Empingham - Tickencote - Gt Casterton - Pickworth - Clipsham

Led by me, with Barry and Gordon. Fine with a chilly wind. Muddy underfoot in places.  Just over 11 miles in all, including the ritual progress along the avenue.

This covers most of the same ground as the walk on 31 August 2012.

We left one car at the Yew Tree Avenue, and drove to Empingham to the start of the walk. We parked on the road near the church, and then walked along the main street east through the village.  Just after the last buildings and Mill Lane we took a footpath to the right, leading uphill through Chapel Spinney.  
The path came out of the trees into and continued along the top edge of several fields.  Empingham was now a cluster of houses and the church behind us.   We passed a spinney on the right, and continued to follow the path. According to the map there should be a turn to the right downhill across a field, but we didn't see it, and in any case avoided the sticky mud by carrying on to the farm track, where we turned right and walked down a short distance to pick up the path. It crossed the field to the next yellow post just before a farm house.
The path emerged on to a small road, and then across a couple of fields, going roughly north east, before swinging round more to the east behind Tickencote Hall, with the mill pond visible through the trees.
We crossed another road and entered the ram's field.

Today he wasn't asleep, but posed no problem. Of course, I talked to him nicely.

We called in to St Peter's Church to admire the chancel arch and vaulting, before making our way through the village and along the road past the OK Diner and to Great Casterton.

We took Pickworth Road, past the school and up hill out of Great Casterton. After about a mile along this quiet road we tirned left along a muddy track between two hedges - just opposite Mounts Lodge Farm.  We walked alongside a very big field, and then turned right along another track with hedges on each side. The footpath sign post was on the ground here.  We had a break, slightly sheltered from the wind.

From here the path continues north towards Pickworth, passing some woodland and the site of Woodhead Castle (invisible from where we were). With one short diversion to the right we kept on walking.

At Pickworth we turned left, leaving the church on our right, and passing the archway - now behind a gate, and John Clare's lime-kiln, which is also clearly on private land, and fenced off.

Pickworth Church

We went past the first signed path to the right, and took the second one, where the road bends left.  The wide track turns into a path after half a mile or so and turns right across a field to Little Sutie, a section of woodland joined to Pickworth Great Wood. We walked thorugh the tress and then followed the edge of the woodland as far as the path across Clipsham Quarry. Up the other side and following Rutland Round signs, the path eventually took us down hill across a slippery wooden bridge and uphill again into Clipsham.  From here we walked along the Castle Bytham road and back to the yew trees. 

Map and details

Rutland Round 6 - Clipsham to Whissendine

With Marta. Fine, sunny, very warm. A few dry ploughed fields to cross. garmin fail between Teigh and part way to Whissendine - human error. About 13 miles in all.
The first part of this walk was a little uninspiring - along the road from Clipsham to Stretton, though we discovered that we could have walked a little further from the verge, too late for today.  

We followed the road to the roundabouts under the A1.  Our path left the slip road for the A1 North, via a plank bridge and a stile.  

The route lies across a large grassy field, and crosses a concrete track, then another bridge and field before joining a minor road.

A very free range hen

At the road we turned right and walked up to the bend in the road, where a path goes to the right.  At this point we had some difficulty, and lost the waymarks.  When we came out at the road as the map route showed, we were still unsure, and diverted slightly to join another path which took us back to our route more easily. 

This was near the flight path and approach lights for RAF Cottesmore.  This now known as the Army's Kendrew Barracks.  

Soon after crossing the old flight path, we had a quick break, before following the route into Thistleton. John Williams's book and the waymarking helped make this straightforward.

Thistleton, the most northerly village in Rutland, is very small, but has a fine church and a herb farm.

St Nicholas church, Thistleton

From Thistleton, we took the road west towards Sewstern - and carried on until we reached the point known as Thistleton Gap, where Rutland meets Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.

From wikipedia:

On 28 September 1811 a massive crowd of up to 20,000 watched a prizefight at Thistleton Gap. Tom Cribb fought the American Tom Molineaux in a hotly contested re-match for the heavyweight championship of England. The match was a matter of national pride and the names of both these men were famous throughout the land. The venue was chosen as the three counties of Rutland, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire met there and if the police arrived to halt the illegal fight the boxers and crowd could escape across the county boundary. In the eleventh round Cribb knocked out Molineaux. The original match, a year before, had ended in exhaustion for both men after a gruelling 33 rounds with accusations of cheating. During the intervening period both men had lost weight; Cribb because of extensive training with the famous Captain Barclay and Molineaux due to loss of muscle whilst earning his keep at local prizefighting venues.^[7]

The barns near Thistleton Gap

We recognised the spot by the county boundary sign, and two large barns on the left hand side of the road.  

