Get Lost Mountaineering

Skellingthorpe Harby Wigsley

Start/Finish

Skellingthorpe community centre where there is usually ample free parking. This is most easily reached from the Skellingthorpe roundabout on the A46 Lincoln bypass. Take the road into Skellingthorpe and the car park is roughly where the cycle track from Lincoln crosses the road.

Distance/Time

15 km/10 miles    About an hour

Introduction

This is a pleasant cycle although it does use some of the minor roads from Harby to where the Wigsley Road crosses the sustrans track. The rest of the route is on a proper cycle track which is also a popular footpath so keep an eye open for pedestrians.

Route

(1) Follow the cycle track from behind the community centre in the direction of Harby. Soon leave Skellingthorpe behind. After just over 3 km, go under the Doddington Road bridge. Continue for about another 1.5 km to go under the Harby Road bridge. Immediately after, turn left (a tight reverse fork) and follow it up to the road. Turn right and head towards Harby village, passing Queen Eleanor's Primary School. Stay on the road to reach a T junction just after the village hall (on the left).

(2) Turn right, for Wigsley, onto a long, straight and exposed section if it is windy. Pass an old windmill behind the houses on the right. Reach the left hand bend just before Wigsley with a right turn into the main part of the small village a little further. Take the right turn and go through Wigsley village and out the other side. Continue until an old railway bridge is reached where the sustrans track back to Skellingthorpe is rejoined. Rejoining the sustrans track can be awkward. Just before the bridge there is a farm track going into the field on the right which follows the road to the track but this can be muddy and it doesn't actually join the sustrans track leaving one with about 10 m of rough ground to push the bike across. A footpath leaves the road at about the same place and is between the road and the farm track. This is not too bad in summer but it is used by horses so can be badly churned up in wet weather.

(3) Once back on the sustrans track, turn right (the bridge will be to the left) and follow the main track back to Skellingthorpe.

Notes

(a) This cycle ride took place in November, 2019.