Get Lost Mountaineering

Walk 23 Sustrans into Old Wood via Arch, West Path, Edge of Wood & Weaving Paths (medium)

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

8 km/5 miles    About 1 – 2 hours

Introduction

This route uses the sustrans track then a branch off, under a wishbone arch, to follow the edge of the Old Wood before branching off west into the wood. It then leaves the wood and follows the outside edge of the wood to a bridge before turning back into the wood on a grassy track then a vehicle track leading to two very pleasant weaving paths through the heart of the wood before returning past the houses at the extension of Woodbank (road from Skellingthorpe) then through woodland back to the sustrans track. The section on the outside of the wood may not be a right of way but there are no signs saying this until you reach the bridge.

Route

(1) From the community centre car park walk past the play areas and follow the track in the direction of Doddington and Harby. Soon after the play area, there is the option of leaving the track and following a new path (still under construction in 2020) through the adjacent trees. Ignore the first right turn but take the second which ends with a short ascent up a bank by Bluebell Pond. Staying on the main sustrans track also brings you to this point. Continue on the sustrans track, passing under the road bridge the passing by the old farm bridge (overgrown). Pass a path going left and right then a picture before passing the newer sustrans track going left for Doddington which is well signed. Don't take the branch but stay on the main sustrans track until just past the field on the right where there is path going into the Old Wood which passes through the wishbone arch. Follow the path, ignoring the first path going off left soon after the arch (it soon peters out). Take the second path on the left which dips down slightly from the track and passes a pond further on. Stay with the path to reach an obvious bend where the track turns north. Leave the path exactly on the bend where there is a faint path (with a few brambles), leading roughly NW. The path quickly reaches the edge of the wood, only about 40 m, and crosses a shallow ditch which is easily crossed in a dry spell. On the other side, you are on the edge of a ploughed field which may have a crop planted. Turn right and follow a narrow unplanted strip along the edge of the wood. Pass some corners and eventually reach a bridge over a ditch which takes you back into the wood.

(2) Cross the bridge and continue ahead, following a wide grassy path which reaches a crossroads with a track going ahead and left and the path left to exit the wood being on the right. Continue ahead, east, and follow the vehicle track to a bend where the main track goes left and a minor track continues ahead. Take the minor track and follow it to a crossroads where a wide path/track goes right (back to the arch). On the left, behind a short fence/entrance is the start of the first weaving path. Take this path follow the delightful weaving path through the wood to reach a track. Turn right and follow the track to a gate before Old Wood House where there is a map. Just after the gate, turn right and follow a similar path back to the sustrans track. In March, expect to see the woodland floor covered in white wood anemones. In April, these give way to bluebells and a few pink wood anemones.

(3) Turn left, onto the track and follow it east. Pass two paths joining from the left and reach a vehicle track in front of houses. Continue ahead until a sign (restricted byway) allows you to go right and over a bridge. If you miss this you will soon reach a junction with a postbox. After the bridge, follow the obvious track, passing a few houses and some paddocks before the track becomes a path and enters the wood. Follow the path and soon reach the main sustrans track. Turn left and retrace your outward route back to the community centre.

Notes

(a) This walk took place in June, 2020.