julian

Introduction

The walks

Lincoln North West
Lincoln North East
Lincoln South West
Lincoln South East
Lincoln-Skellingthorpe
Skellingthorpe – Doddington Hall

The nature of my job means that I tend to spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, and I’ve noticed that this is not a particularly healthy way to live. (Well, the waistband of my trousers has!) So, a sort of new year resolution I made at the start of this year was to try and walk for at least an hour every day. Believe it or not, I’ve kept it up (More or less). As I work in the City of Lincoln, (England, not Nebraska) most of them start from the centre of the city, but I’m going to include a few in the outskirts.

Each walk should not take more than an hour, although you do need to walk fairly briskly to get any real benefit.  Note this isn’t about competing, racing, or beating the clock. You’re meant to enjoy it, and although I have no medical qualifications that justify making such a claim, I think it helps your mental health too. (Although, as always, if you have, or suspect any underlying medical conditions please consult a doctor before doing any sort of exercise).

Most of the walks start in City Square, in the Centre of Lincoln. Where they don’t I’ve given instructions for how to get to the start by public transport, or the location of the nearest car park.

Lincoln North West

A nice walk along a canal bank, by the side of the golf course, and west common, followed by some fine views, and glimpses of the castle and cathedral. Takes about an hour.

Start by the Odeon Cinema on the North side of Brayford Pool, and keeping the pool on your left keep going away from the City Centre, passing under the flyover.

Right in front, there’s a narrow path between terraced houses and the canal. (Pictured.) Follow this to a road and then keep straight on until you reach a metal gate on to the canal towpath. Follow the path until you reach a public footpath sign pointing away from the canal. . Turn right and follow the track along the right hand side of the golf course. (Note this can be muddy after rain.) After about quarter of a mile, you’ll come to the busy Carholme Road. Cross this and take the path that leads up the side of West Common (Note, don’t go on to the Common itself.)

Note this section can be muddy too. The path now begins to climb sharply (Well, sharply by Lincoln standards anyway.) but follow it until you come to the next main road, Yarborough Road. Cross at the Pelican crossing, and turn left up Yarborough Road, for about 50 yards until you come to Long Leys Road. Turn right up here, until you come to Willis Close on your left. There is a path that takes you behind the houses on your right. Follow this, and you will emerge at the end of castle lane, where you get your first close up view of Lincoln Cathedral.

Walk down Castle Lane, and turn right into Union Road, passing the impressive gatehouse to Lincoln Castle on your left. At the T-junction at the end of Union Road, turn left, and then start to follow the main road down the hill. However, before you’ve gone very far, you will see a wide cobbled lane turning off to the right. This is Motherby Hill, a steep paved path back which runs behind the police station down to the bottom of the hill and it offers some spectacular views of the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire plain.

When you reach the bottom of Motherby Hill, turn left, and cross the road (Carefully, it can be a bit tricky.) Turn right down the hill, and you’ll emerge at a set of traffic lights by the New Life church. You can see the rear of the Odeon cinema, across the road. Make your way towards it, negotiating the complex junction (Not really designed for pedestrians!) and thus return to the starting point.

Lincoln North East (Details to follow)

Summary: This one gets the climb out of the way first! Up through Lincoln’s suburban streets, double back to go behind castle and cathedral, followed by a descent of an ancient stairway, a bit of industrial Lincoln and back to the centre.

Lincoln South West (Details to follow),

Summary: Out past burger kingdoms and retail parks, to follow a drainage ditch (not as grim as it sounds, honest) to a quaint Victorian park, and back along the Riverside Path to the city.

Lincoln South East (Details to follow)

Summary: Past the railway station, concrete flyover, and busy traffic,  but then to south common, and back to the Riverside path,

Lincoln – Skellingthorpe

Summary: Easiest walk so far – along the cycle track to Skellingthorpe. (But you’ll probably need to get a bus back!)

Skellingthorpe-Doddington Hall

Summary: One of the most pleasant walks. And the shortest. (2.1 miles) But not one you can realistically do in your lunch hour if you work in the city!

Getting to the start

Public Transport: Bus 29 (timetable) (pdf)  from Lincoln Bus Station (Get off at Skellingthorpe Community Centre)
Car Parking: Skellingthorpe Community Centre (Free)

Or, you could just walk, or cycle from Lincoln – which would add another 4 miles! (See above)

Directions.

From Skellingthorpe Community Centre, take the tarmac cycle track that runs behind the buildings. This was once the site of Skellingthorpe Station on the rather grandiosely titled Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway, an enterprise that failed to reach either Lancashire or the East Coast. However it survived until the early 1980s as a freight only line, having lost its passenger service in 1955. Of the station, the only surviving remnant is a small hut, which contains a display detailing the exploits of the airmen based at RAF Skellingthorpe during the war. There’s also a rather touching memorial to them in front of the Community Centre building.

Anyway, follow the cycle track as it winds away from the main road. Eventually it will take you under a bridge, after which a track comes in from the right. (If you’ve come by bus this is useful when you return, as it returns you to the road just by the bus stop for Lincoln) . Carry on for about half  a mile, until you come to a sign indicating a “Road used as a public path” which seems almost to point you back in the direction you’ve come from.  Turn left away from the cycle track and climb the gentle slope to a sign indicating a public bridleway. (Note this section of the path can get VERY muddy after rain)

Turn right at the bridleway sign and follow the reasonably well defined path through the grass. You should see a large, calm and pleasant looking pond on your left, and behind that the buildings of Skellingthorpe’s rendering plant.

If the wind is in the wrong direction, and it’s a warm day and you are very unlucky, you may get a hint of the indescribable smell that the plant can produce, and which gave the village the unfortunate (and now largely unjustified) epithet “Smelly Skelly”.  At first it doesn’t seem that unpleasant, but you’ll be amazed how quickly you get tired of it. Apparently, so the locals say, it used to be much, much worse!.

Keeping the pond on your left, make for the edge of a wood, and keep this on your right. The path is now very easy to follow, and eventually dives into the wood, by a gatepost. (below) (Again the ground can get very muddy indeed here).

After about half a remarkablytranquil mile, you’ll emerge on the side of a field, again with a well defined path. (Incidentally if you do this in early May, when the bluebells are out, this section is spectacular!) Follow this, until you arrive at some houses. This turns into a lane, (Kennel Lane) and simply follow this into Doddington past some new houses. Doddington Hall, and the little village church make quite a spectacular composition as you approach them although you don’t see the hall until you’re almost upon it. Cross the road (carefully – the stretch through Doddington is hidden behind a sharp bend, and it’s quite a fast and surprisingly busy road).  While the Hall and it’s Gardens have very limited opening hours, the shop and cafe are usually open Tuesday to Sunday. They’re slightly to the left of the hall a bit further down the road.

As for getting back. Well, having a cup of tea and retracing your steps is probably the best option. There is another footpath to the south of the village, that leads back to Skellingthorpe but this brings you out some distance from the village. Another alternative is to return to Kennel Lane, rather than following it to the right take the farm track that branches to the left. This isn’t actually a public right of way, and a notice on a gate says so in no uncertain terms. It’s not in any case, a particularly interesting route, and it brings you out quite a bit further down the cycle track, which you can follow back into Skellingthorpe (or all the way to Lincoln, if you’re feeling fit!) If you don’t mind a long wait, Doddington village does have a bus service back to Lincoln, but for reasons that defy any rational explanation, it only runs on weekday evenings! (See the timetable link above)