Lincolnshire Limewoods Walks Woodhall Spa A circular walk of 13km (8 miles)
Introduction The Lincolnshire Limewoods is an area between Wragby, Bardney and Woodhall Spa. It is a fantastic place to explore with ancient woodland, medieval religious ruins and a wealth of wildlife. This walk is one in a series where you can experience all this! The Lincolnshire Limewoods are the most important examples of small-leaved lime woodland remaining in Britain and several have been collectively designated as the Bardney Limewoods National Nature Reserve. The woods provide a range of habitats for a variety of wildlife. Keep your eyes open you never know what you might see! This walk starts in the attractive resort village of Woodhall Spa. Features include Edwardian buildings, tree-lined avenues and woodland right at its centre. The walk passes the Cottage Museum, skirts the edge of one of the courses belonging to the English Golf Union before leaving the village. It then passes a medieval moated site and goes through the pretty village of Stixwould, once home to a Cistercian nunnery. The walk goes through or along the edge of several mature woodlands and passes many mature oak and ash trees, either in the woodland or as part of hedgerows. Stixwould church
The Walk 1 2 From Royal Square turn right and walk along Station Road and continue straight on as it becomes The Broadway. The Royal Hydro Hotel and Winter Gardens once stood on the site of what is now the Royal Square but was destroyed by a bomb in 1943. The land was donated to the local council for a village memorial. The Square also contains a memorial to the Dambusters which was erected in 1987. 617 Squadron (the Dambusters) were stationed at RAF Woodhall Spa from 1944 to 1945. Turn left along Iddesleigh Road past the Tourist Information Centre and Cottage Museum. Continue straight on over the old railway line and onto a public footpath. The museum preserves the community history of Woodhall Spa through photographs and memorabilia and is well worth a visit. It houses the Tourist Information Centre so you can also pick up information on local places of interest. It is open during the summer months. At the junction with a road carry straight on along Coronation Road. After approximately 100m turn right along a public footpath. Follow this path between the golf course and woodland to a road, approximately 900m (½ mile). 3 You will walk past some lovely large oak trees, several hundred years old. The oak is often said to be the king of trees. It is home to more insect species than any other native tree species and its timber is widely valued for construction and furniture. Cross the road and bear left across the verge and walk through the gap in the hedge. Turn left and follow the path around the field edge, keeping the fence on your right. This section of the walk is on Environmental Stewardship permissive paths, by kind permission of Woodland Estates. Turn right at the field corner to continue along the field edge. Cross a bridge and the entrance to Woodhall Country Park and continue ahead along the field edge. Follow the path behind the Village Limits pub, walk between a large oak tree and timber shed, and then continue ahead on the mown path close to the field edge and parallel to the road. Follow the path right, keeping the drain to your left. The new woodland in this area was planted with assistance from the Forestry Commission s JIGSAW (Joining and Increasing Grant Scheme for Ancient Woodlands), supported by the Lincolnshire Limewoods Project. As woodlands get smaller and more isolated they become less valuable for a variety of wildlife. The JIGSAW scheme has enabled landowners to plant new woodlands adjoining existing ones. Over the past 10 years over 160 hectares of new woodland has been planted across the Lincolnshire Limewoods area.
Map Key: BH Bird hide Map Scale: North 400m ¼ mile 7 6 9 8 5 10 12 11 4 13 BH 16 3 14 17 18 2 15 1 Crown copyright database rights (2014) Ordnance Survey (100025370)
The Walk 4 5 6 Look for a gap in the hedge just beyond where the drain goes under the road. Go through the gap, turn left and follow the road for approximately 200m to a T-junction. Turn right onto a bridleway. Follow the bridleway straight on through Halstead Wood to a field. Look out for a variety of trees in this wood including oak, birch, ash and hazel. You will see that many of the hazel bushes have more than one stem. This is likely to be due to them being coppiced at some time. Coppicing is a traditional management technique where stems are cut down to ground level on a regular basis. This encourages the tree to grow more stems which depending on size can be woven to make baskets and fences. Continue straight ahead following the field edge to a farm gate. Walk straight on along a track and past the house. Turn left and then right through the farmyard and walk along the farm drive to a road. Halstead Hall was built in the early sixteenth century. The present house is thought to be all that remains of a larger courtyard style house. It is surrounded by a medieval moat and the large red-brick barn is the former gatehouse to the Hall. At the road turn left. After approximately 200m turn right to enter Stixwould Wood. 7 8 9 This woodland is owned and managed by the Forestry Commission and is a working woodland, please follow any on-site signs. Follow the woodland ride straight on through the wood, ignoring tracks to the left and then the right. At a T-junction of rides, turn left and follow this ride to the woodland edge. Leave the woodland over the footbridge and turn left to follow the public footpath alongside the drain and wood edge. After approximately 200m and at the end of the first field bear diagonally right across the field heading towards a house in the distance. At the road turn right into Stixwould village. At the junction continue straight on, past St Peter s Church, to another junction. Turn left on to Station Road (signed Stixwould Station) to join the Viking Way and follow it back to the edge of Woodhall Spa. At the T-junction turn left. The Viking Way is a 147 mile walking route that crosses Lincolnshire. It links the Humber in the north to Rutland Water in the south and is waymaked with a Viking helmet on a yellow background.
