Carsou two

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I walked this route from Southwell to Carlton in October.

Leaving Southwell is very straightforward, I found the footpath sign easily and walked to the path T-junction and walked uphill past the Minster School playing fields until I got to the first field. The first thought that struck me was how very large the fields were. The GPX route and OS Map advised walking through the middle of a field, but I contented myself with walking the well-used path next to the hedge – it got me to the same spot, and I didn’t feel as exposed as I might have done walking a few hundred metres of open field.

For the early part of the walk out of Southwell, I passed though fields owned by Nottingham Trent University (I passed the agricultural and environment services campus on the bus into Southwell). These fields had information signs at the start of the paths, explaining the environment and wildlife that lives there – an excellent sign that walkers are welcome on their land.

My first village that I walked through was Bleasby. Unfortunately, I did not see any amenities here, the first I came to was the pub at Caythorpe.

The road into Gibsmere turned into a track, which then turned into a path. The only small issue I had came at Mill Farm, where there was a ‘fenced’ garden where two unsupervised dogs came to tell me that this was their path, and I wasn’t welcome – not snarling, just grumbling and they walked with me a few paces with a ‘move on traveler’ vibe. A calm voice and slow but determined walk to the little footbridge allowed me passage (and a farewell howl from one of the dogs), but someone less confident with dogs might have been daunted by this episode.

Getting to Caythorpe, the footpath across the road was easily found but the signpost is obscured by the overhanging tree.

All paths were well used, and I easily walked into Gunthorpe. This part was a little tedious as I had to walk a very narrow path next to a high fence around a Motorhome sales site. This got me to the best part of the walk – alongside the River Trent, where I chatted to friendly fishermen about the weather.

A fork in the path (take the right path) let me straighten the path and avoid the oxbow in the river, taking me to the second pub, the Ferry Boat Inn at Stoke Bardolph. From there the footpath took me alongside a fast-flowing dyke a little way before I took another fork left and made my way into Carlton.

Two points - 1) as you begin the walk into Carlton, ignore the footbridge you come to, just continue on the path right, and 2) the road bridge in photo 14 doesn't have a path, but the road is quiet and a little care is all that's needed to walk under it.

This was a pleasant if unremarkable walk (with few amenities).

Walked from Carlton to Southwell. There is nothing wrong with this route, that does the job fairly efficiently. I have a couple of minor issues with the GPX plotting which is a little slapdash. I have submitted an alternative (CARSOU 3) that uses more of the river Trent path and passes the shops and cafes in Gunthorpe and is also a slightly shorter route.

Leaving Carlton station (which is actually in Netherfield), we go left along Station Road and turn right onto the tree-lined Conway Road, which leads us to the Colwick Loop Road (formerly the A612), which we can cross at the lights at the junction of Burton Road (there is no pelican crossing directly here but there is a central refuge - alternatively you can cross Burton Road on a pelican crossing and again on another at the junction with Shearing Hill). We turn right along the far edge of the park - here the path goes into the park further right/west than the straight line on the GPX, but moves further east about two thirds of the way across where the path starts rising to cross the railway. This takes us down to Chandos Street, where we cross under the old Gedling Colliery railway bridge and immediately turn right. [A shorter alternative with no main road crossings would be to walk straight from the Carlton meeting point to this bridge along Victoria Road and Chandos Street]. We cross the new A612 (Trent Valley Road) - there is a refuge but no pelican crossing here and go straight on, following Ouse Dyke until we reach a crossroads of paths.

Here we turn left - the actual well trodden footpath on the ground takes a straight line along the edge of the field and does not follow the right of way as marked on the OS map and the GPX file. At Stoke Lane the way forward may be hidden by parked cars - there is a stile, but most people ignore it and use a gap in the fence a little further left. At the next junction we go half-left, and where the surfaced track leaves the drainage ditch we follow the ditch straight on, climbing the bank when we reach a more substantial straight drainage ditch. Just before we reach the road in Stoke Bardolph the path goes right through trees to the road (not straight ahead as the GPX suggests). Note the pub just off the route to the south.

Walk along Stoke Lane (or on the verge, which is usually obstructed by fishermen's cars) and where it turns away from the river take the path through the wooded area which leads out onto Burton Joyce's large riverside meadow. Follow the river (past a couple of benches) round the bend to Trent Lane. Our route takes the shortest route straight along Trent Lane, which can get a little muddy when wet - those with more time on their hands may prefer to follow the riverside path around another big bend.