There's an exhibition case deciated to Cribbs v Molineaux in Oakham Museum

Shortly after the barns we had to cross another ploughed field, diagonally right to the corner of the hedge.  After this it was a case of following the path and waymarks along field boundaries.  With the hedge on our right we could see a house - Cribb's Lodge, which is reputed to be the training base for his bare-knuckle fights. 

We continued with the hedge on our right, ignoring a path and stile on the right. We had to turn left then right with the field boundaries, joining a farm track just before a small industrial estate on our left.  We carried on skirting some woodland, still with the hedge on our right.  As we were on the south side of the hedge for most of the time, this was hot going, and the views weren't up to much for a while!  We had another break when we found a suitably shady spot - at last.

Just after walking past the wood there is a shadier path, with wider views -  quite a relief!

We turned left and later right around the wood's edge.  The path is crossed by a path towards Edmondthorpe.   We had to turn left at a point where a bridleway goes straight ahead. 
Use the book and the OS maps here - much clearer than my description!
At the end of the last field is a gate, near the disused Melton to Oakham Canal. The track goes over the canal.

The disused Oakham to Melton Canal

As instructed we headed slightly to the right across the field to a gate in the right hand hedge.   This led on to a track. When the track met the road, opposite Catmose Lodge,  we turned left towards Teigh. (TEE?) but no tea :-(.

We walked past a road to the right signposted to Whissendine, then just after the Teigh sign we turned right into the village and on to the imposing church.  It wasn't open at the time, so that'll be one for another day.

Holy Trinity church, Teigh

The path leaves just over the road opposite the west end of the church.  The waymarks are easy to follow here - there's even one on its own in the middle of the first field.  We went quite close to an area of water and saw two herons flying from there.   A footbridge and a stile, then a longish section with the hedge on our left was next, leading to this rather long thin footbridge:

Not quite a rope bridge over a chasm, but . . .

After this we took the path diagonally right across a field and through a gateway in the opposite hedge. We emerged on to a bridleway, turned right and then crossed the Leicester-Peterborough railway line.  You can see for a fair distance each side,  and judging by the train which came along soon after we'd crossed, you can hear the trains coming.

'Pill-box' remnant of World War 2 defences

Our path was along the bridleway for a good mile gradually uphill until it met the road to Whissendine.  We turned left, and in a couple of hundred yards took a footpath to the right, over a stile.

Whissendine windmill from the path

We crossed the field to the stile opposite and came out near St Andrews Church in Whissendine.

From here it was all downhill to the village centre, the shop for a sandwich and some liquid, and back to a circular seat on the village green, where we ate our food. 

 
Map and details

Rutland Round 5 - Normanton to Clipsham

With Marta.  Fine, sunny, but cold to start with.  Some mud underfoot. Luckily I remembered the way through Clipsham Quarry.  Only other small problem was on the way to Tickencote where we missed a turn to the right, but were able to correct easily. Lunch at The Plough in Great Casterton. 14 miles including walk to Yew Tree Avenue.

An early morning shot before leaving one car here

The first two miles from Normanton Car Park on Rutland Water were very simple - follow the yellow brick road, well, the tarmac path, past the café,  past Normanton church and the back entrance to the Normanton Park Hotel,  and carry on across the dam. Blue sky, blue water, and a chilly north wind.  A few cyclists, loads of sheep and the guys inflating those see-through balloons you can be strapped in to roll down the grassy slope behind the dam. 

Instead of going through the gate at the end of the dam path, we followed the field edge round, almost turning back on ourselves.  We walked along the edge of the wooded area, and shortly after a couple of trig points, or similar objects, there was a stile on our left which led into a field.  We spotted the Rutland Way signs for the first time today - and on the stile.  

Ten out of ten for clarity!

The signs were easy to follow from this point, leading over fields and through some woodland, until the path emerged into Nook Lane in Empingham.  Nook Lane leads to the main A 606.  We crossed over to walk past the White Horse pub and along the road through the village.  The church was down a small road to the right as we walked straight on.

