Tuesday, 20 July 2021
While Le Tour de France was taking place over there, Seb Macmillan and two friends spent six days cycle touring in Lincolnshire, from Peterborough to Boston, and including a night in Grantham, two in Lincoln and two in Louth.The route used narrow lanes and dedicated cycle paths wherever possible, including NCN 1 and NCN 64, and was planned around visiting places of interest like historic houses, parish churches, old windmills, a museum, the coast, and of course the county town itself.
Thursday 8th July: Stage 1 Peterborough to Grantham
75km47 miles, 607m of climbing
Seb writes: We (Sandy, Barry and I) took the 0900 train from Cambridge to Peterborough to start the ride from there. Navigating out of Peterborough was probably the most challenging part of our whole route. There are cycle paths but finding the right one was difficult and after a mile or two we found a sign pointing back to the station along what was perhaps a bit of bikepath we'd missed. Discarded mattresses and litter added to our dismay. Worst of all, a narrow miss by a speeding cyclist who came around a blind bend and nearly went head first into Barry could have brought our whole trip to an end after only 10 minutes! But eventually after about 5 miles we found ourselves outside the city and heading north on quiet lanes, surrounded by endless flat fields of ripening wheat.
We rode through Market Deeping, a pretty town of low stone buildings along its main street, and stopped for a photo at Langtoft but otherwise kept going for our first break at Grimsthorpe Castle. Unfortunately it was closed and there was no village offering refreshment as I had optimistically assumed. We rode on instead to Corby Glen and had lunch at an attractive small café.
Not long afterwards we reached Woolsthorpe Manor, home of Isaac Newton and where the famous apple tree is still alive, despite having been blown over in the 1800s. We had early afternoon tea there, and carried on towards Grantham.
Near Stroxton, Barry had the one and only puncture of the trip, despite using slime in his inner tube. It was quickly replaced with a plain tube, but he decided to change the tyres as soon as possible given they were rather worn.
The weather was warm and overcast all day and we arrived in Grantham at about 5.30pm to stay at The Red House, a small hotel. We had an evening walk around Grantham, which is an attractive town with a good deal of Victorian architecture including the extraordinary Guildhall. We found the corner shop where Margaret Thatcher lived, which has the smallest of commemorative plaques, and ate outside in the market square, walking back along the river and park where we saw a grey heron fishing in the twilight.
Friday 9th July: Stage 2 Grantham to Lincoln
48km30 miles, 282m of climbing
The following morning, Barry got to Halfords at eight o'clock opening time and had them replace both his tyres. He was back at the hotel in time for a substantial cooked breakfast.
Before leaving Grantham, we visited St Wulfram's church, one of the finest of England's churches with an extraordinary tower and steeple, the sixth highest in the country. The interior is splendid too.
Riding out of Grantham, we came across the Grantham Great Oak and stopped for a photograph. We passed Belton House (National Trust), another photograph. We were then on narrow and quiet lanes for some miles. The countryside is rolling and, with three of us, someone always spots something of interest – a buzzard atop a high tree, a pair of kestrels, a Georgian farmhouse, or a church tower. As we reached the Brownlow Arms at Hough-on-the-Hill, we turned off to look at All Saints Church, but it was closed. So we carried on to Brant Broughton, again stopping to see the church, St Helen's. As well as its tall and elegant spire, we were very taken by the carvings around the porch.
We had a sandwich lunch in Bassingham and watched some swifts, then continued due north to Doddington Hall. Here the former stable block has gift shops, and there is also a Giant cycle shop and café where we stopped for tea and had a look at the outside of Doddington Hall (National Trust).
Soon we joined an excellent cycle path about a mile long that connects to a former railway line that is part of National Cycle Network route 64. After about 3km2 miles, this joined another cycle path beside the Fossdyke Navigation, and we followed this all the way into the marina at Lincoln. Picturesque and traffic-free, it made a great way to enter the city.
