Southey Wood, Ufford, Castor Hanglands, Upton

Monday 12 August 

8 and 3/4 miles, with Eddie and Norma. Flat, although with a high point! Fine weather.

We parked near Southey Wood, where the car park is now closed.

 We followed the main footpath north and then west, eventually turning right, north along the bridleway known as "the drift". At Marholm Road we turned left ,  swinging right through Ufford.  

St Andrew's church was the "highest point", on Church Hill, at 44.16 meters (almost 145 feet!) above sea level.

It was the site for a beacon to warn of the invasion of the Spanish Armada. 

We walked past the large houses in Ufford, and took a footpath to the right which follows the edge of fields.  Be sure to take the path to the left of the hedge when this is possible, as the hedge becomes impassable further on.

The path came out at the side of Jubilee Wood (planted for Victoria's jubilee) on to High Field Road.

We turned right here and followed the road to the T-junction. We turned left along the only slightly busy stretch of road - we collected a small bag full of cans along the verge here.

At the cross roads we carried straight on the to Granary tea shop, attached to Willow Brook Farm shop,  where we had a well-deserved coffee break .

Scones for some ... cherry pie for Eddie...

We followed their permissive path into Castor Hanglands Nature Reserve. No horses today, but there were some cows and sheep.

We kept going south through the wood, and came out to open farmland. We continued straight ahead until a path crossed ours, then we turned right.  Instead of turning right and across fields to Manor Farm we continued west beside trees until the path turned sharp right.  At a left turn, which we didn't take there is a tree stump obligingly carved into an excellent seat. 

From here we walked past Manor Farm, and the field with the pillar - we still haven't found out where it comes from. 

We looked at St John the Baptist Church, Upton - set a little way away from the small village itself.we decided it was a bit too far to walk for the key. The church was built as a Chapel-of-Ease in the Parish of Castor in AD 1120. Major restoration work was carried out in 2005 and 2006. Repairs were made to the bell-turret, the roof and the windows, with support from English Heritage.

We peered through the windows - there is a large tomb with carved figures.

From here we returned to the track which took us over the cattle grid and headed north towards Southey Woods car park. 

On the way we passed this 'observation tower', and very soon arrived at the road and the car.

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. 

map and details

Southey Wood and Castor Hanglands variation with Ufford and Upton

Led by me. With Gordon and Barry. Mostly grey, but dry apart from one heavy shower which we dodged in the Granary café. Some muddy patches. About 10 miles.

We parked at Southey Woods - walked north, then west, following the main path through the woods until we reached the metal gate, where we turned right, north along the bridleway known as "the drift". At Marholm Road we turned left ,  swinging right through Ufford.   This village is well worth a wander.

The information board was erected in 2000, and explains the history of various buildings.

The church stands at the highest point in the area, and was the site of a beacon, one of a chain nationwide, warning about the Spanish Armada.

Ufford Hall is a grandiose building dating from the 18th century. 

Picturesque houses.

There are several examples of dates and inscriptions on the walls - for example
Newport Farm MCCLXX

and this one:

Before the last of the village buildings we took a footpath to the right which follows the edge of fields.  Be sure to take the path to the left of the hedge when this is possible, and you'll avoid the hedge burrowing experience.

Exit strategy?

The path came out at the side of Jubilee Wood (planted for Victoria's jubilee) on to High Field Road.

We turned right here and followed the road to the T-junction. We turned left along the only slightly busy stretch of road. At the cross roads we carried straight on the to Granary tea shop.
Here we had a well-deserved coffee break, while the heavens opened.  Luckily this didn't last long.

We followed their private path into Castor Hanglands and through Ailsworth  Heath. We kept going south through the wood.  This was noticeably muddier than it had been last week. I was lucky enough to see a fox cross the path a short distance ahead of me.

 Outside the wood we walked south until we saw a sign and a cross track.  We turned right (west) and followed wide track along the field edge.  The wheat we saw last week has been harvested, but those strange structures - horse jumps? - are still there.   Instead of turning right and across fields to Manor Farm we continued west beside trees until the path turned sharp right, then left (labelled on the map as Blind Lane track).  At the left turn there are tree stumps obligingly carved with an initial each - these make excellent seats.  We followed Blind Lane as far as the road, where we turned right and walked past Model Farm and through Upton village.