Trent Lane eventually rejoins the river path, which we leave just after crossing Cocker Beck (and before Gunthorpe Bridge is visible) on a pleasant field path to the left. At the far side of the field our path takes us over the beck on a small bridge to a rather unpleasant section where the path is hemmed in by the fence of the large caravan park (Lowdham Leisure World). I had never used this footpath before and now I know why! Just before the A6097 the path goes left across a field. The crossing of the A6097 may need patience as it can be busy, but there is at least a central refuge available. We then go straight on to Gunthorpe Main Street (anyone wanting to use the pubs and cafes needs to detour right here). We go left and turn right into Peck Lane.

Where the lane ends we go straight on, then right along the next field boundary and left over Car Dyke to reach the Black Horse pub at Caythorpe. We turn left along Main Street (past a telephone box which is now a book exchange) to the bridge over Dover Beck. We turn right along a path which follows the beck on a grassy flood barrier - once again the GPX file is very approximate here. We follow the beck around a number of twists and turns and over a couple of stiles to emerge at Hoveringham Mill, where we cross a small footbridge and follow the drive a short distance to a sign which leads us further left on the older bridleway which takes us to Gonalston Lane.

Our route goes straight ahead along another bridleway. Note the sign which claims that the Reindeer Inn at Hoveringham is 2-3 minutes walk away - this is optimistic - 5-10 would be more realistic unless running, but it is a nice pub with views of the cricket field! When you reach the farm track just before Thurgarton Lane it is best to ignore the map and use the farm track to reach the road - trying to follow the right of way line here requires a fence crossing with no stile. The GPX file and the OS map both show an impassable route beyond the road - we actually follow Thurgarton Lane right around the corner to an obvious path left, which is marked as a black dashed footpath on the OS 1:25000 map. At the next path junction the path goes half left before the hedge not after it (once again the OS map is wrong) and another track takes us straight on until we reach a farm road, which we follow until at a right turn we take the field path straight on into Gibsmere.

When we reach the Bleasby-Fiskerton road at a crossroads, we turn left towards Bleasby - the pavement is initially on the right but crosses the road partway through the village. Note the Waggon and Horses pub, which is off the route but is visible across a field to the right.

We follow Main Road most of the way through Bleasby before taking the footpath right along Shale Lane (high hedges prevent you cutting the corner as shown on the GPX). Just beyond the houses we take the left hand track which we follow around a little wood to the level crossing on Gorsy Lane, which has lights. Our route goes left up Gorsy Lane over the railway until the lane ends at a field, where we follow the field edge round to the right and then left when we reach Halloughton Dumble, which we cross on a little wooden bridge. Beyond the bridge we take a well-trodden path half-right. The right turn along another field edge is less obvious and could easily be missed, and the footpath around Weldon Farm stays in this field around another little wood, but the deviation from the right of way line beyond/north of the farm as shown on the GPX is correct (and since the path is enclosed through the edge of the farm this is impossible to miss). Follow a fairly obvious path as far as Crink Lane (ignoring one path which goes further left). The path beyond Crink Lane is now enclosed by a new fence. Where it emerges through a gap into an open field we follow the field boundary right and the obvious path down the hill past the school fence to the surfaced path parallel to Potwell Dyke. There used to be a little bridge straight ahead here, but we now have to go slightly right and use the road bridge.

We turn left at the bridge. The road is now quite busy with cars going to and from the playground car park, so unless the field is very wet it is better to walk through the edge of the park to the war memorial on Bishop's Drive rather than staying on the road. We follow Bishop's Drive right and left, then turn right along Westgate to the meeting point at the Minster Gate. [One thing that mystified me is why this was chosen as the meeting point for Southwell? I know that the Minster is visited by most people who come to Southwell, but there are no bus stops, shops, pubs or seats here, so I can think of at least three better options - the bus stops on Church Street, the junction of King Street and Queen Street where there is a cafe and seating and the bus stop outside the Co-Op on the Ropewalk].

Overall I found this a very pleasant walk, a surprisingly large part of which was new to me.

The route passes through farmland and countryside. It goes close to Burton Joyce which has shops, pubs and cafes. Gunthorpe has a pub and cafe by the river. Caythorpe has a couple of pubs. There are no amenities at Gibsmere, though there is a caravan park on the corner with a kiosk for coffee and snacks. Bleasby has a pub.

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