Our Airbnb accommodation is in a bijou little cottage in Deansgate, just off Steep Hill and only a stone's throw from the cathedral, although the last few metres involves some steep climbing on cobbles. We have a brief look around the cathedral quarter in the evening and eat at Brown's Pie Shop. When we come to leave however, it is absolutely pouring and we have to dash home in the rain with no waterproofs.
Saturday 10th July: Stage 3 Lincoln loop
26km16 miles, 36m of climbing
This isn't a pure cycling holiday and we want to do some sightseeing, so there is no pre-planned route today. However, I have looked at some possibilities including suggestions on the internet and we decide to reverse our tracks from yesterday and ride west, back along the Fossdyke Navigation, then follow the former railway line almost to Doddington as it was such a great ride.
At Harby we turn north along country lanes to Saxilby. Here we are on the pavement beside the A57 for a while and luckily work out how to rejoin the Fossdyke Navigation path at Odder. We pass Burton Waters, an attractive modern marina, and eventually merge back onto our earlier path, bringing us into Lincoln marina again.
The afternoon is spent sightseeing in the cathedral quarter including the cathedral interior and the Usher Collection of artifacts that includes historic watches and three paintings by Lowry.
Although I've visited Lincoln before, and knew the cathedral and the castle, I had not appreciated how extensive the modern developments were down by the marina, including the university campus. The whole place seems to be flourishing, with a busy pedestrianised High Street and crowds around the cathedral quarter. In the evening we ate at Gino's.
Sunday 11th July: Stage 4 Lincoln to Louth
57km35 miles, 392m of climbing
After boiled eggs for breakfast (thanks to Sandy's self-catering), and an early morning visit to Tescos to buy some sandwiches for lunch, we left Lincoln heading east along the former railway line that used to go to Boston and runs between the River Witham and a parallel canal – NCN route 1.
The bikepath leaves the railway at Bardney and we were on lanes for a few miles, before then rejoining at Southrey, where the old station platforms can still be seen.
A cycling group arrived in club colours and a couple on a tandem left the group to have some refreshments. We had a brief chat and admired their tandem – a newish Orbit with a single chainwheel and huge cassette on the back wheel, giving them 42x42.
After a mile or two, we left NCN route 1 to head north-east through Stixwould and Baumber. This is the start of the Lincolnshire Wolds and the terrain is a bit more rolling than we have experienced so far. I found no specific places of interest for today, other than the nature reserve at Red Hill which I aimed for. Well, hill by name and hill by nature – it was a climb with a short steep section of at least 13% and, I must admit, both Sandy and I hopped off for the steepest section. There were good views from the road which reaches 150 metres above sea level.
Then we rolled down through Raithby and Hallington into Louth. We made straight for the church, which has the highest parish church steeple in England then, as with Lincoln, Barry navigated us to our Airbnb, a semi-detached house with friendly owners probably in their 50s/60s and a large golden retriever.
In the evening, we ate at an Indian restaurant recommended by our hosts as probably the only place open thanks to the final of Euro 2020! We returned to watch the end of the Wimbledon men's final and then the Euro 2020 final with them in their living room! Our hosts spontaneously offered to do some washing for us. Kind people.
Monday 12th July: Stage 5 Lincoln loop to Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea
67km42 miles, 238m of climbing
It was raining in the morning and, after a serious English breakfast, we held off leaving until about ten o'clock when it seemed to be easing. It continued to rain for about an hour, but then remained dry for the rest of the day.
The terrain was flat and we were on empty lanes surrounded again by fields full of crops – broad beans, corn on the cob, potatoes. As we came nearer to Mablethorpe the roads became more busy, but we rode on a raised cyclepath beside the main road to the centre itself. There we found a wide promenade, with seaside attractions, and stopped for morning coffee. The girl serving was all on her own, and said her usual helper was late because of the football the night before.
