Follow in his footsteps
Angelo is one of The Lincolnite’s first Community Voices columnists and will be sharing routes in and around Lincoln for fellow explorers. He is an adorer of English countryside and a keen traveller. He has travelled to places like the ghats of Varanasi in India and the Atlas mountains in Morocco but has never seen more plenteous nature than the UK’s. As a Greek, he couldn’t miss being affected by philosophy, and in nature he finds the appropriate place to reflect. When he is not on the road he mainly writes and podcasts.
Community Voices is a project which bridges the gap between the people of Lincoln and the news that helps them navigate every day life in the city. Read the experiences and views of a range of local people as they become regular voices on The Lincolnite and help shape the conversation in your neighbourhood.
Route Distance: 4.4 Miles
Start: Bus 8 to and from town (Buchanan Street Bus Stop)
End: Buses 7 or 8 from and to town (Torrington Road Bus Stop)
You know, when we usually talk about the Uphill Lincoln we don’t go beyond the gorgeous cathedral (of course!), the historical cobbled streets, the outstanding Steep Hill and generally the medieval town. This was my impression too, however, as a great admirer of English nature and a keen hiker, I was keeping my eyes open for any routes nearby. Routes that would give me the chance to go off the edge of the town but also be easily accessible. The amazing Arboretum and the Liquorice parks seemed very limited in size for my insatiable thirst to be immersed in nature.
One route that I have found is north of Ermine West and starts from Burton Road before A46 flyover bridge. The day that I did it with my girlfriend was fortunately a sunny one, giving us the chance to enjoy the environment in full. As we were approaching the bridge, the houses were becoming more sparse and had gorgeous gardens. I was already full of enthusiasm.
As we passed from the bridge and saw the cars below us, we kept walking. There was no sign of houses any more. Only fields on our right hand side, and landscape views of Lincolnshire behind one vertical line of trees on the left. But soon, there was an opening on the left and a road leading downwards. This is Burton park, but we didn’t enter and remained on our way.
After a few minutes, we found an opening on the right while there was also a sign. We turned and we were immediately among plenty of trees. I later found that this is called Old Coach Road and was used in the past as a road by carriages. We decreased our pace to enjoy this majestic environment. We had walked less than a mile and we were feeling away from everything. Only us, the birds, the trees and the fields behind them.
The Old Coach Road is about three quarters of a mile in length. When we reached A15 (Riseholme road) we turned left and kept going. There were still trees all around us and we were going parallel to the road. In this place it seemed like we had shared the route with motocross bikes, as there were tracks left on the soil.
Soon, on the opposite side of the street was Riseholme Lane. We followed it and were soon passing very beautiful houses with the cathedral once again in our view while. In addition, we were impressed by the generosity of the locals offering fresh vegetables to passers-by!
After walking for less than half a mile we reached the Riseholme Campus. We had to turn left and enter it while we were sadly leaving behind us the calming sheep grazing on our right.
First we saw the Lawress Hall which is now a governmental building.
We turned right, walked next to it and passed a small bridge. I had seen on the map that later the lake becomes larger. I walked for a few steps next to the river and my eyes fell on another gorgeous building that was standing in the middle of an open green.
I couldn’t stop staring at it, which kept me from realising the paradise around me. There were different kinds of old tall trees everywhere and on top of that there was an astonishing lake.
Needless to say that we stayed there for sometime, staring at the lake or closing our eyes enjoying the silence, everything was perfect. And all this time not a single other person was there. All the paradise for ourselves.
Later we walked on the road that was leading us around the lake and reached Riseholme Lane again.
But we didn’t follow it till the end. Instead when we found again the beloved sheep, and we turned left.
There are some signs there, and a gate, but don’t let this discourage you, it opens. This is called St George Lane. We didn’t see any cars all the way, and the route is mostly fields apart from a few factories. This lead us to Riseholme Roundabout and A46 which is the end of our route.
Angelo is an adorer of English countryside and a keen traveller. He has travelled in places like the ghats of Varanasi in India and the Atlas mountains in Morocco but has never seen more plenteous nature than the UK's. As a Greek, he couldn't miss being affected by philosophy and in nature he finds the appropriate place to reflect. When he is not on the road he mainly writes and podcasts.
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