfleet Seas End, under the A16 and back through the houses of Surfleet, or simply retrace your steps via the riverbank fields and golf course.

At Surfleet Bridge spend a few moments to inspect the sinking Church of St Laurence, with its alarmingly tilted tower and spire, then take a footpath signposted ‘Pinchbeck Station’ on the riverside opposite The Mermaid Inn. Walk upstream on the waterside path, cross over the road (but not the bridge) at Crossgate and continue beside the river, making for the unmissable, huge water tower ahead.

Pass the riverside of the water tower, cross the railway line with care, and finally emerge on the road by The Ship pub (closed at the time of writing). Cross over to the pavement and turn left to follow this across the bridge over the railway and back into the centre of Pinchbeck.