Grasle two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Grasle here.

Walked from Sleaford to Grantham on a fine day after a fairly long dry spell. A very enjoyable walk apart from a few minor footpath maintenance issues. There is some road walking but the roads have fairly good verges and are not too busy.

From Sleaford station, we cross the level crossing and Grantham Road then head a short distance down London Road before taking the path left signposted Mareham Pastures. We follow the surfaced path around the edge of the houses then head into the estate briefly to find the start of the footpath south. According to OpenStreetMap, the first field will be part of a housing development but it is currently empty heathland and the path is still as marked on the OS map. Beyond the first field we cross large arable fields on well cut paths, then follow a drainage ditch around to Gorse Lane, which we follow right into Silk Willoughby. There is a shop and a pub off route here further down London Road. We head left along London Road, and the pavement soon ends, but the road is wide with good verges, so no safety issues. We cross the A15 onto a much less used path which disappears on the ground, so a degree of confidence in navigation is required and fortunately there are marked posts at most of the field boundaries. There are stiles on this path. We eventually reach a little wood, where we follow the bridlepath left then take a field path right that skirts farm buildings and emerges on the quiet Kelby Lane on the edge of the Culverthorpe Park estate.

We head left down the lane then right into the park, following the surfaced road past the big house and into the field beyond, where we follow field edges around to reach the church at Heydour. Beyond we cross a field with two artificial pools and cross more fields to reach Oasby. From here there is no sensible alternative to following the road (Mill Lane) to Welby. This road is not too busy and has good verges that narrow a little in a couple of wooded areas. There is a pub en route in Welby, where I stopped for a quick pint, after which we stay on the road to its end on High Dike.

A well marked path continues through fields opposite and takes us into Londonthorpe, where we turn right onto High Road then left onto Newgate Lane. We soon leave the road right to enter a very large field, which is planted with oilseed rape this summer, and the line through it, though cut, is uncomfortably narrow in places. Eventually we are rewarded - a short steep descent through a wood takes us to the edge of a tract of access land along the escarpment overlooking the Witham valley, where a clear path heads right on a wide cut grassy strip. There are a couple of muddy places where it crosses streams, but trust the path and you should find the descent to the unimaginatively named Fifth Avenue easily enough.

We follow the pavement some distance above the avenue to Harrowby Lane, where we go left then right onto Kenilworth Road, which we follow around a long bend then head up Sandringham Drive to find the alleyway leading into the field beyond. We take the rough path left up the hill to join a better path which we follow left, then head steeply up the hill - the effort is rewarded by more views from the escarpment. Eventually we follow an old wooded lane down the hill onto Beacon Lane. A left turn onto St Catherines Road (it is easiest to cross and cross again beyond the junction lower down. When we reach the river Witham (just a large stream here) we take the signposted cycletrack left, which soon crosses the river. Just beyond the bridge we go straight on up College Street, then left onto London Road, where there is a convenient pelican crossing which we use to reach the west side, then turn right up to Nursery Path, continuing on Launder Terrace, then down a few steps to reach Grantham station, the meeting point.

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