Nettleton walk - Nettleton Top walk - Viking Way

Route: Nettleton

Area: North Lincolnshire

Date of walk: 23rd August 2014

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 6.1 miles

Weather: Cloudy at times but plenty of bright intervals. Warm

The village of Nettleton is known for an odd tradition: on Boxing Day, shoemakers would traditionally ‘beat the lapstone’ at the house of any ‘water drinker’ (teetotaller), as a mocking act and practical joke. The tradition derives from an 18th-century story in which a Nettleton resident, Thomas Stickler, who had declined alcohol for twenty years, became inebriated after drinking half a pint of ale at his shoemaker on Christmas Day. When questioned by his wife, he replied that he was not drunk but had simply ‘fallen over the lapstone’

We parked near the church in the attractive village and walked along a lane rising uphill to Nettleton Top. The atmosphere was exceptionally clear and we could see for miles, and were able to make out the Humber Bridge nearly 20 miles away

Although the first half of the walk was along a road, it was very quiet and we weren’t troubled by traffic at all – only a handful of cars came past

We turned off the road on reaching a radio mast, joining a section of the long distance the Viking Way to descend gently back to the village along a beautiful chalk valley. It was just like being in the Yorkshire Wolds

We really enjoyed the walk and resolved to get to know this area better

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)