Just after the end of the village, very soon after Mill Lane, the footpath goes away from the road, up through a short stretch of woodland - Chapel Spinney.  A little further along the road after the turn there's a convenient bench for our first stop of the day - a little chilly in the shade, so we didn't linger longer than the few minutes needed to top up the caffeine level.

The path came out of the trees into sunshine and continued along the top edge of several fields.  Empingham was now a cluster of houses and the church behind us.   We passed a spinney on the right, and continued to follow the path. There may be a waymarker that we missed, but we fought our way thorugh an overgrown section and came out on the concrete path leading towards Tickencote Lodge Farm.  We had just walked round the two sides of a triangle instead of the hypotenuse - give or take the accuracy of the right angles.

Tickencote Lodge Farm

We turned right and walked down the track until we met the Rutland Round waymarker pointing back to where we should have walked.  Close by was a stile into the next field of recently cut hay, which we crossed diagonally (just south of east) to the next yellow post just before another farm house.  

We followed the signs round the house and on to a small road north east for a short distance, before entering a couple of fields and walking in the same direction, the turning slightly to the right.

Tractor tedding hay near Tickencote

We crossed another small road towards Tickencote Hall, and had to brave this signposted danger:

He seemed to be dozing in the shade and showed no interest in us.

Looking towards Tickencote Hall

The path goes past the church of St Peter, which is small but impressive. It was restored at the end of the eighteenth century, but is considered a fine example of a Norman church.

The vaulting

The chancel arch

The East End of the church

We walked through the village to a sign and short section of path which crosses a field, then emerges on to a road near the OK Diner, then goes under the A1 and into Great Casterton.  The Plough Inn is right on the route and provided an adequate, though not perfect lunch, with exceptionally friendly service from its new landlord. 

Chatter, imperfect map-reading and inattention to the book's instructions almost set us off on the wrong road after lunch - and all on fruit juice at that.

You need to walk along to the junction with the Pickworth road, and turn left past the primary school - or take the narrow lane between houses just before the school sign on the main road.  In any case take the road out of Great Casterton past the school and walk along this for a good mile until you reach Mounts Lodge Farm.  Opposite here a bridleway leads to the left - almost due west.  The path was pretty muddy - puddle-dodging skills honed while you walk.

After a few hundred yards, at the end of the first very big field, we turned right along a grassy track.  We continued along this, ignoring any tracks to the right or left, and made our way more or less north towards Pickworth. The signing around here is pretty poor.  Just opposite the point where the path meets the road is this medieval arch.

Photograph from 24.11.2011

The arch, on private land is all that remains of a church from the 12th, 13th or 14th century.

The remains of a lime-kiln, where John Clare worked for a while as a lime-burner. - 18.11.2011

The lime-kiln is also on private land, and almost invisible in the summer.
We turned left along the road, and walked past the first footpath sign near Manor Farm, and past the limekiln, to find the path we needed, which goes off to the right at a bend in the road.  Time for another coffee-break, before tackling the remaining three or four miles.

The path is wide and clear, and we had no trouble finding the point where we turned right across a field towards a strip of woodland marked as Little Sutie on the map. Through this was where I had wandered last time i walked here. The map shows the path diverging slightly from the wood on the right hand side.  This time we followed the edge more closely and we found the path through the quarry with no difficulty. Once at the quarry the bridle way is clearly posted.

Clipsham Quarry 24 Nov 2011

The path from the quarry towards Clipsham provided a few earlyish blackberries today. No problems following the route from here as for most of the way it runs between hedges,  and the village is clearly visible. 

We walked along the Castle Bytham road for about a mile to get back to the Yew Tree Avenue. Fourteen miles on the clock today. 

Map and details

Castle Bytham - Pickworth - Clipsham - Castle Bytham

On a fine day, still a tad sticky underfoot. With Gordon, Maureen, Barry and Eddie.  10.6 miles.


We set off from Castle Bytham, taking the footpath which goes past the Castle pub, then the church and the cemetery, which has the sign 'Welcome to Castle Bytham Cemetery'!
The path skirts the graveyard and then comes to open country. There was a pretty cold, though southerly, wind.


The fields were a bit muddy, but the path was fairly straightforward, though we did deviate slightly before reaching the Clipsham Road.  On the other side the path led past School Farm - though it looked as though it had been neither for a very long time.

