Beeston (Nottingham) to Belton House (Grantham)
There are two route options described here – one is mainly off-road and the other is mainly on roads.
I cycled from my home in Beeston (Nottingham) to Belton House parkrun, just north of Grantham.ROUTE 1
Start point: Beeston railway station, NG9 1JU
End point: Belton House, NG32 2LW
Distance: 42.2 miles / 68 km
The route follows the Beeston Canal for around a mile then follows a cycle lane through a Park and Ride site, and onto Victoria Embankment.
It crosses the Wilford Suspension Bridge and then heads through West Bridgford town centre and out the other side. After crossing the A52 on a toucan crossing, you’re onto the Grantham Canal!
The canal is your companion for the next 15 miles or so. The surface is pretty hard, although it probably gets puddly when wet!
I stopped for lunch at the excellent Old Wharf Tearoom at Hickling. There’s also a pub just opposite, which provides another option.
The tow path after Hickling gets a bit narrower and a bit softer. Soon after leaving Hickling, there’s an incredibly low bridge. I don’t think there’s any way round it so you have to get off and squeeze yourself and your bike under!
The route leaves the canal at the first road into Harby, and takes you through Stathern, which has a village shop and cafe opposite a pub.
Then the the climbing really begins! Before long the road turns into a dirt track. It looks like it could potentially get quite muddy after a lot of rain, but it was completely dry when I was there. The hill is brutal and I had to get off and push! The bit at the top of the hill definitely has the potential to get very muddy in winter.
The route passes through Eaton and then join NCN route 64 on the roads through Branston, Knipton, Harston, and Woolsthorpe By Belvoir, where it re-joins the Grantham Canal for the final few miles into Grantham.
As the canal ends, there’s a Premier Inn right across the road, which could be a good option for a parkrun overnighter.
The route follows the cycle lanes into town – there’s just one section where you need to go on the main road for a few hundred metres. Then it joins the riverside cycle path through a number of pretty parks.
Emerge onto the A607 which you can follow (on a cycle path) all the way up to Belton House.
ROUTE 2
Start point: Belton House, NG32 2LW
End point: Beeston railway station, NG9 1JU
Distance: 35.6 miles / 57 km
The route heads back into Grantham on the A607, along the riverside cycle path, then across town and out along a long straight road towards Barrowby. It then turns south and back onto to the Grantham Canal for a few miles.
It leaves the Grantham Canal at Woolsthorpe By Belvoir and then sticks to roads all the way back to West Bridgford. The roads are fairly undulating, with lots of steady uphill drags but nothing particularly steep.
There are lovely views of Belvoir Castle, before the route heads down into Redmile. Village pubs which provide a good option for refreshments can be found in Redmile, Granby, and Langar. In Granby there’s a village store and coffee shop at the back of the Marquis of Granby pub – it’s on the route, but a bit hard to spot. Cropwell Bishop and Cotgrave are larger villages with small supermarkets, cafes and pubs.
The route passes a small airport just outside Tollerton before going back to cross the A52 and follow the same route back to Beeston as outlined at the beginning of Route 1.
