Loncli two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Loncli here.

This is the route I actually walked instead of LONCLI 1 from Clifton to Long Eaton. I decided early in the walk that I was going to submit a new version, because the route from Clifton to Fairham Brook is unnecessarily rough, and I agree with Stephen Walker's review of LONCLI 1 that it is best to use the river path from Clifton Bridge to Beeston Marina rather than Thane Road and the canal. I have also favoured ramps over steps in a couple of places, but there are steps at the north end of the Fairham Brook path and one low stile at the Long Eaton end. As you can see from the pictures, I walked this route on a November morning when the river Trent was high after a very rainy week.

Leaving the Clifton Centre tram stop, we walk north up Southchurch Drive to its end, then left along and across Farnborough Road and right down Homewell Walk, continuing straight on. The map shows a path going straight on to the bridge on Fairham Brook, but this path is unsurfaced and overgrown, so it is much easier to remain on the cycle track and go a slightly longer way round. Across the bridge we take the path on the left that follows Fairham Brook until it ends with a flight of steps up to the roundabout.

Here we turn right up Westerfield Way, then take the path left that crosses the A453 through an underpass and emerges on Clifton Lane, which we follow for a short distance. There is a choice of routes up to the bridge - I have used the ramped cycle track on the GPX plot but there is a staircase that shortcuts it. On the far side of the bridge, there is no short way down so we have to use the long ramped track, then turn sharp left down Lenton Lane, which can be surprisingly busy on weekend mornings when there is football being played. We leave the road just before Sat Bains restaurant on a track left, then turn right under Clifton Bridge to reach the riverside path, which has a compacted gravel surface. This briefly rejoins Lenton Lane then goes straight on, and is easy to follow all the way round to Beeston Lock. There are a few places where the gravel gives way to soil, but most of the surface is good.

At the marina we cross the bridge left (there is a cafe here), and then cross the canal on another bridge. My GPX plot uses the ramp right to descend from the canal bridge, but there is also a shortcut left with steps. We pass through Beeston Marina, where there is another cafe and a pub, then follow the popular riverside path (still well surfaced) through Attenborough Nature Reserve and round a few bends in the river.

Eventually we cross the mouth of the Erewash on a bridge, and a little further on we reach a track that goes right, crossing a gravel pit lake on a bridge. We leave the track to take smaller paths (some of them unsurfaced but usually fairly dry) through Trent Meadows to reach Meadow Lane (there is a low stile here), which we follow across a level crossing and under a railway bridge to the junction with Main Street, where we turn left across the railway and following Main Street, Cross Street and Waverley Street. There are several pelican crossings where one can cross this road. At the end we turn left a short distance along Nottingham Road to reach the Long Eaton meeting point.

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