I travelled to Sutton Crossroads today and walked down the access road to the main entrance to Idle Valley Nature Reserve. I'd planned to walk over to Tiln but got lost because the path had been diverted, and then I couldn't find a footbridge to get across the river. So, instead I walked along the riverside footpath, a very pleasant walk. I found a bench to sit on and eat my sandwiches and planned the rest of my route for the day.
I remained with the River Idle until I reached Chainbridge Lane, a dead straight track that goes for a mile and a half to Lound. There's actually a path, which I didn't know about until I got there, which runs parallel a few yards to the left and has much better views of the nature reserve. About halfway along I took a path that goes off to the left. This path took me to Sutton Grange and then there was a short stretch of unmade road until I reached the surfaced road that links Lound and Sutton-cum-Lound.
At Sutton I took the footpath that goes at the side of the church.
There was a bit of snow on the ground and on the top of walls today but on the final couple of miles of the walk as I was heading west I could see the higher ground near Maltby still had quite a covering.
A few minutes later I was walking alongside the main East Coast railway line and went right by the 'Edinburgh 250 Miles' point.
The final approach to Ranskill is boring; I walked to the nearest bus stop and had about ten minutes to wait.
Despite my walk not being the one I'd planned to do I still enjoyed it, maybe even more so, I got to explore large areas of the Idle Valley Nature Reserve I hadn't seen before.
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