Sawtry- Steeple Gidding - Little Gidding - Sawtry

Led by Barry. With me and Gordon. Weather sunny, strongish W wind. One point where I'd switched off Garmin. Just over 10 miles.

We parked at the end of St Judith's Road, at the bottom of a grassy hill where several dogs were being exercised.  We set off upwards - it's not too high - I notice our maximum elevation was 225 feet, but, as we were on the edge of the fens, this is a mountain.
High enough to offer wide views of the countryside.

yup - going up!

The wind was chill, but we soon warmed up. A couple of butterflies seemed to be enjoying the sun too.

We walked alongside Aversley Wood and turned right at the top, along the Bullock Road track. 

 A dog-walker had recommended that we should look among the trees for a "star pond", a pond specially built so that bullocks being driven to market all had access to drinking water.  No water there now, but the shape of the channels can be seen near the corner of the wood.

We returned to the Bullock Road and followed this north-west for about half a mile, turning left, south-west past some farm buildings.  The way zig-zags a little, before heading uphill, still south-westwards, then diagonally across a field. We headed to the left of a group of trees to a gap in the hedge, leading on to a T junction.

Gap in the hedge and signposts for T-junction.

Our way was straight ahead along the minor road to The Giddings

Where the road bent to the right we turned left along a footpath, following the waymarks round three sides of a square, past a pond and the evidence of old buildings on the ground - the remains of the medieval village.

Plan of Steeple Gidding on display in the church.

The path came out on the road a short distance away from the church of St Andrew, now cared for by the Redundant Churches Fund.

St Andrews, Steeple Gidding

Inside the church

View from the bench in the churchyard

After a snack break we continued west towards Little Gidding, turning right from the main track at the side of a small wood, which led us to the settlement, originally founded by Nicholas Ferrar in the 17th Century.  There is now a tea shop, as well as a pilgrimage and retreat house.  The church is very small and hidden away.

Little Gidding Church

 T S Eliot called one of his Four Quartets after this place, and there is a copy of his selected poems in the church.  There is an interesting extra link about his connection with Little Gidding in the link above.

A quotation I rather like:

We shall not cease from exploration

 And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

The next section is where the Garmin was switched off - the path is clear on the OS map and on the ground. From here we took a path downhill and south west.  This crossed to the opposite corner of the field, then round the hedges and over a footbridge, where we turned right and headed more or less north west. The path gradually swung round to the north east, follwing field boundaries until we came to a small road. We turned left and very shortly right on to another path, still heading more or less north east, along the right hand side of Cow Pasture Gorse, turning left to follow the edge of the wood, parallel to a line of electricity pylons.   A short distance after the end of the wood we turned right and headed slightly uphill to the left hand side of another wood - Cow Pasture Plantation. 

Looking along a track into the plantation

This path took us through a narrow field, with a house at the other end, and then through a gate and back on to the Bullock Road.
We turned right and walked  southeast, with Cow Pasture Plantation on our right.

Shaggy inkcap by the Bullock Road

We followed the Bullock Road for a good mile, passing Lodge Farm on our left,  before the track joined a minor road.  Another break in the warm sunshine seemed a good plan at this point.

When a path crossed the road we took the left hand turn north east towards Woodfield Farm and then  due east and gradually downhill towards Sawtry.  The path was easy to follow and took us behind some housing and back to our starting point.


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Southey Woods, Castor Hanglands

Led by me, with Maureen and Gordon. Grey, very occasional light drizzle, a cool wind, but ideal temperature for walking. Less muddy than usual in the woods. Just over 10 miles.

Similar to this walk August 23rd and this walk August 30th

Ufford church, at 44 metres above sea level, is one of the highest points in the area

Another slight variation on this walk. We started at the Willow Brook Farm Shop, and took the footpath just across the road heading more or less north-east.  The path leads across a reclaimed landfill site with warning 'no smoking notices'.
 Then it continues along the side of a wood. At the corner the path should go diagonally across a field to the minor road, but we walked along the edge and then for a short distance along the road. Freshly ploughed fields are hard work until the paths have been made good.

