Great Easton, Neville Holt, Drayton, Bringhurst.

Monday 13 March 2017. With Norma, Maureen, Tommy and Ken.  Just under six miles. Great sunny weather, with a little mud underfoot on occasions.

Nevill Holt from the path

Similar route to last Saturday, and also this walk from March 2014.  we began from the green, near the pub, and walked along Brook Street and Deepdale to pick up the footpath towards Nevill Holt.

 We took the path which  leads very close to the buildings of Nevill Holt, with the statue of the opera singer, Bryn Terfel . . .

 and this horse's head.

 The path takes us out on to the road to Drayton, and we walk downhill for some distance, watching a few cyclists making their way upwards.

 Break time at the bench with a view.

 Down into Drayton, past a garden gate decorated with a metalwork spider - there are smaller versions near the wall behind it.

 Then straight through the village and the tiny church building on the green. We take the path towards Bringhurst, and turn to climb the hill to the village.

At the road junction we turn right, and soon take the footpath on our left, labelled "Great Easton".

Lunch at Cottingham community cafe.

Great Easton - Neville Holt - Drayton - Bringhurst

Saturday 11th March with Harry

The walk follows the same route as this one from 2014. We did a recce walk for Monday. The weather was dry, but very grey, with some mist.
Some paths were quite muddy.  Distance - around 6 miles.

For details of the route see the next post.

Gretton to East Carlton

With Marta - part of our exploration of the river Welland.

This was an alternative route to the one in the Around Corby book. somewhere about 8 - 9 miles, on a beautiful autumn day, mainly warm and sunny, with a chill breeze.

Gretton church was resplendent and golden against the morning's blue sky as we left the village.

We made our way down to the Welland, and walked along the valley footpath past the weir and on for a long mile to Caldecott.

Too much breeze for sharp reflections at this point.  We walked into Caldecott, then turned left on the A6003, over the bridge, and turned right to walk along the road to Great Easton.  The pumpkins below are still growing - nearly three weeks until Halloween.

At Great Easton we turn left at the village green, just past the pub.

Past the old corset factory, and to the end of the houses, then we take the footpath to the left, through a field of cows and one with four horses. We're still on the Jurassic Way, and signs are good. Eventually the path  we're following takes us to a road where we turn right and walk uphill to Bringhurst.

The church has a much bigger churchyard than I'd expect.

The inside is very simple, and contains a tomb cover dating back to the ninth century, which was discovered in thick ivy during renovations not long ago.

We walk past the church and take the Jurassic Way footpath downhill across fields - easy, dry walking today!

Drayton and Neville Holt can be seen in the distance.

We cross two fields, then a disused railway line.  There's a new gate and a footbridge, taking us to a path where we turn left. The path soon becomes a wider track and crosses the Welland.

The maize is much taller than we are.

Just before we meet the road there is a footpath sign leading us along the edge of fields and across the playing field behind Cottingham school. When we come on to the road we walk into the village and past the Spread Eagle, turn right to the church and take the high level footpath past the old school, with views over the valley. Then it's  down School Hill, past the Red Lion. We cross the road and take the footpath between houses - still the Jurassic Way. 

This takes us along the edge of East Carlton Park. The cows are in the field to our right, the parkland on our left.   Part way along we turn left and walk through the park to the café, where we have lunch.

All day the weather has been fine!

Great Easton - Nevill Holt - Drayton - Bringhurst - Gt Easton

Mon, 2014 Mar 10 9:43 AM GMT

Led by Mel. Barrie E, Terry, Thomas, Norma, Sue, Chris, Marion, Phil, Gordon, Barry O, Maureen, me. Footpaths not too muddy, apart from a few gateways and stiles. Some slightly awkward stiles. Just under 6 miles.

We set off from the central green in Great Easton, walking up the High Street, and turning along Broadgate and Deepdale to pick up the footpath. This takes us alongside a stream, and we should keep it on our right. That way we won't need to cross the narrow bridge - twice.

We follow the bridleway up the hill to Nevill Holt, then turn left along,the road to Drayton. Part way down we stop for a break at a convenient bench, with a view.

wise monkeys?

Though there's no space for thirteen of us on the bench!  We walk down into Drayton, cross the main road and carry on to meet the path leading uphill through a field towards Bringhurst. The conditions underfoot here are the best I've seen, surprisingly.

Climbing up towards the tiny village.

Bringhurst church

1630

We follow the road turning right and walking for a short distance downhill. There is a path off the the left, which we take.

It's part of the Jurassic Way, and we take the path into Great Easton, and back to the cars.

Map and details

East Carlton - Nevill Holt - East Carlton

Led by Barry - with Gordon and me. 10 miles approx. Sunny, very warm, still some mud.

We set off from East Carlton Park at about 9 am.  We turned right out of the park gates and walked along the road downhill, as far as the Ashley Road - a long section, but we met only one car.  We turned left round a bend in the road towards Ashley.  Shortly after the bend we took a footpath going due west on the right.  We soon turned right to go north, across the Welland and a dismantled railway line and then crossed the minor road to Medbourne.

Upper Leighs Farm

A fair pull uphill to Stoke's Buildings

Wide views all around from the top.  They are restoring the buildings at the moment.  We carried on slightly east of north to reach the road from Drayton to Nevill Holt.   It's a magnificent place - once owned by the Cunards, birthplace of Nancy Astor,  then a prep school from 1928 - 1998, and now owned by David Ross,  formerly of Carphone Warehouse.  They stage a festival of opera here in the summer. 

A punning motto - wish nothing ill

The horse's head seems to face a different way from different angles











From Nevill Holt the path goes downhill to the east through fields and past a pheasant rearing area, where we saw a basic scarecrow and a pair of unscared red kites.

There is also a pleasantly shaded strip of woodland, where we took a break.

After a few more fields we arrived at Great Easton, and walked along Deepdale, Butchers Lane and Brook Lane, before turning right along Barnsdale ( the road to Bringhurst and Drayton).

Great Easton

After a hundred yards or so there is a footpath to the left, which crosses a few fields and skirts the hill, emerging just below Bringhurst.  We turned left and downhill, instead of going into the village.  We turned right along the dismantled railway and continued until we met the Jurassic Way.  
Hey, a new kissing gate! 

We turned left and followed the Jurassic Way along 'Occupation Road' over the Welland until we met the road between Middleton and Ashley.  We walked along the road into Middleton, and turned left opposite the Red Lion - another closed pub!

The path took us along the bottom edge of East Carlton Park, and we turned left, and up to the café and car park.

Through the portal

Map and details