The Walk 10 At the next T-junction turn right. 15 At the road turn left and follow it for Take care walking along this short 2 approximately 1km ( 3 mile). section of busier road. 11 After approximately 200m, and as the road bends to the left, turn right along a public footpath. Follow the track and then enter the field and turn immediately left to walk alongside the hedge. 16 17 At a crossroads turn right into Woodhall Spa. Turn left onto Coronation Road and then almost immediately right over a bridge and into the Pinewoods. These 19 acres of woodland in the heart of Woodhall Spa, known as The Pinewoods, are owned and managed by the Woodland Trust. The woodland was once part of the landscaped grounds of the Victoria Hotel which burnt down in 1920. It contains some lovely mature oak and Scots pine trees which provide valuable habitats for many woodland birds including woodpeckers. 12 13 14 After crossing Reeds Beck bear right across the field to a gate (approx 60m from the end of the barn). Go through the gate and continue ahead along the track across the field towards a woodland, Long Wood. At the woodland turn left and follow the footpath around the edge of the wood. At the second corner cross the small bridge in the hedge and turn left to walk along the edge of the field. At the field corner turn right and follow the woodland edge for approximately 300m. Turn left into the woodland. At the track, on the other side of the wood, walk straight ahead along the track to a road. 18 Follow the path over another bridge and turn left. At a ditch and crossroads of paths turn right. Follow this path straight on to the back of some buildings. Turn right and follow the path to the road. Turn left and left again to return to the starting point.
Be a responsible walker Please remember the countryside is a place where people live and work and where wildlife makes its home. To protect the Lincolnshire countryside for other visitors please respect it and on every visit follow the Countryside Code. Thank you. Be safe - plan ahead and follow any signs Leave gates and property as you find them Protect plants and animals, and take litter home Keep dogs under close control Consider other people Most of all enjoy your visit to the Lincolnshire countryside This leaflet is one in a series of walk leaflets produced by Lincolnshire County Council s Countryside Access Team to help you explore and enjoy the County s countryside. If you have enjoyed these walks and would like information on other walking routes in Lincolnshire then please visit our website. If you encounter any problems whilst on these walks, such as an overgrown path or a broken sign post, please let us know so they can be corrected. We would also welcome your comments and suggestions on the walk and leaflet to help improve future editions. If you would like this leaflet in an alternative format or language please contact us. Lincolnshire County Council Countryside Access Team Tel: 01522 782070 Minicom: 01522 552055 Email: countryside_access@lincolnshire.gov.uk Web: www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/countryside
Useful information Walk location: Woodhall Spa lies 22km (14 miles) south-east of Lincoln. Starting point: Royal Square, Station Road, Woodhall Spa, LN10 6QL. Grid Reference: TF 192 630. Parking: Car parks off Station Road. Public Transport: For information call Traveline Woodhall Spa on 0871 200 22 33 or visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/busrailtravel or www.lincsbus.info Ordnance Survey maps for the area: Explorer 273 Lincolnshire Wolds South, and Landranger 122 Skegness & Horncastle and 121 Lincoln & Newark. Walk length: 13km (8 miles) and will take approximately 4 hours to complete at a leisurely pace. Type of walk: Mostly easy level walking using field paths, some quiet roads and woodland rides. The walk passes through a working farmyard and a working woodland. The sections through the woodlands and farmyard may be wet and muddy. You may encounter stiles and livestock on this walk. Refreshments: There is a selection of shops, cafes and pubs in Woodhall Spa and the Village Limits pub, Stixwould Road, Woodhall Spa. Public Toilets: Spa Road, Woodhall Spa. The Limewoods Project aims to protect, enhance and promote the Lincolnshire Limewoods area through the Limewoods Partnership. www.limewoods.co.uk email: limewoods@lincolnshire.gov.uk The Limewoods Project is funded by : Originally published October 2011. Revised and re-printed March 2014