Birros two

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I walked this route from Bircotes. It begins on pavements, to reach Harworth then turns north onto Tickhill Rd / Bawtry Road (B6463) part way along (where we enter Doncaster City area) the pavement runs out but there is a verge to escape onto. Eventually, we turn westwards along Sheepwash Lane, which has a hard surface. Once we reach the imposing gateway (site for a house ?) we turn northwards on Hopyard Lane. This line is followed for 500m until the lane turns sharp right (at a yellow topped post). Here we continue on a trodden line across the field to reach a ditch crossing and then on again to reach an obvious stile. The line continues over a pasture to another stile and then onward towards the wood corner. It is easy to follow and was dry underfoot when I was there. Near the wood we cross the ditch on a metal footbridge and pick up a track that takes us via several sharp bends to the outskirts of Rossington. There is an obvious footway straight ahead to reach the pavement beside a residential road - followed to the level crossing and then up to the hub-point. There is a small shop here (the only one seen since we joined the B6463 in Harworth. The townscapes are not pretty but the countryside between is pleasant enough.

Walked from Bircotes to Rossington. This is probably as good a route as is possible, though the road walk out of Bircotes costs it a star and the muddiness of the path north of Tickhill costs it another.

The walk out of Bircotes through Harworth starts on pavements. Beyond the entrance to the sewage works there are still traces of an old pavement for a while, but eventually there are just grass verges, and in places these are too steep to be comfortable to walk on, but the road is not horribly busy and the traffic seemed considerate. There are road works at the A631 crossing, and once over the main road there is a pavement for a short distance up Stripe Road. Beyond, there is a walkable verge all the way to Sheepwash Lane, but most of the time it also felt safe to walk on the edge of the road.

Sheepwash Lane is quite wet in places (mostly frozen puddles), but has good views over a wide flat landscape. Eventually we take an unsignposted right turn up Hopyard Lane, a good track. Eventually the track turns right but the right of way continues straight across fields, the first of which was a little muddy. The last field before the Torne bridge was recently ploughed, and it appears that most walkers go round the edge of it, so that is what I did on this route.

Beyond the bridge there is a small detour round the edge of the second field, and some of the agricultural tracks were quite wet and muddy, but the edge of Rossington is easily reached, and from there the rest is a simple pavement, though you will be lucky to cross the East Coast Main Line without waiting for one or more trains.

Overall, this is quite an enjoyable walk. The road walk could be avoided by crossing the A1 west of Harworth and skirting the east side of Tickhill, but this would almost be duplicating two existing routes, so on balance I prefer this more direct version.

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