ECS6139RT_BLANKNEY WALK

Places of interest to visit nearby

2 B12 0

A46

A1133

2

B1178

B 12

B12

11

13 14

02

02

15

91

9

91 B11

1 B119

10

8

B1429

3 A15

7

B1395

A607

12

B11

A6

07

4

B1190

B1190

2

2 19 B1

6

East Heckington A17

16 03

North Kesteven District Council Heart of Lincolnshire

B6 4

Whilst great care has been taken in compiling this information into this leaflet, North Kesteven District Council cannot be held responsible for any errors, omissions or alterations contained within it. The inclusion of an establishment within this leaflet does not imply any official recommendations by North Kesteven District Council.

A153

A52

Distance 3.8 miles/6.1 kms

A52

7 A60

For more Stepping Out walks, further information on local attractions or accommodation, please call or visit: Sleaford Tourist Information Centre, Money’s Yard, Carre Street, Sleaford, Lincs NG34 7TW Telephone: 01529 414294 Email: tic@n-kesteven.gov.uk www.heartoflincs.com Download all the Stepping Out walks by visiting www.countrysidenk.co.uk www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk www.visitlincolnshire.com www.spiresandsteeples.com

14 Walk

ECS6139RT 2009

4 Station Road, Timberland Lincoln LN4 3SA Telephone: 01526 378359

178 B1

Haddington

20

89 B11

The Penny Farthing Inn

B1

A15

High Street, Scopwick Lincoln LN4 3QT Telephone: 01526 320285

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34

8 18 B1

Royal Oak

4 A1

B1 19 0

A1

Refreshments

Blankney Walk

58

5 A1

Church Lane, Timberland Lincoln LN4 3SB Telephone: 01526 378810

A1

1

17

5

00

8 18 B1

Clifton House

A1 5

A 15

29 Heath Road Scopwick Lincoln LN4 3NU Telephone: 01526 321716

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Daisy Cottage B&B

Many of the paths have been provided by the goodwill of local landowners.

These are marked by Highways Act signs. No special permission is needed to use these paths, but walkers are asked to help to ensure a continued welcome by only using the waymarked paths and keeping dogs on a lead.

Where paths cross pasture young stock may be present. If you have a dog with you please make sure it is under firm control in these sensitive areas.

19 B1

The Manor, Timberland Lincoln LN4 3RZ Telephone: 01526 378388

B1241

Manor Cottage

Introduction

Stepping Out

B1398

Accommodation

Go Stepping Out!

www.countrysidenk.co.uk

Blankney lies between Metheringham and Scopwick beside the B1188 on the edge of Lincoln Heath. To the east the limestone dip slope gradually declines until at Car Dyke it meets the Witham peat fens.

Blankney village is at the centre of a large estate originally granted to Walter De Aincourt by William the Conqueror for service rendered at the Battle of Hastings. It remained the principal family seat for 400 years until in 1466, it passed by marriage into the hands of the Lovell family.

After the War of the Roses, the estate was purchased by the Thorolds and it passed, again by marriage, into the hands of the Widdrington family during the reign of Charles I. It was acquired by the Chaplin family in 1719 who held it until 1892 when it was sold to cover debts to the Earl of Londesborough. The 2nd Earl built the first Blankney golf course in 1909.

Though St Oswald’s Church and the hall (demolished in 1965 after a tragic wartime fire) are older, the ‘modern’ estate village with its picturesque limestone cottages, golf club and cricket ground is largely the creation of the Chaplin family.

Walk Facts

Walk Location

A circular walk through open countryside and pastureland around the picturesque village of Blankney.

Starting Points

Blankney Car Park and Picnic Site. (Grid Ref: TF 077 607).

Parking

Blankney Car Park and Picnic Site. (Grid Ref: TF 077 607).

Public Transport

For information call the Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 or visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/busrailtravel

Walk Length

3.8miles/6.1kms in length and at a leisurely pace the shorter walk will take an hour and the longer variation two hours.

Type of Walk

The walk is generally on good farm tracks and pathways.

