Saxnor one

Verified Slow Way

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Walked from Hykeham to Saxilby. An excellent route, mostly off road with surprisingly varied scenery and well maintained paths. One stile, one flight of steps.

I admit to having started the walk at Hykeham station having arrived by train, but I did do the walk from the meeting point to the station last year after finishing SUTNOR 2, so I do know that that part is an easy but dull pavement walk. The pavement walking through industrial buildings continues as far as Doddington Road. We then enter an impressive area of suburban woodland, with enough trees to feel quite wild and a large lake that we walk around. Note that just before reaching Skellingthorpe Road it is easy to miss the shortcut path - don't continue to the car park.

A little more pavement walking takes us to Pig Lane, which we follow out to the Catchwater Drain, where we turn left along the far bank on a good path that takes us under the bypass and across the old railway cycle track to Skellingthorpe. There is one stile which could possibly by avoided by untying the string on the gate. At Skellingthorpe we turn right on a path through houses, left along Lower Church Road and straight on past the churchyard and out of the village on Woodbank. Where it splits we take the roughly surfaced branch straight on, continuing on a narrower path after the last house then turning right along another bridleway. Beyond the wood, the cut line takes a more direct route than the official right of way line that the GPX shows.

We follow a drainage ditch left then cross it on a little bridge to join a well cut field path. At Occupation Lane the path continues through a garden (if in doubt aim for the far right corner) then continues (still well cut and easy to follow) across fields and past a small lake. There is a flight of steps at the end which we climb to reach the pavement of the A57, which we follow left. We cross with care at the junction with Broadholme Road. The path (surfaced but still a little rough) beyond starts right and goes around the garden to cross the Foss Dyke on a bridge. We then cross the railway at a level crossing and follow the streets around to the station.

Lovely route. I ran from Saxilby to Hykeham. Passes by farmland, woods, park, lake, .. The gpx is excellent.

A pleasant and fairly easy walk, though not one that's going to win any "beauties of the English Countryside" awards, if I'm to be brutally honest. I started at Hykeham Rail Station, and the first half mile takes you along a busy road between an industrial estate and a landfill site. It does pass the Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum though. Check their website (http://www.lvvs.org.uk) for opening hours if that's your sort of thing. Anyway, once you've crossed the busy Dodington Road turn left along it and look for a public footpath sign pointing to the right. This will take you into Hartsholme Park, a surprisingly large wooded area in the middle of suburban Lincoln. Follow the path until you see a white footbridge at the entrance to the lake. Cross this and keep following the path with the lake on your right. Eventually this will bring you to Skellingthorpe Road. Cross this and follow a path into a wooded area just before some houses. Eventually, you reach a T-junction of paths. Turn left and follow the path between the houses and the ditch until you reach a T Junction with a broader track (Pig Lane) Turn right and cross the ditch before immediately turning left along a well marked track. Follow this, keeping the ditch on your left until you reach some garages on the outskirts of Skellingthorpe. Walk in front of them (ignoring the public footpath sign pointing behind them) and turn left into a quiet residential street. Turn right at the end and where this street takes a sharp right, take the footpath past the church. At the end of the path turn left and follow the road to a junction. Head straight on here (it's signposted Old Wood South) and follow this road for about quarter of a mile. Where the tarmac road veers off to the right, carry straight on along the unsurfaced track. This eventually becomes a narrow footpath at the entrance to Skellingthorpe Old Wood. Almost immediately you take the footpath to the right, and stay on this until you leave the woods. The path then follows a broad green strip of land between arable fields, but it is easy to follow. Eventually it turns to the left and shortly afterwards a footpath sign points to a well delineated path across a footbridge and some fields to a road. There is a public footpath sign here which seems to point into a private garden. As I couldn't see an obvious way out of the garden I simply followed the (very quiet) road which joined a busier road for the last half mile into Saxilby. Crossing the very busy A57 a footpath leads you over the canal and into Saxilby village.

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