Cycling UK Forum

One of my wife’s friends lives in the Lincs wolds fens near Lincoln Boston. I see the old railway line through Woodhall is now a rail trail but that it’s not all off road.

Can any Lincs locals comment on whether it’s suitable for, say, a 9yo & 7yo plus adult?

ratherbeintobago wrote:One of my wife’s friends lives in the Lincs wolds fens near Lincoln Boston. I see the old railway line through Woodhall is now a rail trail but that it’s not all off road.

Can any Lincs locals comment on whether it’s suitable for, say, a 9yo & 7yo plus adult?

The Spa Trail/Viking Way (Woodhall Spa) is not the same trail as the Water Rail Way but either are suitable for children of 9 & 7. Woodhall Spa is not in the Fens by the way !

If you follow the Water Rail Way from Kirkstead Bridge (nr Woodhall Spa) to Boston you'll then be in Fen country when you arrive.

John.

Hobbs1951 wrote:

ratherbeintobago wrote:One of my wife’s friends lives in the Lincs wolds fens near Lincoln Boston. I see the old railway line through Woodhall is now a rail trail but that it’s not all off road.

Can any Lincs locals comment on whether it’s suitable for, say, a 9yo & 7yo plus adult?

The Spa Trail/Viking Way (Woodhall Spa) is not the same trail as the Water Rail Way but either are suitable for children of 9 & 7. Woodhall Spa is not in the Fens by the way !

The Spa Trail isn't looking great to me for a 7-year-old https://goo.gl/maps/njbHtcpsAKisEzeR7 - is my map out of date and it's been diverted off that road?

And the Viking Way appears to be a footpath: https://goo.gl/maps/25ZBfHnyX2kw363VA

And Woodhall Spa is on the edge of the fens, but in it by some definitions. The other bank of the Witham, a few metres away across Kirkstead Bridge is definitely fen, drained from the 1770s on and managed by the Witham First District Internal Drainage Board.

And Woodhall Spa is on the edge of the fens, but in it by some definitions

Where my wife's friend lives is definitely in the fens.

I ride the WRW regularly (from Lincoln via Bardney, & Kirkstead to Boston) - and rode the ST recently - I took my 7 yr old on it (when she was 7).

John.

Hobbs1951 wrote:I ride the WRW regularly (from Lincoln via Bardney, & Kirkstead to Boston) - and rode the ST recently - I took my 7 yr old on it (when she was 7).

And does the Spa Trail still go along B1191 as far as Sandy Lane? What makes it less nasty to cycle on than it looks?

And is the sign I saw on Manor Road wrong or is the Viking Way only a footpath route?

mjr wrote:And Woodhall Spa is on the edge of the fens, but in it by some definitions. The other bank of the Witham, a few metres away across Kirkstead Bridge is definitely fen, drained from the 1770s on and managed by the Witham First District Internal Drainage Board.

Some of Woodhall Spa parish is fenland some isn't. Land classified as fen goes right up to Lincoln on each side of the Witham. WItham Third drains the Woodhall side of the river. There's a map here. https://www.ada.org.uk/member_type/idbs/

I've ridden the Witham from source to see and the 'Rail trail' several times in part or full.

The on road section should be okay for the ag group you have, provide they have some road sense. There are a couple of sections that are not great after heavy rain, there are signed road diversions and the same applies. If you want to take in any of the 'attractions' (Bubble car museum, couple of abbeys, a castle etc) you will have to go on roads but only for short distances.

foxyrider wrote:I've ridden the Witham from source to see and the 'Rail trail' several times in part or full.

How did you manage on the bit between South Witham and Lincoln where the river is mainly through farmland with no tracks alongside. Did you use one of those bikes with fat tyres?

pete75 wrote:

foxyrider wrote:I've ridden the Witham from source to see and the 'Rail trail' several times in part or full.

How did you manage on the bit between South Witham and Lincoln where the river is mainly through farmland with no tracks alongside. Did you use one of those bikes with fat tyres?

I followed as close as public bridleways and roads allow using my Focus Mares AX. There are a couple of bits south of Grantham where the map indicates a track but in fact its a footpath so i was a good boy and went around by road. The only bit that was impossible to ride was the sea of mud by the source - but it was March!

The Water Railway extends from Lincoln to Woodhall Spa on a traffic-free gravel trail suitable for all bikes and tyres; from there it heads South on really quiet roads before again during the Water Railway right into the heart of Boston (take the signed-post Summer Route around Bardney on a road bike).

Alternatively you could just head North instead from Bardney.

If you park up in Bardney you can join the Water Railway and head direct into the centre of Lincoln. If you want to enjoy the city at the end of the cycle path there is a footbridge over the carriageway and you can push your bikes around following the river into the various shopping areas of the city.

The section between Bardney and Lincoln is 8 miles in each direction so pretty long for most children I would say? There are various statues and various things to look at along the way, barges moored up at the Bardney-end and such like. All away from traffic, just peds, cyclists and the odd dog walker.

If your are really adventurous you can link up the Water Railway to the the NCN64 which goes from the centre of Lincoln all the West into Nottinghamshire - all off-road.

Joining the Water Railway and the NCN64 you end up with a 75km bike ride a large chunk of which is away from cars on a dedicated cycle path.

djrikki wrote:(take the signed-post Summer Route around Bardney on a road bike).

Why? - the normal route is perfectly rideable on a road bike, having tried both routes i far prefer to put up with a couple of puddles rather than the speeding traffic.

foxyrider wrote:

djrikki wrote:(take the signed-post Summer Route around Bardney on a road bike).

Why? - the normal route is perfectly rideable on a road bike, having tried both routes i far prefer to put up with a couple of puddles rather than the speeding traffic.

I use both routes when I ride along there. One going and the other coming back. The quiet road through Southrey and the little B1190 are hardly filled with masses of speeding traffic. There are also interesting things to see on that route like the charming wooden church in Southrey and the remains of Tupholme Abbey. Slight detours from the Water Rail Way mean you can visit several of the Witham valley abbeys.

https://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/ass ... valley.pdf

Southrey church - looks like something from a western doesn't it?

There are a couple of curious features on the Langrick Bridge to Boston section, which is otherwise a pleasant, traffic free ride along the Witham bank.
These are abrupt double kinks with low, overlapping and very solid barriers in the very short piece between. These have also to be slalomed through and are not visible until the last moment.
While they should not catch out any normally alert and careful cyclist, I wonder what they are meant to be for.
As a speed restraint they only work at these two spots in several miles of straight and open path, so any speed mad cyclist could quickly get back up to pedestrian-menacing velocity.

The Water Rail Way from Bardney to Kirkstead Bridge, is our V-CC Section Season Opener (has been for many years) we then ride from KB into Woodhall Spa for lunch then back to Bardney.

John.