In another of his occasional cycle rides, PAUL KIRKWOOD follows the Cusworth Cycle Trail.

ONE of the hazards of cycling along bridleways is that you never know what state they will be in or how easy they will be to follow. Often I have regretted following the red dashes on the OS map rather than the fail-safe yellow roads, ending up lifting my bike over styles and paddling through mud better suited to walking boots rather than the saddle.

Mountain bikers might relish this sort of thing but as a traditional touring cyclist, I don't. Even before starting this ride, though, I was confident the bridleways would be all right and take me in the right direction - as I was following the Cusworth Cycle Trail near Doncaster.

This splendid 15-mile on-and-off-road route guides you around peaceful rolling farmland and several interesting villages and features. For the most part, the trail is well signed and, if you need further guidance, a leaflet on the trail is also available.

My journey started and finished at Cusworth Hall, one of 40 or so mansions built by 18th-century industrialists within ten miles of Doncaster. How times change. The property has been managed by the local authority since 1961 and now the landscaped grounds, including a lake, are open to the public while the hall houses the free and recommended Museum of South Yorkshire Life.

After passing under the A1, my preconceptions about cycling near to the region's main highway and one of its less attractive towns were soon dispelled. Melton Wood was as still and dense as a forest in the North York Moors.

A great loop around a cornfield led me to a hill ridge crested by Barnburgh Cliff. A tree-lined limestone path along it affords fine views over the floodplains of the River Dearne. At the end of the cliff - which is little taller than a garden wall - I rested in the dappled shade of a clump of trees surrounding the old cross at Hickleton.

Easy to race past but well worth another stop are the wooded Bilham Fish Ponds. These were originally built to provide a supply of fresh fish to Bilham House which was demolished in about 1860. Today they are an ideal habitat for many creatures including water shrews.

One of the ponds is full of water lillies and another, keyhole-shaped, has steps leading down into as if it were a plunge pool for bathing.

Partially hidden by the trees and just beyond the ponds is a curious, arch-shaped, brick building which may be a deer shelter, boat house or folly. Make your own mind up.

The highlight of the trail is Hooton Pagnell, a picturesque, Cotswoldian village. I had my lunch sitting beside the war memorial cross in an almost grotto-like setting. Adjacent is the village pound, a walled enclosure nearly as old as the village church and within which cattle have been impounded within living memory.

Above the pound is the stump of a butter cross erected in the mid-16th century to mark the granting of a market charter by Henry III some 300 years earlier. Quite why it took so long for the village to mark this achievement isn't explained on the plaque.

I was just beginning to compose in my head a letter to Doncaster Council complimenting them on their trail when it took a slight turn for the worse. What's defined on the leaflet as a "Roman Ridge" was indeed straight but has narrowed and grown over considerably since Caeser's time.

I soon found myself edging along a narrow, bumpy bridleway that runs along the back of the ramshackle houses of Adwick le Street, lifting my feet from the pedals to avoid the nettles. The scenery couldn't match what had come earlier and, as the trail began to intertwine with a disused railway line, so the signs disappeared.

I pressed on and eventually, after making a couple of correct guesses about which way to turn, completed my return to Cusworth Hall where its annual country fair was in full swing. In front of the house a brass band played a medley of tunes including the Hallelujah chorus, a fitting finale to a grand ride.

A leaflet with map of the Cusworth Trail is available free of charge from Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council on 01302 737411.

Click here to view a map of the ride