The short but varied ramble leads you from neighbouring Skidbrooke through the well-drained fields of the open countryside before returning you to the heart of Saltfleet village, after which the walk continues along a remarkable flat shoreline (you will have to walk a long way out across the sands for a paddle in the sea).
The route leaves the shore car park to head out across the rich farmlands of Lincolnshire. This area of the county used to be renowned for raising excellent carthorses, and a regular market and horse fair at Saltfleet attracted farmers and horse dealers from neighbouring counties.
The landscape of fields crisscrossed by drains is very flat, and beneath wide-open skies there are distant views of the Lincolnshire Wolds. As you walk alongside Sunderfleet Eau with cows and sheep grazing on either side, you can see a church standing quite alone in the fields to your right: St Botolph's, Skidbrooke, a building still maintained although no longer used for services.
You join the road back into Saltfleet. The village is overlooked by a tall brick mill that has recently been renovated, and in the centre of the village is the 17th-century Manor House (its gable faces the street while its remodelled five-bay front faces south; Oliver Cromwell is said to have stayed at the manor, which is reputed to have a blocked tunnel to the beach, and the house next door sports an unusual chimney which twists into a spiral).
Opposite is the 18th-century New Inn, an old-style pub. The tall, handsome brick building is surrounded by old trees leaning away from the prevailing wind; when the pub was built, the first floor would have looked out on ships at sea and fishing boats beached on the sands, whereas today the view is of holidaymakers strolling around the dunes and salt marshes.
In Skidbrooke, there is a striking water pump with a memorial to a brave local man: Trooper Frederick Alan Freshney, who gave his life on 20 May 1906 because of wounds sustained in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902).
From the village, the walk continues along the shoreline, the chief feature being the sand dunes. These form part of the Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes National Nature Reserve, which covers over 1,000 acres and also takes in tidal sand, mudflats, and marshes.
The shoreline changes constantly as the sea deposits sand and the wind whips it into dunes, stabilising only when plant colonies have established themselves.
Among the wildflowers to be seen in summer are yellow-wort and bee and pyramidal orchids, while in July and August the salt marshes are studded with massive clumps of mauve sea lavender (this is also a popular place to collect marsh samphire).
Birds that breed here include the whitethroat, linnet, and yellowhammer, while woodcocks and hen harriers are regular winter visitors. The dunes are also one of the last remaining habitats of the natterjack toad, recognised by the yellow stripe down its back (part of the reserve is adjacent to Ministry of Defence land, but all danger areas are marked).
