The rights-of-way project, part 5. The shortest right-of-way?

I started this project with the concept of exploring the rights-of way that are within walking distance of my house, but that's quite vague. Then I started to cycle, meaning that I could get further.

This morning I didn't feel like cycling even though I could have covered the ground in a fraction of the time that it took to hoof it. So I walked a 10.15 mile round trip in the direction of Leake Commonside in order to experience three very short paths. I've measured the shortest of those (I believe very accurately) at 0.1miles or 176 yards.

First of all, some pictures of the best that nature has to offer at this specific time of year. I ate many blackberries. I didn't go after the apples (wild, but difficult to get to) or the damsons (the tree itself was within someone's property).

The first path I visited was fairly close to this beautiful church and equally beautiful village sign. The church isn't marked on the map as such (presumably converted now) but it does have a stone that says 'Christ Church' and an 18-something date. 

I'm confused about which Leake I was in. The map marks this as Leake Commonside, with Old Leake being a separate settlement a mile or so down the road. 

Heres the start of the path, and nothing says "watch where you're walking" like an ugly red bin and signs threatening penalties for not using it. 

And here's the other end. It's incredibly well-maintained, presumably for the dog-walkers, although I didn't encounter any today.  

Check out that new footbridge. 

More road walking brought me to this incredibly short path.

Its brevity (176 yards) makes it notable. As does the adornment. You get a clue about that from this picture taken at one end. Once again we have a signal that it's heavily-used for dog walking but you can also see that someone in the neighbouring property likes tubs and garden ornaments and their work continues along the path itself. (I couldn't bring myself to take pictures of all of that).

There's a kissing-gate halfway along the very short walk

.. and very soon we see another at the other end.

A lot more road brought me to my third path of the morning, the longest of the three and still less than 500  yards. 

This is the way I like my walking. You can go to the park for mown grass, benches, ornaments and dog water bowls. I'm out here to be among nature / farming, and that's what you get with this one. It's not clear which side of the drain to walk, the signs at both ends appear to point along the middle of the drain. The map makes it a little more clear if you squint closely. it's borderline passable, you're walking among thistles and long grass while trying to avoid trampling the crop. 

So that's three more ticked off on a day that couldn't decide which season it wanted to be. 

The rights-of-way project part 4

This one is a little bit of a cheat because these paths are close to Old Leake where I sometimes do a weekly shop and so I didn't walk or cycle there, simply pulled on my boots after shopping and headed out. 

Once again, these are marked with the big green spots on the map (meaning 'other right of way') and not shown on the council's definitive map, so I assume that the story is the same as with the two paths in part 1 of this series - they're listed as 'streets' but not maintained.

Once again, very pleasant, but not very long and not very far from the busy A52. There are other short rights-of-way in this area, so one day I'll devise a longer circular walk that includes more of them.

The rights-of-way project, part three

The next nearest footpaths appeared to be around the village of Stickford. Confusingly very close to Stickney, both on A16. I found Stickford charming,  particularly St Helen's church.

The first was this very straight path of just over a mile. 

It crosses some very pleasant fields and, today, one freshly-ploughed one. 

 The church is small but covered with interesting carved gargoyles and faces.  It also had a bench perfectly placed for reflection and refreshment of body and soul.

The far end of this path has a pub marked on the map (both my paper Explorer and the OS app, which I assume is up-to-the minute). Said pub is the Jolly Sailor, Hagnaby Lock. It's a very pretty location but the pub is no longer open, so no refreshment for weary sailors or walkers. 

I retraced my steps most of the way back, but headed off up the road at this point to pick up the footpath and bridleway just to the North:

It's lambing time. It felt quite special walking among these new mums and their bundles of joy but at the same time a little awkward. I'm sure that neither they nor the farmer wanted me there at that time, so I didn't walk that path both ways, instead circling around using the road, crossing the A16 and back to my starting point. This made a circular walk of around 1.5 miles

Once again I've discovered a place close to home that I'll certainly be visiting again. 

The rights-of-way project, part two

After last week's epic walk just to reach the first footpath, I decided to change the rules slightly. 

Walking on our roads isn't much fun, you're constantly stepping onto the verge to let traffic past. I enjoy a cycle ride, so I've decided to cycle to the footpaths that I want to walk. 

This worked a treat. I locked my bike to a barrier and then continued on foot. The first was longer than either of the two that I walked last time, crossing several fields and a railway line.