There are stiles on this walk.

Ordnance Survey maps

Explorer 272 and Landranger 121

3.3

4.4 5.5

To Lincoln

Blankney 3 Hall Farm

B11

11

10 5

Key

Car Park Blankney Walk Alternative Stepping Out Route

The Brickyard

6

Ash Holt

To Scopwick

11.

11

Farm Buildiings

7 To Sleaford

10.

10

Catton’s Holt

2

4

89

ay Railw

(For a shorter route continue along this track which takes you left around a small group of farm buildings, and then straight on rejoining the public footpath at Point 10 - this walk is approximately 2.15miles/3.5kms long) Turn immediately left along the field edge path with the large hawthorn hedge on your left and continue until you reach a gap in the hedge.

Go through the gap and follow the public footpath, now with the hedge on your right, along a grassy path. Continue on until you meet a farm track.

Turn left onto this track which will take you onto a metalled road known as Acre Lane. Turn left onto Acre Lane and follow it to Scopwick Lowfields Farm. With care, pass through the farm buildings and follow the footpath as it bends right along the edge of the field until you reach a T junction.

Turn left at this junction and follow the public footpath past mature blackthorn bushes and over a low wall bridge until you meet a further junction of paths.

Turn left at this junction and

1

88

2.2

From the car park, walk through the picnic site and walk along the edge of beech woodland. Before you leave the picnic site look to your right to see a beautifully renovated bridge which used to cross the carriageway leading to Blankney Hall. Follow the 6 path along the edge of the woodland until you reach a stile on your left.

Cross over the stile and follow the way marker into pasture beyond. St Oswald’s Church can 77 be seen on your right. Cross a second stile and a stream and continue straight on.

Follow the path as it hugs the field edges, keeping the 8.8 hedgerow on your left until the way markers lead left towards an area of woodland.

Turn left here, with the hedgerow on your right, and follow this track until you reach the woodland.

Turn right and follow along the field edge path with the hedgerow on your right and 9.9 woodland to the left, pass the bench and follow the way marker which leads off to your right.

L North

B11

1.1

Blankney Walk

Reproduced from OS Mapping with the permission of the controller of HMSO c Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes crown copyright and may lead to civil proceedings. OS Licence 100017926.2009

Scopwick Lowfields Farm

8

To Kirkby Green

Stepping Out leaflet number15

9

continue along the public footpath.

Follow the public footpath with the hedgerow on your right until you cross a stream After crossing the stream turn immediately left over the stile and walk across pasture back to the car park, keeping the stream on your left.

Warrening Rabbits were introduced into Britain by the Normans who bred them for fur. They were segregated in warrens to produce furs of pure black, grey or silver. Rabbits required feeding as they quickly consumed all the natural vegetation, even at the normal stocking rate of five rabbits per acre. They were starved to death in pits baited with food so as to avoid damaging their valuable furs. In Lincolnshire in 1800 a warren of 2,000 rabbits would require three cart loads of turnips a day, in addition to quantities of clover, hay, threshed oats and barley grown in nearby fields. Rabbit meat was cheap and even the poorest families could afford to eat it.

Farming on the heath After the Dissolution, sheep farming declined on the granges and much of the heath probably reverted to its natural state of ling (heather) gorse and furze. However, by the end of the 17th Century many acres of the un-enclosed heath were given over to rabbit warrens. Traces of these warrens, which featured miles of limestone or turf walls topped by gorse bushes to segregate the rabbits, can still be seen.

Lincoln Heath was enclosed in 1799 and the warrens did not long survive. By 1830, as demand for corn rose and arable farming became more profitable, the managed farms of the Blankney Estates were still rearing sheep but increasingly growing corn alongside traditional root crops.

The largely arable landscape of grain, maize and rape we see today is less than 100 years old and already there are signs of change.

Grass is being grown to produce chlorophyll for industry, and poppies for pharmaceuticals. Who knows what the Heath will look like in 2050? Global warming and the need to secure food and energy supplies locally may transform it again.