For all Seasons

The route is waymarked with a skylark symbol.

(S/E) Start at the Blue Bell Inn in Belchford. With the Inn behind you, turn right along Main Road, taking care on this busy rural road.

(1) After nearly a mile, turn left along a bridleway.

(2) The bridleway descends to a bridge over the River Waring. As you cross the bridge, the large ash tree on your left is often used by tawny owls. Occasionally owl pellets can be seen on the ground nearby.

(3) Heading uphill towards Fulletby, you pass tree plantations on your left. Conifers are planted around the edges to provide quick growing shelter for the broad-leaved trees inside.

(4) At the road, turn left along Hemingby Lane, following the Viking Way. The Viking Way is a 147 mile long distance footpath running from the Humber to Oakham in Rutland.

Turn left down Mill Lane immediately after the garage. Follow the road to the right, passing the church and Winn Cottage.

Turn left along School Lane. At the start of the ‘private road’, turn right on to the footpath, keeping to the Viking Way.

(5) The field you are now crossing has very obvious lumps and bumps - the remains of medieval Fulletby when it was a much larger village.

Cross the meadow, heading for a gate. Grassland such as this is becoming increasingly rare - common knapweed and ladies bedstraw grow here. Cross the next field heading towards the left-hand tree in the valley. Go through the kissing gates and follow the uphill boundary of two fields.

(6) From here you may see the distant towers of Lincoln Cathedral. When you reach the corner of the field, keep left along the field boundary, with the hedge on your right. Bear right at the signpost and continue with the hedge on your right.

(7) Go downhill along a short stretch of grassy track, turning off right to stay on the footpath through the area known locally as ‘Hills and Holes’ - possibly an ancient stone quarry.

(8) Follow the track and turn left at the signpost, cross the field to the River Waring, turning right then shorlty left over the brick bridge and continue to join Dams Lane. Turn right along the lane to return to Belchford.(S/E)

Yew Tree Cottage is over 200 years old and was built in the local 'mud and stud' style with a thatched roof.

Maps: OS Explorer Map 273

Parking: Considerate parking in the village.

Terrain: A mixture of footpaths, tracks and roadside walking - may be muddy in places.

Refreshments & Toilets: Pub.

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 AONB contains the highest ground in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent, rising to over 150m along its western edge. Rolling chalk hills and areas of sandstone and clay underlie this attractive landscape.

The Lincolnshire Wolds has been inhabited since prehistoric times and the appearance of the countryside today has been greatly influenced by past and present agricultural practices.

A Countryside Service helps to protect and enhance the landscape through partnership projects with local landowners, farmers, parish councils, businesses and residents of the Wolds.

Office Address :
Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service
Navigation Warehouse
Riverhead Road
Louth
Lincs LN11 0DA

Phone: 01522 555780 X @LincsWoldsNL FB @LincsWoldsNL

Website: https://www.lincswolds.org.uk