Newlon one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

Walked from Long Bennington to Newark on a very hot summer afternoon. Mostly good, but disappointing that the only relief from hard surfaces is on a badly neglected path north of Valley Lane that the farmer isn't interested in maintaining. There are no facilities en route other than one bench at the Cotham end of the railway cycle track, and the pubs and shops in Long Bennington and Newark.

From Long Bennington, we start heading north along Great North Road (the old A1), then follow the A1 signs left onto Valley Lane. Beyond the village the pavement stops but the road is wide with verges, and beyond the A1 access roads it is fairly quiet. After a few gentle twists and turns we reach Fen Lane, where the field path is signposted but invisible on the ground. Fortunately for me the crops had been harvested, but a degree of confidence is needed to follow the right of way line and the final gap through the hedge onto Grange Lane is overgrown, so I was glad I was wearing long trousers.

At the road we turn right then almost immediately take the left turn towards Cotham. The tarmacked old railway cycletrack is signposted (thanks to Sustrans), but you can't just turn right onto it - the track goes left (south) at the bridge then doubles back under the road bridge on the old track bed. We pass a large solar farm and a few wind turbines, then cross a high bridge over the new Newark southern relief road, which doesn't yet have enough traffic to justify the bridge but will once it connects to the A46. Beyond the bridge the track gets quite twisty for a while (far from the straight line the GPX shows). Beyond Hawton Lane there are glimpses of the lake to the right. There is another lake beyond London Road but it is harder to see.

We cross under Barnby Road then take the next exit up a ramped surfaced path onto Cromwell Road, which takes us to Barnby Gate which we follow in to the Newark meeting point.

I ve walked this 3 or 4 times - it’s direct and therefore efficient to get back to Newark when you have walked 10 miles over fields and beautiful scenery out and fancy a shorter route back. But I find it pretty boring and walking a number of miles on tarmac is not great.

I walked this route from Newark. It is an effective line between start and finish. All but 3 fields is surfaced path or along a road. The old railway from Newark is a straight, cycle path, part of the Sustrans network. At Cotham we leave the railway on a ramp and take to a minor road. There is a short section of a more major road before we head across fields via White House farm to cut the corner. This was muddy. We return to the roadside to enter Long Bennington. Here there is a pub, and a cafe opposite the hub-point.

The railway was a pleasant countryside walk and the roads were quiet, with wide verges to avoid traffic.

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