Start: Start at the Ramblers car park on the road from Nettleton to Normanby le Wold. Grid ref. TF 110 991
Waymarkers: The route is marked with a nettle leaf symbol.
(S/E) From the car park go left downhill and into Nettleton village.
(1) Turn right down the track marked as the Viking Way by 'Hazeldene' and continue past Nettleton Grange.
The Viking Way is a 147 miles long distance footpath running from the Humber to Oakham in Rutland.
(2) Turn right off the farm track, leaving the bridleway, and follow the Viking Way with Nettleton beck on your right through the valley.
Ironstone Mining - Nettleton Top It is hard to imagine how different this landscape used to look. For nearly 40 years from 1929, up to 180 people lived and worked here, mining for ironstone. There were railways, mounds of spoil, concrete and machinery throughout the area. Pit ponies worked bringing trucks full of ore out of the mines. Sadly, many workers lost their lives working in the mines. Some are buried in nearby Claxby churchyard.
(3) At the top of the valley turn right onto a bridleway that leads to the road.
(4) Turn right at the road, continue along past Nettleton Top and return to the car park (S/E).
Arguably some of the best views in Lincolnshire can be seen from Nettleton Top. Look out for Lincoln Cathedral, the Humber Bridge and the cooling towers along the River Trent. The valley is full of wildflowers. Look out for cowslips and harebells on the higher slopes and ragged robins and marsh marigolds nearer the stream.