Get Lost Mountaineering

Skellingthorpe  S Clifton  Spalford Warren  Girton  Besthorpe  Collingham  S Scarle  Eagle  Doddington

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

45 km/28 miles     About 3 – 4 hours

Introduction

This is a mainly pleasant cycle much of which is on a sustrans track or minor roads. From Skellingthorpe to the Harby junction, it is a good tarmac track but less good from Harby to Clifton on Trent and it is more like a path in places. The exit from the sustrans track to the road between North and South Clifton is more of a path than a track and can be muddy. There are three short sections on the busy A1133 (Newark to Gainsborough) road. A recently constructed cycle track runs from Besthorpe to Collingham and there are plans for this to to be extended to Fledborough in due course so check online before setting out. The completed section has not yet been fully signposted. (July 2020)

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. Continue, ignoring the sharp left turn for Harby. Almost immediately, the track deteriorates and can be muddy in places. Continue ahead, passing some turbines on the right then crossing Wigsley Drain before passing under the Wigsley Road bridge then the South Clifton Road bridge soon after. Soon after, pass the only house next to the track which still has its old level crossing. Continue and go under another bridge, near Moor Farm, then another (on no road) before reaching the remains of Clifton on Trent station. One platform and a station sign remains but the former station buildings are now private and fenced off. Just after the station is the A1133 road bridge, part of the road from Newton on Trent to Collingham and Newark. Continue along the track for a short distance to reach an obvious sign. Leave the sustrans track and take the right turn which continues below the sustrans track. It is more of a path than a track and can be muddy in places but soon delivers one onto the minor road between North and South Clifton.

(2) Turn left for South Clifton and go under the viaduct then continue towards South Clifton. On entering the village, take the right fork, Back Street, and follow it to its end where it meets Trent Lane on a corner where the building used to be the Red Lion public house. Turning right would take you to the river but it is not a good track in wet conditions. Turning left takes you into the centre of South Clifton where there is also a Parish Council information board at the junction with Front Street. It is possible to reach here more directly by taking the left fork on entering South Clifton. Continue ahead, up Vicarage Street, to reach the A1133. Turn right and in about 1 km, reach the left turn for Spalford. Reach a triangle in the village and turn right onto Rabbithill Lane. Follow this out of the village. When the road goes left, continue ahead on a track which takes you into Spalford Warren Nature Reserve. Pass an information board and reach a minor road at the end of the reserve. Turn left and follow the road to rejoin the A1133 at Weecar. Turn left, towards Newark. In less than 200 m, turn right and go through the village of Girton. After the houses, it looks like you may be following a wide river but it isn't the Trent but some lagoons. Follow the minor road to rejoin the A1133. Turn right and head towards Newark. In less than 1 km, turn right into Fleet Lane and follow this through the village. Reach a fork before a chapel with a clock and continue straight ahead. Exit the village and reach Trent Lane where you turn right. Follow this until a track goes left signed for the nature reserve. Follow the track to reach a wide gate. The new section of cycle track goes left just after the gate and goes round the side of a pleasant lake. Stay with the track for some distance, crossing a quarry access road before reaching a public road at the back of Collingham. Turn left and soon reach All Saints Church on Low Street.

(3) Turn left and follow Low Street until it meets the A1133 at the north end of Collingham. Cross over, signed for South Scarle. After about 300 m, turn left onto the road for South Scarle. After the houses, there is a short climb then a gentle downhill section before reaching a T junction. Turn right and enter South Scarle village. Follow the road through, passing the church and follow the road, slightly downhill and towards Swinderby, to reach a crossroads. Turn left, signed for North Scarle and Eagle, and follow the road for about 1 km then take the right fork for Eagle. Reach a T junction just before Eagle Hall. Turn right and go through Eagle Hall to reach a left turn for Eagle. Follow this road to reach Eagle Village. Go through the village passing the pub and church and continue ahead towards Eagle Moor. Continue and go past the riding centre. After the row of houses on the left, there is a solitary house further on the left. Turn off left here and follow the less busy road which goes into a wood (Pickworth's Plot) at the first bend. Follow the road, rough in places, to reach a crossroads. Turn left, for Doddington, and follow a meandering road to reach the busy B1190 at one end of Doddington village. It is only a short section on this busy road and there is a good footpath on both sides of the road.

(4) Soon after joining the main road, there is a wide drive with a sign for “Giant Cycles”. This is the way into the Doddington Hall facilities apart from the actual hall itself which is further down the road. Doddington Hall dates back to Elizabethan times. The facilities include shops and two tearooms as well as a cycle shop. Depending on the time of year, parts of the hall, itself, may be open. It is worth going past the cycle shop to look at the back of the hall and fairly picturesque small lake. In the run up to Christmas, there is a Christmas shop on the way to the lake. Return to the main road and find the start of Kennel Lane, opposite the church. Follow Kennel Lane for less than 100 m, going straight on where it bends to the right. Join the recently created cycle track which takes one back to the main sustrans track from Skellingthorpe. Turn right onto the main track and soon return to the community centre.

Notes

(a) This cycle ride took place in July, 2020