Saxby Wold

County – North Lincolnshire

Elevation – 105m

Date – 10 March 2022

Distance – 3km

Elevation climbed – 77m

Status - Unitary authority top/ 105th highest upper tier Top (of 125)

I found myself in the surprisingly quaint market town of Brigg for work reasons. I’d driven up from Bristol after work which is an annoyingly long way. On arrival at the pub in Brigg I’d decided to house myself in, I was asked by the landlady what time I wanted breakfast.

“Maybe 8am?”

“Eight??! No chance. I’ll be in bed. It’s nine”.

“Erm ok, nine it is…”

Thankfully I had a relatively late start planned for work, but as ever I was wide awake by 7am. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful early March morning, and a quick look at the map showed me I was less than 15 mins away from the County Top (well, Unitary Top) of North Lincs…

In my mind North Lincs was a post-industrial hellhole but I couldn’t have been more wrong. There were long flat fields perforated by the gentle humps of the Wolds, and it was to the highest of these I headed, parking at the little village of Saxby All Saints.

Turns out the village wasn’t named for the 90s popsters of “Never Ever” fame but rather for the excellent Victorian church, designed by George Gilbert Scott (father of the telephone box designer). Scott later converted to Catholicism and was shoved into an asylum, which seems harsh.

Anyway the track up to the top weaved behind the church into a delightful spring wood full of singing birds before turning into a lane resplendent with a freshly killed mole, which was somewhat unexpected.

At the top another lane ran across the ridge, with stunning views to the Humber Bridge and across the flatlands looking westward. Yellowhammers and skylarks serenaded me as I headed for the top…only to find a big barrier in the way.

The CT was up this rise...you can make out the dark shape of the reservoir

As is quite common, the top itself was a large artificial reservoir, and given the imposing nature of the barrier I decided it wasn’t quite worth trespassing for an additional metre so I left it there and headed back down through the village in time for my 9am fry up at the pub.

BONUS TOP – on the way to Brigg I drove through Nottingham on the M1. Turns out that the County Top of Nottingham is…right on the M1. So I’ve ticked that one off.