Great Cransley, Loddington, Thorpe Malsor, Cransley Reservoir.

With Maureen, Thursday 17 January, six and a half miles. Bright sunny weather too.


We parked on Church Lane.  We followed the no through road round to the right and turned right at the footpath through Cransley Wood. The path was a bit muddy, but very pleasant.
At the end of the wood, we follow a grassy track to the left, and the field boundary as it turned round to the right a little while later. The path turns left and along a disused railway track, over a footbridge.

This path emerges near Mawsley Lodge, a disused farm which is fenced off. Go past the farm, and turn right through a gate, along the edge of a couple of fields. The path meets another one, and here you turn to the right and continue in a northeasterly direction, going under a line of electricity pylons.

 The track bends to the left and is surfaced as it passes a large house and continues into Loddington, entering close to the Cricket ground.  You can take the left hand road at a junction, and vary the walk a little by passing the church. We stopped for a break in the sun, just before the church.

We walked through the churchyard and across the field to the main road out of Loddington. 

Next we had to walk along a pavement next to the road - luckily not a very busy road. At a crossroads we turned right into Thorpe Malsor.   Downhill a short distance and we turned right along a track just before the church.

  A wide track goes along the edge of woodland, then at the end of the first field it turns left.Before long Cransley Reservoir comes into view at the bottom of the slope. We walked across the dam and past the sailing club, then took the footpath through a gate, then slightly uphill with a hedge on your left, to meet the road back to Cransley. 

At the road we turned right past White Hill Lodge, and followed the road. A short distance before the village a footpath cuts the corner, through a field. To reach the village aim for the farm, but go to the right of it, and there is a stile.
This is close to the Three Cranes pub, which is now closed, and Church Lane.

We were greeted by the first mass of snowdrops I've seen this year. 

 There's a beech tree planted to celebrate George V's silver jubilee.

We took a short walk down to the church and caught a glimpse of the small lake behind Cransley Hall.