We turned left at the point where the path meets a bridleway at the junction with the road. We walked west along the bridleway, past a pond and a few trees until we reached Langley Bush Road.  Here we turned right and walked north along the road as far as the end of Hilly Wood.
We turned left again (north west approximately), following a bridleway to High Field Road.   We should have turned left here (see garmin trace)  and walked south east as far as the second block of woodland, called Jubilee Wood.  A right turn just south of west took us to the path into Ufford, where we turned left and soon uphill, past the hall and the church.

We walked passed Hillside Close on the edge of the village, and another 400 yards later, turned right on to the track known as 'the drift' .  We ignored the inviting seat here, and walked about half a mile south to the gate leading into Southey Wood.  We followed the main waymarked path until after another mile we had a break at the well-placed picnic tables.

The tiniest bit chilly today!

After that it was straight past the car park and over the road to the track towards Upton.  This leads down hill past the church and we chose to follow the road through the village, past a row of thatched cottages and some houses, then turned left past Model Farm, before heading left along a bridleway marked on the map as Blind Lane.  We met a man trotting on a horse along this section. 
At the end of Blind Lane there are three chopped tree trunks with the letter A,S,W scratch-carved into them - useful seats, but we resisted the temptation this time, and followed a path diagonally across the corner of a small field through some woodland and out onto a shady path heading east. This leads on to the open fields, now harvested, with the two improvised horse-jumps. See this post.

We carried on towards the east, until we met the north-south path, and turned left and north towards the Castor Hanglands nature reserve. 
The main path through the reserve is clear and easy to follow.  Today it was noticeably less muddy than it has been.  Not much visible wildlife, but we did meet these horses.

We carried on through the reserve and then took the permissive path to the farm shop and cafe, where we stopped for lunch. 

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Helpston circular

Helpston, in Northamptonshire at the time, was the birthplace of the poet John Clare.  We started our walk from the John Clare Cottage and museum. Apart from the information about the poet, this is another useful stop on the coffee-shop circuit.


We walked towards the village cross for a few yards, then turned left into the yard of The Blue Bell pub. At the back of the car park there's a stone stile leading on to a footpath which goes behind the village primary school, then across a couple of fields to reach a minor road. We turned left, and walked along the road for a few hundred yards, past another small road, until we came to a footpath leading off to the left.  We followed this path east with a hedge on our right, then slightly south until we met yet another small road.  Here we turned right, then after a couple of hundred yards we turned right, taking the footpath, not the bridleway. They are very close - the footpath is about three yards beyond the bridleway.


The path goes south west across a field, then south along the edge of a wood, then south-west again, before reaching the Stamford Road. Just opposite this point is The Granary - a farm shop and another one on the coffee-shop circuit. We decided we had plenty of time to indulge ourselves today!

What d'you mean -  we've only walked three miles!

we left the Granary, and turned right along the Stamford Road.  After about half a mile of road walking, and one crossroads we took a footpath off to the right, along a field boundary, and down towards the edge of a small wood. Shortly after the wood the path turns from southwest to north west then curves round following a field boundary then along the northern edge of some more woodland - Foster's Coppice.   After a short distance we turned left (north) along a track which took us back to the Stamford Road.  

We turned left along the road for a very short distance, then right along a path, which skirted Hayes Wood, then turned south east to the Stamford Road again, turning north-west just as the path meets the road.  We followed the path along the edge of Simon's Wood, and decided we could afford another short break - Maureen's scones, a nearly forgotten treat over the last three weeks, were welcome. 


We followed the edge of the wood, which became Oxey Wood.  The path ruined slightly north east at the end of the woodland, and led to a wider track running east. We followed this for about half a mile, then turned left past College cottages.  This track took us directly to the road into Helpston, very close to the railway crossing.  From there it was a straightforward road walk back into the village, past the church, the John Clare monument and the market cross.

St Botolph's church

John Clare monument

Helpston Butter Cross, where markets were held

Ho ho! Just back  - I took the washing in,  soaked myself,  then looked outside - wet stuff from heaven again! Perfect timing.


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For a similar walk on 10 October 2011 click here.  In reverse, with slight variations.

Helpston Circular

Led by Barry.  With Eddie, Gordon and Maureen. A flat walk,not quite fenland, in fine, warm but windy weather. Around 7 and a half miles.  

Helpston is the birthplace of John Clare, known as the Northamptonshire peasant poet.  In his lifetime the village was in the Soke of Peterborough, part of the County of Northamptonshire. Now it is in Cambridgeshire.  There is masses of info and photographs of the village on this site.

