Horncastle to Rowgate Hill - Horncastle Cycle Route 4
Follow the Bain Valley, cross Roman Roads and explore wide verge lined lanes before a strenuous ride up to the Bluestone Heath Road. Take your time – the views are worth it!
A
Horncastle walk
posted on 12/02/21 by Lincolnshire Wolds. Last update : 08/02/24
Description
(S/E) Leave the car park and turn left onto South Street and continue across the traffic lights, and up North Street.
(1) Turn left onto Hemingby Lane and up to the next junction.
(2) Cross Docking Lane and continue ahead up Horncastle Road, signposted Hemingby.
(3) At the next junction, turn left towards Hemingby and take the first right onto Chapel Lane, then at the end, turn right onto Green Lane. Continue along passing wide grass verges and the Roman Road.
(4) Turn left at the junction, signposted Goulceby and continue downhill.
(5) Take the next right onto Ranyard Lane. Ignore the next left hand turn, continuing until you reach the next junction.
(6) Turn left onto the A153 and continue until you take the next right turn into Scamblesby. Cycle past the school, taking the right onto South Street. Continue along the narrow lane and follow the road as it bends left to become Chapel Lane. Continue along out of the village and into open countryside and cycle way up Rowgate Hill.
(7) Once at the top, turn right onto the Bluestone Heath Road and continue along the escarpment until you take the next road turning on your right, signposted Belchford.
(8) Carefully cycle downhill into Belchford, past the church and through the village uphill then down to the cross road with the A153.
(9) Carefully cross the main road to continue along, signposted Hemingby. Follow the road as it bends to the right then take the left turning, signposted Horncastle.
(3) Retrace your route into Horncastle, turning right onto North Street, through the traffic lights onto South Street. Turn right into the car park, your starting point.(S/E)
Waypoints
- S/E : km 0 - alt. 34 m - Cattle Market Car Park
- 1 : km 0.82 - alt. 40 m - Hemingby Lane
- 2 : km 2.92 - alt. 45 m - Docking Lane
- 3 : km 5.92 - alt. 53 m - T-junction
- 4 : km 10.4 - alt. 121 m - Horncastle Road
- 5 : km 11.52 - alt. 82 m - Ranyard Lane
- 6 : km 12.82 - alt. 85 m - A153
- 7 : km 16.26 - alt. 139 m - Bluestone Heath Road
- 8 : km 20.76 - alt. 86 m - Belchford
- 9 : km 23.05 - alt. 103 m - A153
- S/E : km 32.56 - alt. 34 m - Cattle Market Car Park
Useful Information
Cycling is a great way to keep fit and appreciate the countryside. These easy to read leaflets provide useful information on mileage, approximate timing and gradient.
A simple map and points of interest are included – for those times when you need to catch your breath, admire the countryside or explore the area.
Good cycling code :
• Always follow the Highway Code and Countryside Code
• Be safe and be seen – wear a helmet and high visibility clothing and use lights
• Keep your bike roadworthy and carry a puncture repair kit
• Be courteous to other road users
• Take plenty of water and have a drink regularly
All cycle routes start from the Cattle Market Car Park on South Street, Horncastle (TF 259 693 Postcode: LN9 6EB). Please check for parking restrictions.
The Lincolnshire Wolds is a National Landscape, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1973. Covering an area of 558 square kilometres or 216 square miles, the rolling chalk hills of the AONB have been inhabited since prehistoric times whilst the appearance of the countryside today has been greatly influenced by past and present agricultural practices.
The Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service helps to protect and enhance the landscape through partnership projects with local landowners, farmers, parish councils, businesses and residents of the Wolds.
Places of interest/refreshments:
The Coach and Horses, Hemingby Tel: 01507 578280
Three Horseshoes Pub and village shop, Goulceby Tel: 01507 343909
The Green Man Inn and village shop, Scamblesby Tel: 01507 343317
The Blue Bell Inn, Belchford Tel: 01507 533602
Numerous refreshment outlets available throughout Horncastle.
Tourist Information: Tel: 01507 601111
Email: tourism@e-lindsey.gov.uk
www.lovelincolnshirewolds.com
FB@LoveLincsWolds X@LoveLincsWolds IG LoveLincsWolds
Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service, Navigation Warehouse, Riverhead Road, Louth,
Lincolnshire, LN11 0DA 01522 555780 www.lincswolds.org.uk
aonb@lincswolds.org.uk FB@LincsWoldsNL X@LincsWoldsNL
Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.
During the walk or to do/see around
Points of Interest:
Wide verges and Roman Road at Hemingby
A key distinctive landscape feature of the Lincolnshire Wolds is the grassed roadside verges and the wider network of green lanes, with some as wide as 20 metres. Those found alongside the drovers roads and other ancient routeways commonly provide the most flower-rich verges and are thought to form remnants of pre-enclosure pastures. Today the wide verges in the Wolds provide an important additional grassland habitat, often acting as linear corridors for birds, small mammals and insects, connecting pockets of isolated grassland.
Heading eastwards from Lincoln to Burgh le Marsh, then possibly onto a Roman port south of Skegness, this Roman Road is mainly now marked as green lanes and footpaths across the Wolds. Salt was produced along the coast and was probably transported along the road to Lincoln and across The Wash by ferry to Norfolk.
The Lindsey Trail is a 69 mile circular multi-use circular route around the Lincolnshire Wolds, extending from Market Rasen to Horncastle and beyond. The route is suitable for carriage drivers, horse riders, cyclist and walkers. www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/coast-countryside/walking-cycling-horse-riding
Wolds Methodist Centre
Where there were once over 30 chapels welcoming over 3,000 worshippers in the local area, the Wolds Methodist Centre is now the only place of Methodist worship within the southern Wolds. Here you will find excellent information boards about both the history and wildlife of Scamblesby village, along with further information on Methodism.
Bluestone Heath Road
This ancient route follows the southern edge of the Chalk escarpment, with fine views south over the valleys of the Bain, Waring & Lymn. Northwards, you can catch a glimpse into the steep sided valleys of Farforth, Oxcombe, Ruckland and Worlaby, formed by torrents of spring melt-water from neighbouring ice sheets at the end of the last glaciation approx. 17,000 years ago. The route was used to drive cattle and sheep from the higher chalk land for summer grazing on the coastal marsh
