There was still water and mud along the way especially at pinch points but the paths are well walked and alongside the river it was an excellent wide grass corridor. The river here is brown and sluggish and perhaps runs deep having been prevented from further movement south by the mass of the Trent Hills. Meeting the road the care home was once the Ferry Inn and the spot remains a popular destination of visitors to the river. The path surface is good and shared with bikes and horses. We cut out a bend in the river along Trent Lane then back alongside, it's an exceptional walk over the meadow where cattle may been countered. The well used but in summer overgrown woodland path, could be avoided by an early link onto the road and I took to the floodbank which offers views towards Nottingham rather than winding around the many parked cars. No longer a ferry but still a very popular spot at what appears to be an all day pub.The path remains good alongside the outfall of the massive Stoke Bardolph sewage treatment works which I guess does a good job because the fast flowing water looked clear and had no unpleasant smell....

Ken

I walked this route from Carlton. Leaving Bleasby the route is across farmland to reach the railway crossing (Bailey Crossing), where there are red/green lights to mark the passage of trains....

StephenWalker

The road has a pavement but the village bus service is poor two services a day but not Tuesday or Thursday. A quiet lane then bridleway leads to the river where initially the path can be muddy but this soon gives way to delightful grass fields which allows path users some freedom so the well used path is not clearly defined. A short section of road up to the bridge has no pavement and could be busy when the tourists arrive. The bridge crossing on foot allows study of the plaques which record the construction and opening. Missing East Bridgford keeps us close to the noisy road but makes a more direct route even with the loop back to the bridge over the new Foss Way. No worries for me to detour over the station bridge and a walk along Station Road to the Marketplace....

Ken

Thereafter there are cross-field paths to Wellow. There is a pavement leaving Wellow, and then a muddy lane leads to more cross-field paths. There is another set of steps into and out of the former railway cutting, and then several muddy cross-field paths to reach Eakring....

StephenWalker

Here we turn right, continue left towards Kirklington then right at the T junction and left along the footpath, initially a farm track then field paths with kissing gates. The path twists and turns along field edges (the Robin Hood signs are quite good so no real difficulty in route finding) up to a farm where we turn left through another arable field, across a large pasture and past another farm to follow a hedge down to a bridge. We go left along Bilsthorpe Road past a closed pub and the Daffodil tea room, then right along a lane to rejoin the Robin Hood Way. We then go steeply through a pasture field, over an old railway bridge and across another clay field to reach the farm road which we follow right. Just beyond a left turn past the farm, we leave the Robin Hood Way right using a good path along field edges. We follow the surfaced paths round to Edison Rise, where we go left, down past the Tesco entrance and the garage, then turn right along Newark Road to the New Ollerton meeting point, beyond the Nottingham/Mansfield bus stop....

Hugh Hudson

The route out of Arnold is tricky to follow, partly because there are several alternatives to arrive at the same point, the end of Spring Lane. Once onto the right of way across the fields, the route is easy to follow and you soon reach Woodborough....

StephenWalker

This is a very good country walk with some excellent views, generally easy to follow well walked paths, no cattle noted in winter only sheep, mostly arable fields along headland but some cross field paths. Crossing the railway, now used as a test track, the path climbs the old, now tree covered, spoil heap on a track which later becomes a well walked path. The tall Maypole provides fame for the village as well as providing a name for the green and the inn. A little more pavement walking before an exit from the village along a green lane come farm track. A roadside bench by the church or picnic tables in the play area, as we exit the village, offer more limited facilities. The steady descent to the village passes through the parkland of Kirklington Hall now a school....

Ken

I have not walked this from end to end, but the Carlton end is mostly the same as the other route I walked and the Gunthorpe-Southwell route is mostly the same as my new SOUBIN 2 route which I walked today. So I can confirm that this route works, and it is (at least scenically) the best of the CARBIN routes. For more details and pictures, see my reviews of CARSOU 2 and SOUBIN 2....

