Get Lost Mountaineering

Skellingthorpe  Doddington  Eagle  Eagle Hall  N & S Scarle Collingham  Besthorpe  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

40 km/ 25 miles      About 3 – 4 hours

Introduction

This is a pleasant cycle although it does use some minor roads as well as a proper cycle track which is also a popular footpath so keep an eye open for pedestrians. South Scarle is a very attractive village. A new cycle track has been constructed between Collingham and Besthorpe but, in July 2020, it wasn't yet fully signposted. In time, this cycle track will extend to Fledborough to meet the sustrans track from Lincoln. Until it is completed, there will be short sections on the A1133.

Route

(1) Follow the cycle track from behind the community centre in the direction of Harby. Soon leave Skellingthorpe behind. After about 1.5 km, look for the newish sustrans track going off left which is signed for Doddington Hall although not very obviously so it can easily be missed at speed. It is the only tarmac track going off the main sustrans track. Follow the track which comes out on Kennel Lane opposite Doddington Church next to Doddington Hall which dates back to Elizabethan times. It is worth going into the Hall's grounds where there are 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.

(2) Continue on the road through Doddington to soon reach a left hand bend. Go right here towards Whisby and follow the road to a crossroads. Turn right for Eagle and continue to reach a T junction. Turn right and cycle through eagle Moor to reach Eagle. Go past Scarle Lane, on the right. Reach the village hall next to the distinctive entrance to the church. Continue ahead, passing The Struggler (pub) and follow the road through Eagle. There is a left hand bend just before the end of the village followed by some downhill which leads, after a while, to a T junction. Turn right, towards North Scarle, and follow the winding road to reach the hamlet of Eagle Hall. Turn right for North Scarle and pass the entrance to Eagle Hall House (on the left) then reach a T junction by Preston's Farm (on the right). Continue ahead towards North Scarle, about a mile. Reach the crossroads, close to the White Hart in North Scarle. Turn left and go down the main street past the pub to reach the church. Retrace but only as far as the narrow Blacksmiths Lane which connects to the road for South Scarle without having to go back as far as the junction. Turn right at the end of Blacksmiths Lane and follow the road out of North Scarle. Continue ahead at a junction where a road goes left for Eagle (Eagle Hall actually). Reach a T junction at the edge of South Scarle. Turn right and go into the village which is very picturesque and wouldn't look out of place in the Cotswolds. Follow the road through the village to the church where the road, Church Lane, goes right and soon leaves the village behind. Turn left at a T junction just before a bus shelter (on the right) and take the road signed for Collingham.

(3) Follow the road which soon climbs up a long, gently inclined hill which allows a free wheel down its other side to reach the (unsigned) outskirts of Collingham at the 30 mph signs. Continue to a T junction then turn right and continue to the main road, A1133, through Collingham. Cross the main road onto Low Street and follow this, bending round to the left, to reach All Saints Church. Turn right here onto a minor road for the River Trent. In about 100 m, turn right, onto a wide track and follow it for some distance, crossing a quarry access road. Look for a new section going off right signed Trent Valley way and going into a nature reserve. This is about where the track deteriorates if the turning is missed. The new track will soon have lakes on your left; if they are on your right then you have missed the turning. Follow the track to a gate then turn sharp right and continue out of the nature reserve, passing a rough car park. Continue to meet Trent Lane. Turn right and follow this into Besthorpe village where you need to fork left past the 30 mph signs. Pass the chapel and clock tower then continue ahead and follow the road until it bends around to the right to meet the A1133 which is the road from Newark to Gainsborough.

(4) Turn left, towards Gainsborough. Almost immediately, turn right, signed for N Scarle and Wigsley. Follow the road, passing over a diagonal crossroads to the west of North Scarle then continue over two more crossroads to reach the left turn into Wigsley village. Go through the village and continue out the other side. Continue to the foot of the old railway bridge which now goes over the sustrans track back to Lincoln. Just after a track on the right, there is a path which leads onto the sustrans track. The path can be muddy. The only alternative is to go over the bridge then fork right onto a track on the other side. Once on the sustrans track, head away from the bridge and back to Skellingthorpe passing under the road bridges at Harby and Doddington.

Notes

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