Lincoln loop

June 27, 2024

through Bracebridge Heath again

Neither of us has a hangover, which is a little bit of a surprise as last night was pretty boozy. The thing is, I rarely overdo it and know my limit - which is a few pints - while Debbie drinks very modestly.

So, we feel up for a leisurely ride and dress in casual street clothes. The sun's out again and my suggestion is to re-do the quiet loop through Bracebridge Heath and head into Lincoln for lunch. The clincher for Debbie is that we can pop to the Aldi supermarket again, as she hasn't quite given up on getting some Euro 2024 T-shirts as gifts for a fiver each. She's more optimistic than me.

Riding south on Cliff Lane from Dave's house in Washingborough

We're a bit late setting off. It's gone noon. Within a couple of minutes we ride over a railway bridge and reach the edge of Washingborough, then cross a road and go past a dead-end sign fixed at the start of Cliff Lane. It makes me wonder where the cliff is. The OS map doesn't have any tight contours near this spot.

The narrow strip of tarmac gently drops down to Cliff Farm, which has been renovated with a long row of outbuildings now looking like they're for residential use. The farm marks the end of the lane and here we turn right onto a rough track that rises a little and takes us southwest, with a few turns thrown in.

Wheat and some other green crop is growing right beside us with no hedge or fencing and it seems the track would be OK to cycle along during winter months, as it's hard and unlikely to get very muddy. However, there's nothing to prevent a cold wind chilling a cyclist to the bone up here on the treeless, exposed heath. The weather today is hot, with cumulus stretching across the vast sky looking a bit surreal.

Riding clockwise from Dave's in Washingborough

Outside a house on Branston Road - the B1188

We get to the busy main road that connects Lincoln to a village called Branston where we have to make a zigzag. As we ride along the short section of the B1188, we pass by a wicker chair and an ottoman for sale on the grass in front of one of the houses. They match and look 1960s, or maybe 1950s. The semi-detached home looks to be from that period.

We soon pass the gatehouse to the hidden Ashfield House and wonder how much a large country home like that would cost, then about five minutes later we cut through the yard of Westfield Farm, with its pantiled barns and dovecote built into one gable. Maybe pigeons nested there. Either way, the eggs would have been a source of food, as well as the birds themselves. I think pigeon pie is still popular in France.

There's a new section of road being built that will likely intersect with the East Lincoln Bypass. At the moment it's a wide piece of exposed soil cut straight across wheat fields and more veg and I wonder how this quiet, narrow lane will be impacted once it's complete. Time will tell.

Slightly ahead there's a new-ish footbridge that spans the bypass and once we ride over that, we head into the village of Bracebridge Heath.

Bracebridge Heath - with roadworks in the background

As we reach the top of the hill that drops into Lincoln - maybe this is the cliff - we get a waft of fried food and know it must be a chip shop. Sure enough, when we follow our noses we find Heath Fish Bar just around the corner, set back from the road and next to a Tesco Express.

We can't resist. It's getting close to 2:00 and is way past lunch time, so no wonder we're hungry. I order cod and chips and ask if it's OK for us to eat inside, as it's cooking out there today. The husband and wife team say it's fine, but soon realise they'll close any minute and suggest we go to a bench across the road.

The wooden bench stands in the hot sunshine, so we stroll along looking for a spot in the shade and find a brick bus shelter with a perforated metal seat. It's just right and becomes our dining room for 10 minutes.

The hill down into Lincoln is a fast one, but I keep my max' speed to around 50km/hr. Debbie goes a bit slower and once at the bottom we make our way south to Aldi - about five minutes' ride away.

There are no T-shirts left as I expected, but not to worry as Debbie likes looking around UK supermarkets and comparing prices and seeing things that you don't get in Taiwan. It might not be a traditional tourist spot, but a supermarket does show one aspect of European culture, with its range of fruit and veg and discounted stuff. I buy a couple of packs of pork scratchings as gifts to take back and Debbie gets a few small packs of Twinnings tea, which she thinks are pretty cheap.

There's a sign at the end of a nearby side street pointing to a riverside cycle path and we ride down and get on it. It traces the river north into the town centre. There's nothing else we want and it's back east along the cycle path for the last time.

In fact this is likely our final ride of the trip. We've packing to do, my son to visit in York and a farewell drink with friends on Satuday night. In a couple of days - Sunday - we'll get a train across to Manchester and spend two nights there before flying home.

Riding north on the riverside cycle path into the centre of Lincoln

Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 976 km (606 miles)

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