Hugh Hudson

We cross Lower Kirklington Road and follow Station Road past the Final Whistle pub, then turn left along the Southwell Trail, the old Newark-Southwell-Mansfield railway. Where the road turns right we go straight on along a smaller lane, which leads to a bench, beyond which the path crosses large open fields (well marked at first, but the path disappears in the last field which had been ploughed recently) to the A614, where we meet the only stile on the whole route. We soon leave the track to join a smaller but well used path that follows a clearing near the edge of the wood around to rejoin the main track which leads down and around to join the old colliery railway which takes us easily to the edge of Rainworth, where the way down from the railway path doubles back from beyond the road....

Hugh Hudson

We follow the access road down to the right a short distance then take the path that crosses a field to reach Trent Lane. The left turn across the field is well marked, and goes up the hill then right to rejoin the path that comes up from Gorsy Lane. We head left along the field edge to find the little bridge over Halloughton Dumble (the way down to the bridge is a little awkward when wet and muddy), then follow the field path up the hill. Watch out for the right turn into an open grassy field, where the obvious new footpath left is as marked on the GPX file - the old right of way line is no longer possible. We continue past the school field (more slippery mud), then turn right to find the bridge over the Potwell Dyke that leads to the cemetery extension. We follow the road left along the edge of the park, then bear right across the car park and along the edge of a playing field (this was once the Church Street site of the Minster School), then left up the alleyway into the Minster churchyard....

Hugh Hudson

Once in the fields it was easy walking with plenty of farm tracks or wide grassy field headlands. Yes the road crossing in this direction has limited visibility, stay on the north side until opposite the next footpath as the verge is better. Had the path into Woodborough remained across the field it would have met the road at the imposition of the 30mph limit. Church Walk is a most interesting path which I compared to a path recently diverted away from a grand house, pushed further away from view of the wealthy owner for their exclusive privacy. The short section along Catfoot Lane was the least enjoyable part of the walk and crossing the main road at the roundabout was not easy because the already narrow verge vanished forcing me onto the road....

Ken

A very easy walk along the Southwell Trail to Farnsfield then flat open fields and some commercial woodland around Blidworth on the light sandy soils. Good services half way along the main road at Farnsfield. We overshoot our road route into Rainworth over the high imposing bridge then double back along a zig-zag path under the bridge to join the pavement alongside the busy road which offers evidence that Raisou-2 is not be a good walk without the safety of a pavement....

Ken

On reflection I think it would be better to take in the services along the main road at Farnsfield rather than walk the quiet estate roads. I started the day from Farnsfield and headed east, the route out needed navigational care with twists and turns around estate roads which had little of interest but avoided the busy main road. We don't get to see much of Halam and no services on our brief encounter before another steep climb, don't be tempted to stay on the inviting low ground, it's not the path. Meeting a road there is a pavement alongside but High Town offers our footpath route although not the most inviting as the path is shunned by the surrounding homes rather than it having been integrated into the estate layout. We overshoot our road route into Rainworth over the high imposing bridge then double back along a zig-zag path under the bridge to join the pavement alongside the busy road which offers evidence that Raisou-2 would not be a good route without the safety of the pavement....

Ken

The route leaves Rainworth on the road and then follows the course of the old railway onto the landscaped site of Blidworth Colliery spoil workings [called Boundary Wood]. From here it is up steep wet fields onto the ridge at New Hall Farm before a descent to regain the Robin Hood Way, which is followed to Halam (Pub here, but not on the route)....

StephenWalker

No major issues, but the detour to the west of Staythorpe ignores two shorter easier paths and the clayfield yomp from Kelham Bridge to Newark rugby club is unpleasant and poorly waymarked, though unavoidable except by staying by the busy A617. I don't mind snailing this route but I can't say I enjoyed all of it. Full review and photos to follow....

Hugh Hudson

I agree that the long roadside to White Post farm makes Raisou1 a far superior route, even though it is further....

StephenWalker

This route is a mixture of road walking and paths through arable and grassy fields. Once out of Southwell cross fields and follow the road leading to the racecourse. This is understandable as using the crossing is the safer option but if you want to avoid a bit of road walking, on leaving the rugby club you can go straight across the A617 and go through fields into Newark, although there is also another road crossing....

