Horncastle Hilly

Cycling UK Louth Ride, Sunday 9th May 2021.

Horncastle Hilly.

With the weather set to be somewhat unreliable as a weak cold front wobbled its way across the county, there was never the less a great turnout at the Meridian Leisure Centre for today’s choice of rides. A number had indicated a preference of a somewhat shorter, flatter route than the planned ‘Horncastle Hilly’ and so we would split into two groups for today’s adventure.

Alan Hockham would lead a group comprising himself along with John Ambler, Chris Owen, and Reg Bagshaw heading to Stewton Lane and a pleasant ride to Claythorpe Mill. Tim Newbery would alternatively lead Rob Cook and John Rickett following the planned route initially to Red Hill for a ‘picnic’ break and then onto Horncastle for lunch.

For the Horncastle contingent it was a familiar route to Hallington and the steady climb up to the Bluestone Heath Road. It would initially be a cloudy morning, the cloud thick enough for a little drizzly rain. A strong headwind too, the SW’ly gusting exactly to the predicted 30 mph (so quite a push!). Indeed, by the time we arrived at Redhill Nature Reserve for our scheduled stop, the gusty winds persuaded us to continue and stop instead at the more sheltered public bench at Asterby. We were at first surprised at how many people were passing through this remote hamlet. Walkers, cyclists and horse riders. We were even greeted by a local houseowner on his way to the one and only secluded post-box. He confirmed that the hamlet was pronounced ‘’haesterby” (with a silent h).

Whilst John supped from a bottle of juice and Tim poured a mug of coffee from his flask, it was left to Rob to brew from scratch using his camping stove. Rob demonstrated at just how quickly and efficiently he could brew up a cuppa!

It would be a pleasant and informative break as were sitting opposite Asterby Church, dedicated to Saint Peter. Now sadly derelict the church dates from the 14th century, although with substantial alterations around 1900. Footpaths lead directly to the gated entranceway from the once heavily populated ‘Medieval Deserted Village’. Traces of the buildings can still be seen and three human skeletons and an ancient dagger have been dug up in previous excavations.

Our next leg would see the group climb again to the Horncastle Road before an enjoyable swoop down Green Lane to Hemingby. Past Horncastle Golf Club, the new Horncastle ‘Wolds Wildlife Park’ and to the town centre for another coffee. Many thanks to John for the generous purchase of large mugs of latte and delicious cakes. Much appreciated.

Rested and full of coffee, we would now be able to enjoy the backwind as we continued to Fulletby, in part using the renowned ‘Viking Way’. By now the sun continued to shine between the clouds and it was becoming increasingly warm, a very respectable 17 degrees Celsius. Pleasant then to take another break by the Belchford stone cairn marker to allow Rob to enjoy his packed lunch. Once again, we were passed by a number of ramblers and horses riders on an organised trail.

Time now for the biggest climb of the day and the ascent to the Bluestone Heath Road at an altitude of nearly 140 m (460 ft). Gorgeous views of the Wolds and of the distinctive fields of Rapeseed, the vivid hues of yellow shining brightly in the Spring sunshine. Turning east we continued through Maidenwell and Rob and John then decided on extending our ride to climb even more hills by continuing onwards to Burwell and the ‘Lincolnshire Wolds Way’. Fine views of the walled gardens of Burwell Park and Catch Acre Plantations before a return to the ‘Top Road’ and our return to Louth via Muckton and Little Cawthorpe.

A splendid day out, arriving back in Louth at just before 2.30 pm having covered 38 miles with 475 m (1550 ft) elevation gain. Winds were still gusting 30 mph but an astonishing 20 degrees Celsius!

Second Group Ride Report, author Reg Bagshaw:

The second group consisted of Alan Hockham; Chris Owen; John ambler and yours truly Reg Bagshaw. We decided to take an indirect route to Claythorpe Mill. Leaving the Meridian Leisure Centre at about 9.30 am we made for Stewton Lane with myself at the rear observing Chris making gestures and comments to car drivers whose main aim seemed to be how close they could get to us without knocking us off our bikes.

ED NOTE: Lincolnshire Police now have #OpSnap in place (lincs.police.uk/reporting-adv) as close passing is an offence. It's best not to engage physically or verbally but instead report to Lincolnshire Police. 

We made for Legbourne Furze where John Ambler left the group due to an electrical problem on his bike (let’s hope it will be sorted in time for next week). We went onto the A157 for a short while before turning off to the Carlton’s. Crossing the A157 again to Authorpe and arriving at Claythorpe Water Mill on what was now a very pleasant sunny day, where I ordered myself a well-earned sausage and mushroom sandwich. Chris and Alan decided respectively on lemon and chocolate sponge cakes. A very pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning.

After a fairly lengthy break, we returned to Louth via Muckton to take in a few low-lying hills, the highest being Fir Hill at 65 metres. Chris left us at Little Cawthorpe whilst myself and Alan continued onto the Leisure Centre, arriving at 1 pm.

A   very enjoyable ride and we had covered a total of 20 miles at an average speed of 10.7 mph and a maximum of around 30 mph.