Ready to go - outside the John Clare Cottage in Helpston, now a museum with a café. 
Almost opposite the John Clare Museum, the path leads east out of the village, and alongside a field before turning right (south) along the hedge.  We followed the field boundary, through a gap in the hedge and to the left before crossing a ploughed field ( dry, luckily) diagonally to the left, emerging at College Cottage.  We walked almost due south again before turning quite sharply to the right (west). We followed the field boundary again, almost parallel to a line of pylons.  When we met the Torpel Way we turned left and made for the edge of some woodland.  We walked along by the wood until we reached a road (Stamford Road).  Instead of walking along the road, we turned left towards more woodland, then slightly to the right towards the road again.  

Unfortunately the sweetest juiciest blackberries come with the scratchiest sharpest thorns.

At the road we turned left and very soon took the path to the right.  You don't go through the trees which are ahead, but turn right and follow the wide grassy track through the fields. It skirts another wooded area, then goes gently uphill to the Stamford Road again.  
We had a snack break here, then walked along the road as far as the farm shop (not open on Mondays), before turning right.
The path goes past an area which has been landfill - lots of meters for measuring methane. There is also a Nature reserve at Swaddywell Pit. (Swordy Well in a John Clare poem).

The former quarry and landfill site has had the topsoil replaced, and is now rich in limestone wildflowers such as bee orchid and wild carrot. There are many butterflies, and moths, as well as skylarks and buzzards.

A blowy day

We walked along the left hand side of another wooded area and then came to part of Heath Road.  There is a Roman villa underground 

though we saw no evidence of it.

We reached a track turning right from the road, just before Rice Wood, and followed it, then turned left to walk with Rice Wood on our right.

The path comes out in Helpston, and we made our way past the Almshouses 

to West Street with its memorial to John Clare and the Butter Cross. [Butter Cross at Helpston was where a weekly market took place. Customers had the added protection of knowing that traders were selling their wares by the Cross. This meant that everything was above board and the integrity of those traders was guaranteed. Who would dare sell dodgy goods under the protection of the Almighty?  Info from Peter Hill, via Barry - many thanks! ]

then had a look round St Botolph's church with its octagonal tower

before going into the café next to John Clare's cottage.

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Nene Way 10 - Ferry Meadows - Peterborough - Whittlesey

With Marta. 11 miles. Brilliant sunshine. Very warm.


We set off from Ferry Meadows, and I couldn't resist one more mirror-lake-shot to start the day.

We were diverted from the river, as the path was closed, and walked around Thorpe Golf Course. Part of the route followed this 'covered walkway'

The shade was already welcome at 11 am.

We rejoined the original Nene Way at Orton Lock.

This is a sculpture "Festival Boat, 1988, Sculptor: Sokari Douglas Camp".

As we walked into Peterborough, we saw several bridges

I'm surprised Peterborough doesn't make more of its waterfront, though it does have the Green Wheel network.  When we found our way blocked we turned into the Rivergate shopping centre and sought out coffee in the town centre. Pavement cafes in this weather - it could almost have been Sevilla. 

Children were running and splashing in the fountains.

A colourful flower display

an odd view of the cathedral.

A pleasant tree-lined path by the Nene on the way out of Peterborough. The river has become noticeably straight by this point.

The bridge carries the cycle-path over the Nene to Whittlesey. We used the map, which showed the Nene Way following the road.

A friendly (hopeful?) pig in an enclosure near the path. Pity about the barbed wire shadows!

The erstwhile Dog-in-a-Doublet pub, fondly remembered from days ice-skating on Whittlesey Mere.

Dog-in-a-Doublet Lock.


At the road junction we turned right across the bridge towards Whittlesey, where we had lunch in an Italian cafe, then explored a while.

old town hall and museum

market place and butter cross

St Mary's church

Distinctive street lamps

The statue of the Whittlesey Straw Bear - donated, improbably, by Councillor Ursula Cuffe. 


I think we'll give the Nene Way a rest for the moment. It's a long way to drive for a day's walk; the Nene has several courses - the old course is covered in parts by the Hereward Way out towards March; the new Nene is very straight and confined as it heads through the Fens to the sea.


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