Cycling UK Louth Sunday Ride to Baumber Walled Garden's - 15th October 2023:
The last time the group had cycled to the Walled Gardens was when Jason Bartup was Ride Leader back in July 2020. High time then for another visit.
Quite a contrast in temperatures to our previous ride on Tuesday. We’d swap 22 Degrees Celsius to just 10 degrees. Never the less we’d been promised wall to wall sunshine and a light to moderate nor ’wester.
Meeting up with today’s Ride Leader Tim Newbery at Louth’s Meridian Leisure Centre were Paul Linder, Alan Hockham and John Weeks. Apologies had been received from Rob Cook and John Rickett.
Making our way up to the Bluestone Heath Road via Hallington, it was indeed a chilly start with the thermometer registering only 4 degrees and there were pockets of frost on the grass verges for a number of miles. The Wolds did however look resplendent in the sunshine and a number of Buzzard were in evidence soaring above our heads.
Along the route we met up with Gordon who was trying to catch up with Louth Cycle Club. Today Jason Bartup was in charge of a ride to Horncastle. Gordon mentioned that he also needed to go to Minting so we welcomed him into our group for the ride past Belmont Transmitting Station and then along the attractive wooded lanes through Panton, Sotby and Hatton. Our ride continued to undulate, perhaps rather more that John had anticipated and as he’d earlier ridden up Red Hill to meet up with us in Louth, had already achieved some significant ascent.
Passing through Minting we would return to the ‘Lincoln Road’ where fortunately it was just a few hundred metres to the turn off for the Walled Gardens. Gordon would continue directly to Horncastle and we hope he eventually met up with Louth Cycle Club.
Passing through the parkland of the Stourton Estates gave us superb views of a herd of Red deer before entering the Walled Gardens and tearoom. We had arrived just in time for lunch and Tim and Paul ordered the cranberry and brie panini. Delicious. John favoured sandwiches and cake, equally appetising.
The Walled Gardens themselves date to the nineteenth-century, once belonging to the former Stourton Hall. The hall, built in 1768 by the Duke of Newcastle originally stood in a woodland park of 50 acres. The Hall was eventually demolished in 1953 but much of the parkland survives and is managed to raise red deer for venison.
John and Paul would return to their respective homes from the Gardens with Tim and Alan continuing onto Hemingby and the steady long assent along Green Lane.
Arriving at Goulceby a little after half past one gave us plenty of time for a coffee and sitting outside in the sheltered front garden of the Three Horseshoes was delightful. It almost felt warm.
The name ‘Three Horseshoes’ usually derives from the belief that when a horse lost its shoe, the horse's owner would stop at the inn to re-shoe his horse and thus when they came, the horse only had three shoes. However, on this occasion the pub was once the local blacksmiths and so the story goes, sold a bit of shady booze on the side.
Following a sharp climb up Red Hill and past the Nature Reserve, arrived back in Louth at 2.30 pm. After one last coffee at Louth’s Leisure Centre, Tim finally got home at 3.00 pm. 60 km covered. Thanks to all for the company.