Rob23Notts

Leaving Southwell is very straightforward, I found the footpath sign easily and walked to the path T-junction and walked uphill past the Minster School playing fields until I got to the first field. This part was a little tedious as I had to walk a very narrow path next to a high fence around a Motorhome sales site. A fork in the path (take the right path) let me straighten the path and avoid the oxbow in the river, taking me to the second pub, the Ferry Boat Inn at Stoke Bardolph. From there the footpath took me alongside a fast-flowing dyke a little way before I took another fork left and made my way into Carlton. Two points - 1) as you begin the walk into Carlton, ignore the footbridge you come to, just continue on the path right, and 2) the road bridge in photo 14 doesn't have a path, but the road is quiet and a little care is all that's needed to walk under it...

Lynn Jackson

We turn right along the far edge of the park - here the path goes into the park further right/west than the straight line on the GPX, but moves further east about two thirds of the way across where the path starts rising to cross the railway. Here we turn left - the actual well trodden footpath on the ground takes a straight line along the edge of the field and does not follow the right of way as marked on the OS map and the GPX file. Just before we reach the road in Stoke Bardolph the path goes right through trees to the road (not straight ahead as the GPX suggests). Where the lane ends we go straight on, then right along the next field boundary and left over Car Dyke to reach the Black Horse pub at Caythorpe. The GPX file and the OS map both show an impassable route beyond the road - we actually follow Thurgarton Lane right around the corner to an obvious path left, which is marked as a black dashed footpath on the OS 1:25000 map. At the next path junction the path goes half left before the hedge not after it (once again the OS map is wrong) and another track takes us straight on until we reach a farm road, which we follow until at a right turn we take the field path straight on into Gibsmere. When we reach the Bleasby-Fiskerton road at a crossroads, we turn left towards Bleasby - the pavement is initially on the right but crosses the road partway through the village. Our route goes left up Gorsy Lane over the railway until the lane ends at a field, where we follow the field edge round to the right and then left when we reach Halloughton Dumble, which we cross on a little wooden bridge. The right turn along another field edge is less obvious and could easily be missed, and the footpath around Weldon Farm stays in this field around another little wood, but the deviation from the right of way line beyond/north of the farm as shown on the GPX is correct (and since the path is enclosed through the edge of the farm this is impossible to miss). Where it emerges through a gap into an open field we follow the field boundary right and the obvious path down the hill past the school fence to the surfaced path parallel to Potwell Dyke....

Hugh Hudson

Go round the pond on a good path and cross Car Dyke on a footbridge (SK70704.40772) to pick up the right-of-way which takes you to the roundabout on the old A46 near Burrowfields farm, via High Westing farm....

StephenWalker

We follow this quiet lane a little uphill and take the path to the right, which leads up the hill to Nottingham Road, which has a surfaced pavement on its east side. In the last field before the wood the right of way goes around the left edge of the field, but there is usually nothing to stop a more direct diagonal line being used. We emerge on Cotmoor Lane, another surfaced track which we follow left along the edge of Halloughton Wood until the T-junction where we turn right towards a farm. We cross a little bridge and proceed along the right edge of the field and past a house onto a lane, which ends at a T junction where we turn tight towards Bankwood Farm. At the end of the lane we turn right and cross Bland Lane, continuing along thick gravel onto a field path, where we encounter the first stile of the walk. We follow Hungerhill Lane just past where the bridlepath turns right down the hill, following the signposted footpath into the wood and out onto a field edge....

Hugh Hudson

The start is on quiet paths through the houses, and then onto field paths as far as Staythorpe. The second field has both stiles behind the electric fence (both into and out of the field). You could walk round in the next field, but that is not the right of way....

StephenWalker

This is easy to follow but a little care should be taken to find your way to the path through the woods just to the east of Blidworth. From this path be careful to take the correct path into the centre of Southwell....

Rob23Notts

The other route is longer but traffic free between Rainworth and the White Post....

Rob23Notts

Carsou one is probably more suited to cycling as there is more road work. Though there are stiles and kissing gates along the route. See Carsou one for more detailed info....

flynntastic

It goes close to Burton Joyce which has shops, pubs and cafes....

flynntastic

There are lots of kissing gates and a couple of stiles - so not bike or wheelchair walk....

flynntastic