Nassington, Sulehay and the Glenn Miller monument

Wednesday 19 September 2018. With Marta. 7.75 miles. windy but warm.
We started near the shop in Nassington, and made our way via the Jitty and a footpath to Church Street. We turned away from the church, and took the Apethorpe road as far as a left-hand bend, where we carried straight on, along Northfield Lane. The footpath turns off to the left, just after a house called Frog Hall, but the signage is not obvious. it goes through a complex of cottages, then a gate.  Soon after this the path follows a narrow space between hedges before coming out into fields.  We saw a few swallows flying over the fields.

The path here is clearly marked and easy to follow,  crossing a bridge over the dismantled railway and passing an info board about Old Sulehay Nature Reserve.  Part of the forest area is an SSSI.  We heard what was probably a yaffle/ green woodpecker.

The bridge over . . .

...the dismantled railway

 We followed the path as far as the Wildlife Trust Field Station. The path opposite this, on the other side of the byway looked like a stream today, so we turned right along the byway to look for another path a little further on. We missed it, and so continued past Ring Haw woodland, and decided it was time for a break. After this we followed the small road ahead past Old Sulehay Lodge, as far as the junction with the Roman Road between Wansford and Kings Cliffe. Across the road, at the junction is a path/track forbidden to cars, though they'd have to be rather small to get on it. We took the first track left which led through Cocker Wood parallel to the road. Another left turn, marked with a footpath waymarker took us through some farm buildings and back to the road.  

Lovely industrial estate

 Across the road, and we followed the bridleway alongside Kings Cliffe Industrial Estate.  The path heads south.

The clay pits, marked on the map.

Accidental photograph - consulting the map I guess.

 Not much further and we passed Jack's Green and turned to the right to the small pillar

 which has the inscription:

Here

Major Glenn Miller

conducted his Orchestra

for its last airfield hangar concert

Kings Cliffe USAF Station 367

3rd October 1944

DONATED BY K.S.R. INTERNATIONAL LTD

According to Wikipedia, while Miller was traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France in December 1944, his aircraft disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel.

Unfortunately we were not in a position to play Chattanooga Choo Choo as a tribute, but we think we did a passable mime of conducting.

 in spite of the wind . . .

 We continued south along the track, and found the footpath on our left just after crossing a bridge over the dismantled railway. We saw some deer running across a field in the distance.

 The path rejoined our route - at the flooded section - not very deep, but not avoidable, and I was walking in trainers. Soggy, but i did spot a couple of blue butterflies. We followed the byway as far as the road at New Sulehay, then turned left along the road and walked back into Nassington.