We cycled along the promenade where the seaside attractions soon ceased, and we were left riding a wide concrete path, part of a sea defence system, that runs along the back of the beach for about five miles. There were runs of beach huts, mostly looking a little run down, although with some interesting roof shapes, my guess being that the roofs are made from old Nissen huts. Inland there are large areas of mobile homes or caravans, but they were hidden by a hedge so giving the impression that we were out in the countryside.
At Sutton-on-Sea we stopped for delicious fish and chips. A couple of miles later, the concrete path seemed to stop and in any case our intended route turned inland through Huttoft to Alford. There is a large windmill here which, however, is fenced off and in the process of having the sails repaired. After a brief stop we headed into the village centre for some refreshment. A wall plaque celebrates that Thomas Paine ('The Rights of Man') was an Excise Officer here in 1764-5.
We carried on to Belleau, and had a quick look at the redundant church, rather sad with the churchyard waist high in nettles. We should probably have headed for Claythorpe watermill which was less than a mile off our route, but instead we bypassed it and made our way near Legbourne to Louth. Again the countryside was rolling with some ups and downs but nothing serious.
Our Airbnb hosts booked us into an Italian restaurant in Louth where two of us had orecchiette and Barry had tagliatelle.
Tuesday 13th July: Stage 6 Louth to Boston
83km52 miles, 643m of climbing
After another excellent English breakfast cooked by our hosts, we rode south into the hilly but picturesque Lincoln Wolds. The roads have some ups and downs and there were a couple of reasonable climbs at about 8% to 10%.
We passed through little villages each with its own church tower, and made our way to Old Bolingbroke and Bolingbroke Castle. The village church is rather plain and squat, but the castle must once have been spectacular. Now a ruin, the walls reach only a few feet above ground level. However the moat is clearly visible, as is the complete footprint. After a good look round, we rode on to the Aviation Museum at East Kirkby where we had late morning cake and admired their Lancaster bomber, a Mosquito and a varied collection of aviation memorabilia in a huge hangar.
Then we headed north and west towards Woodhall Spa, with its long straight and attractive main street. We found a café with tables outside and had a late lunch. From there, we continued westward for a mile or so until we reach NCN route 1 again, only a couple of miles from where we had left it two days before near Stixwould. We took this heading south-east, although it leaves the River Witham and we were on a straight lane that is not designated NCN 1 until it gets closer to Boston. We saw the Boston Stump (St Botolph's) from miles away, it's so tall, and the riverside path took us all the way into the town. St Botolphs was closed but we had a good look at the outside.
Sandy's wife had just arrived by car to collect him so we all went for a cup of tea in the market square where the stalls were being set up for the following day's market. Barry and I made our way to the railway station and caught the 17.58 train to Grantham, where we had a half hour wait for the train to Ely. However, at Ely we were incredibly lucky, arriving on schedule at 20.15 and unexpectedly catching the 20.17 which was just across the platform. It brought us back to Cambridge North from where we rode back to Chesterton. All three trains were on time and all had space for bicycles (we hadn't booked them, but just turned up).
Le Tour de Lincs
Lincolnshire is a wonderful county for cycling with a lot of quiet lanes, dedicated cycle paths, attractive villages, and varied landscape including the rolling countryside of the Wolds. I had pre-planned the route to have two nights in both Lincoln and Louth so we could have some days without luggage, and taking in some places of interest. Barry checked out noteworthy village churches and cafes.
We broadly stuck to our route with just a few last minute changes – including the Aviation Museum visit. Barry and Sandy both rode flat bar hybrids (Specialized Sirrus, Boardman Team respectively) and I had my Triban 540 with 28mm tyres. We travelled relatively light with summer clothing and waterproofs, carried in conventional panniers. No bar bags. My lowest gear was 36x32 and ideally I would have welcomed one more low gear for Red Hill, but it wasn't critical. The whole trip was incident free apart from a single puncture, and the first-day near miss! Seb Macmillan