There's the pedestrian crossing in the distance. No lights or barriers, just good old-fashioned keeping your wits about you. Only slightly scary.

The blackthorn blossom has been around for a while but it's great to see the hawthorn leafing up at the same time. 

Once out into the fields, I felt that this was the most enjoyable path that I've walked for a long time. (The great weather helped too!) Only slightly uncomfortable due to no clear path across one young crop but otherwise It felt incredibly peaceful. 

I walked that one both ways, then a short distance along the road is this one:

I shared that walk with three deer. There were a lot of hares darting about as well. 

The rights of way I've visited so far are fragmented but checking them off in a systematic way like this is fun and I'm discovering some great relatively-local places to revisit.

The rights-of-way project, part one

The part about walking that I like the least is the driving. 

So I've begun a project to walk the public rights of way within walking distance of my house. This will not take long; there aren't many. This may be related to the fact that the land is reclaimed (drained marshland) so doesn't have a network of ancient established paths that you find everywhere else.

I had to walk a 10-mile circular route to be able to reach these first two paths. They're both short stretches but in both cases it was very pleasant to get off the road.

First I want to mention Lade Bank Pumping Station. It has a distinctive chimney which you can see for miles because it's a very flat area. I've driven past a number of times but this is the first time I've been past on foot and stopped to have a good gander. 

You can feel the history. It turns out that the first pumping station was built here in 1867, replaced on the original base in 1936 and is still helping to keep this land drained and my home dry today. I've just enjoyed Ben's video about it.

The first public right of way for today is very short, around a third of a mile, and is a dead end. But I found it well worth the walk to reach it and a very enjoyable walk both ways. 

It was a very pleasant place to park my butt and have a little picnic away from the ever-present heavy vehicles on the local roads.

The second is longer at two thirds of a mile and this time it usefully joins two roads and so formed part of my circular walk. 

It's marked Stoodale Drove on the map. No, I didn't know what a drove is either. Apparently it's "a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture".

Half of it is lined by poplars on an adjacent property and half looks like it's used by farm vehicles to access the fields. Again, very pleasant walking.

I've called these 'rights of way' but you can see that Ordnance Survey has marked them with green spots, meaning "Other route with public access. For rights and restrictions contact the local authority" which I will try to do. 

Neither of these were signposted at all, making me a little uneasy. I couldn't help picturing a red-faced angry farmer with a gun coming out of a farmhouse to challenge me. At this point don't take my word for it that these are open to the public. If the footpaths officer at LCC confirms or denies, then I'll post an update here.

Update: (5 May 26)

A footpaths officer from Lincs County Council has answered my query. He tells me that neither of these two paths are shown as a public right of way on their 'definitive map' (which is available online and I had seen for myself) but they are both listed on their list of 'streets'. This means that they have a 'footpath' status, we have a right to walk along them but they won't be surfaced or maintained. (I'm not sure how this differs from a 'public right of way', I guess it's down to legal definition.) 

Viking Way: Bardney/Stainfield to Fiskerton

 We've been making progress with our Viking Way walk in legs of 5-8 miles at a time with transport at each end so that we can walk more of the trail each time. 

I haven't been blogging every walk because I post the information and pictures on UK-Walks. 

But this time I have quite a few extra pictures of a very pleasant and surprising day. 

The surprise was Barlings Abbey. We'd noticed quite a few ruined abbeys in this small area but there's usually not very much to see; some mounds and an information board. As you approach Barlings Abbey, though, you can see quite a chunk of the old wall, possibly dating back to 1154.

Our walk was on 30 August. That wonderful time when apples and blackberries are ripe for the picking. Things are still very green and the weather is warm but not too hot.

Shadow of Juicetrump

 On a recent Viking Way walk we spotted this information board which shows a circular walk close to the delightfully-named Juicetrump Hill. 

This map shows the route and may be enough to navigate the walk, particularly on the Viking Way section. I've made a GPX file anyway, which will load into any mapping / navigation app on your device. The starting point is given here as postcode LN9 6LJ / grid ref TF291 756.  I've used the Blue Bell pub as the start / end point in the GPX.

The walk is circular, ie starting and finishing at the same spot. Part of it is the Viking Way, a walk that passes through some of Lincolnshire's most spectacular countryside. The return leg has a couple of reasonably steep climbs, but some beautiful views are the reward.

It's currently mid-winter and it has been wet and so much of the walk was very muddy. This made the walking difficult, particularly on the slopes.