On Top of the Wolds

Hi Karl,
Thanks for taking so much time to rate and review!
Getting such a detailed review and suggestions to improve the walk is awesome.
I’ll get in touch with the author right away.
Best regards,
Julien

The information and map looked good on paper but in reality it wasn't as easy a route to follow as it should have been.. The route is actually quite simple and should not need a map and compass although some will expect taht information. It is very easy to find the start, St. James' Church, a massive landmark near to the centre of Louth but parking isn't obvious unless you know Louth. The start of the walk is a little confusing as the directions seem to suggest you walk uphill on Bridge Street from the church when, in fact, you walk slightly downhill to begin with. A better starting instruction would be something like " With St. James' Church and the town centre behind you, walk slightly downhill on Bridge Street which soon becomes twisting and turning before becoming Grimsby Road which goes uphill for some distance". The key truning into Fanthorpe Lane could easily be missed as it is a narrow lane so perhaps an instruction like "When the angle eases on Grimsby Road, pass a modern housing estate on the left and note a small industrial development, including a Spar, further on. Fanthorpe Lane is just after tehhousing estate and well before the Spar". The route and description from here on are fine although it should be noted that where the Louth bypass is crossed is often very busy with fast moving trafiic so that one may have to run across the road. After that, the route is fairly obvious until the minor road is reached where one turns left to head towards South Elkington. All of this section is along the minor road but it is a very quiet road, very easy to follow and little traffic will be met. This section goes through a farm and and has great views as you are fairly high now and the highest point of the walk is along this road. South Elkington is a small village with a shop but this wa snot visited. The continuation is obvious to begin with as you simple turn left onto a fairly busy road towards Louth. There is a footpath at the side of the road. Further on down this road, you need to fork left but this is not well described and some might mistakenly take an earlier path. A better decription would be "continue down the road to a dip then go slightly up the other side. After passing a house, a footpath forks off left towards Cow Pasture Wood with some houses to the right of the wood. Note that there is a signed path on the opposite side of the road to confirm where you are." It doesn't help that that the superimposed waymarker on your map obliterates the detail just decribed! Passing through Cow pasture Wood is straightforward. Crossing the bypass is much easier than earlier and the route eventually reaches one of the main roads into Louth from the bypass. One just follows that downhill, crossing the bridge ove rthe River lUd then following Westgate back to St. James' Church.

In summary, I would advise changing the instructions at the start of the walk (1) and where the path leaves the road for Cow Pasture Wood (4). Many who use this route will just be casual wlakers with little in the way of navigation skills.

Lovely quiet and scenic route but there is a shortcut that would save you half a mile ISH and you'd probably see more wildlife

A very enjoyable walk. Nothing too difficult & we found the instructions easy to follow which made this a great day out. First time in the wolds, the great weather helped too! Maybe quite muddy in wet weather.

Beautiful in parts but too much of it was on busy noisy roads

Lovely parts to the walk but there was too much of it on the side of a very busy noisy road.

First visit to what USA charming part of the world.
The walk itself was quiet, with some fantastic panoramic views of the Vale of York, so pick a day with decent visibility.
A good mix of pretty dry terrain and reasonable slopes - 'Moderate' is accurate for the walk, and it was very pleasant.
A couple of minor deviations over the fieldscwhich were a much my fault as the directions, but the map is pretty good.

PS. Parking was a bit busier than expected: The village is basically a residential street with driveways and some elderly residents, so bear that in mind when parking up.