We could see the remains of a small triangular opening in one wall - but I clearly didn't put it in the pic

Onwards and south we trudged, until we reached Holywell quarry, where we followed the path just fine until it seemed to head into a wooded gully, which was a little too wooded.  We took an easier route slightly to our right, coming out just a little off track, before reaching the Holywell Road.

The path continued as a bridleway leading gently uphill towards Pickworth Great Wood.

Looking back towards Holywell quarry

From here to Pickworth the path was clearly marked - through the wood and over the fields to emerge beside Manor Farm. We turned left to have a look at the arch, which is all that remains of a church from the 12th, 13th or 14th century. The present owner came out and chatted to us about it.

The present church is very plain and was built in 1821. 

We walked straight past the limekiln this time!  It was only when I read the Pickworth link that I realised it claims to be where the poet John Clare worked for a while.

Here's one I took earlier (18 Nov)

Once again the path was clear, heading slightly north of west, and just after crossing a narrow band of trees we decided to stop for a break - there was a convenient fallen tree. 

It was just after this that I went off track (in spite of warnings that the track has been diverted!).  When I look at the garmin trace on the map link below, it's obvious that I went too far to the west (left) of the wood.  Much better to have stuck closer to the edge.  Another excuse - we were a little distracted by one of the less welcome sights of this part of the world - the hunt were out as well.

An extra half-mile or more added on to the walk, but with the aid of Barry's grid refs and compass bearing, we found our way through Clipsham Quarry, which is marked as 'old' on the map, but is in use. 

 From here to Clipsham things went smoothly again, but as we were behind schedule - we're such timetable-dependent people especially when we're hoping to reach the pub in time for lunch - we decided to give the Yew Tree Avenue a miss this time. 

We reached Clipsham just opposite the Olive Branch pub, and turned right, walked round the bend to the left and turned left - after a little while we turned right and followed the route I had already walked on Nov 18th.  The route is clearly marked from near Clipsham Court, and goes behind Clipsham House, then crosses fields in a north-westerly direction and reaches Addah Wood. It runs alongside then turns right into the wood, and after a while left (north) through Lady Wood.  The path runs fairly close to Stocken Prison perimeter.

We came out of the wood, and once again my map-reading proved less than perfect. Now I can see that the contours mean the path runs along the bottom of the dip!  

A slightly slippery footbridge - at least if your boots are muddy.

If there was a  waymarker, we missed it, and added another half-mile and at least 50 feet of climbing to the route.  However, it was not difficult to find our way back to the track, which then goes under the disused railway to the Castle Bytham Road.  A short uphill walk and we were in the village - just too late for a pub lunch, but fortunately the tea room in the village hall is open until 3 on a Thursday. Very much appreciated by all of us.

Map and details

Clipsham short walk

'to the woods, to the woods', did I hear you cry?
Just under 4 miles there and back, behind a prison I'd not realised was there.  Weather fine, though the ground is muddy in places, and the light was beginning to fade. Garmin functioned perfectly.


I stopped at Pickworth for a look at the footpaths.

The limekiln, which is so clear on the map, is behind a gate firmly marked 'Private, No Entry' and almost impossible to see from the road.

I drove to Clipsham, and parked on a minor road, just off the main  road.  I walked along this road which runs parallel to the main road, then turned right, past signs to the Hall, which is very well hidden.   The church is more obvious.

. There is little danger of taking a wrong turning here - plenty of signs to indicate private property, and to be fair, decent footpath signs too.  The path forms part of the Rutland Round.
You come out into a field where the route was well trodden, then through a gap in a hedge, and across another field - here it wasn't so clear, and as the cultivated field was quite muddy, I took a detour round the edge on the way back. There is a waymarker just before the wooded area at the bottom of the field.  At this point you go through the hedge and follow the path along the edge of Addah wood, before turning right. I wondered what the high wall ahead was - it's on the map - the prison.  The path through the woods is pretty easy to follow - when the yellow posts aren't obvious there are some white paint splashes, and a couple of arrows.  I disturbed a couple of deer.   Through Lady Wood and a left hand turn.  Walk north until you come out of the wood. Follow the edge of the wood and go a little bit further to the quarry.  I checked the time and decided to make my way back before the light faded.

Map and details