Stawil two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

The route starts off well with a nice walk along the river, which is enjoyable.

One negative I found of this route was that a lot of the walk was on roads, which while not busy, there is no paths so you have to be careful when walking round corners.

There was one small section of the route where the slowways app appears to bring you across a farm, which is not accessible. However, if you follow the road round, this can be avoided.

A pleasant walk over farmland and along country lanes, with some lovely distant vistas of the Wolds from the higher points between Mill Farm and Primrose Hill.

I set off to walk north from Wilberfoss to Stamford Bridge on a bright, cold day in early January; as one of the shorter local Slow Ways it seemed a good choice for a winter's day with short daylight hours and long shadows. I was able to walk three quarters of the route before having to divert due to flooding.

I found the route easy to follow and waymarking was clear. Between GR722520 and GR718526 it's important to follow the Slow Ways route and the waymarkings for the permissive path rather than the green dotted line that is shown on OS maps.

Immediately beyond the pinewood north of Low Catton the route was temporarily impassable due to flooding of the River Derwent, so I doubled back to the bend in the road at Low Catton village and followed Low Catton Road into Stamford Bridge.

Added 11/3/23: I chose another bright frosty day to complete the route once the River Derwent had receded to within its banks. This time I noticed an important change for Slow Ways walkers to take note of. The public right of way that used to go through Rectory Farm in Low Catton has clearly been officially moved and now passes to the east of the small area of water. If walking north, on arrival at Low Catton from High Catton, take the clearly-signed public footpath to the right before the bend in the road. If walking south, the new right of way is clearly marked where it turns left at the south end of the pinewood. (The old footpath is still marked on the Slow Ways gpx file and on the OS map and website but is not accessible.)

None of the above paragraph is intended to put Slow Wayers off taking a short detour into Low Catton village to find refreshment at its pub or explore its beautiful church.

After the small pinewood the route opens out onto riverside fields and the last stretch along the River Derwent was very pleasant though a little slippery with mud underfoot. The walk passes under the elegant railway viaduct (now repurposed as a path and cycle track) before finishing at the lovely old stone road bridge, the heart of Stamford Bridge and site of its famous battle in 1066.

This is an enjoyable if unremarkable 4.5 mile walk between the villages of Wilberfoss and Stamford Bridge over roads, paths and farmlands. We walked this on a warm July morning with the songs of skylarks filling our ears. There is an easy potential detour via the Gold Cup in Low Catton for liquid refreshment should you so wish, and can easily turn it into a pub walk with good options at both the start and the end of the walk!.

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