We followed Church Walk round until we emerged nearly opposite Manor Farm and the church.

We were curious about this stone pillar, fenced off in a field near Manor Farm

Church of St John the Baptist

W.C. 1767

We returned to the track which took us over the cattle grid and headed north towards Southey Woods car park. On the way we passed this 'observation tower', but decided not to try climbing the rather uninviting steps.

Soon afterwards we could see the car park where we finished the walk.

Map and details

Southey Wood and Castor Hanglands

Led by me, with Gordon. Sussed out a few possible variations. Pleasant, warm not hot, a lot of woodland walking, some heathland, some road walking. Coffee at Granary/ Farm Shop. 8.6 miles total. Some mud in Castor Hanglands, but not bad. Saw and heard green woodpecker.

We parked at the entrance to Southey Wood, and walked along Langley Bush road north-east to the corner where the plaque, erected in 2009, tells of the history of Langley Bush.  John Clare wrote a poem about  Langley Bush.

Langley Bush Road bends to the left and continues north to the junction with Stamford Road. We turned left and walked along until it becomes Marholm Road. Shortly before the village of Ufford we took a bridleway to the left, which led us into Southey Woods.  The path turns left and there is a barrier to stop vehicles entering.The main track thorugh the wood is easy to follow as it goes east, then turns right, left and right once more before continuing pretty well south, past a picnic area to the main entrance. 

We stopped at the car for a break 0 a little early as we hadn't yet covered four miles. 

Next we took the bridleway opposite the Southey Woods car park. This goes south, past a farm building and a stretch of woodland, underneath a line of electricity pylons, then past a small church on the left.  This is part of the tiny settlement of Upton.

The church of St John the Baptist, Upton.

Shortly after this we turned left and walked past a field with a stone artefact.

Is this a sundial? See link about Upton.

Next we walked along the edge of Manor Farm's yard. 

Perhaps not a way-marker? It'd be a good one.

 The path continues across a couple of fields, more or less south-east, then turns slightly left (east) along the edge of fields.

What?  Why? We saw a similar arrangement with a bench.

In less than half a mile we met a north-south path, which crossed our route. We turned left to head north into Castor Hanglands Nature Reserve.  Once again the path was easy to follow - there is plenty of insect life, and the woodland stays quite damp.  The reserve is interesting and contains heathland as well as woodland - in parts it is almost a mini-New Forest area.

Not quite New Forest ponies

At the northern end of the reserve it is possible to take a path directly to Southey Woods, to the left. We carried on, and just as we turned right along the northern edge, we noted a permissive path for customers of the farm shop.  On this occasion we took the longer route, coming out at the road (between Ailsworth and Helpston).  A couple of miles of road walking took us past the farm shop, then we turned left onto Langley Bush Road and retraced our steps to Southey Woods car park.


At one point we heard the loud call of a green woodpecker and saw it disappear into the woods.




Map and details

Nene Way 2 Nether Heyford - Sixfields and return.

With Marta.  22 July 2011. 11.2 miles. Walking time  3 hrs 30, a total of almost 5 hrs including breaks. Weather, fine, warm, some sun. 

'Organisational difficulties' meant that we had to do this walk as a there-and-back. Fortunately we worked this out after 5 and a half miles, and the walk was roughly the same distance as we had planned.

At Nether Heyford

The pub at the start of the walk served us coffee although they were not officially open until 12 noon. Much appreciated.  We turned left from the pub car park, along Middle Street, turned right at T-junction, then right into Watery Lane, where we met the first waymarker.

The first waymarker - were the bags too heavy before we'd even started the walk?

From Watery Lane we took a signposted track between two houses. The path turns slightly left and crosses a stream (not the Nene) and several fields. There are stiles. On the left a mile or so away is Glassthorpe Hill, and according to Mia Butler, there was once a Roman villa in the valley. 

We meet the mighty Nene itself as we approach the bulk of Heygate's Flour Mill (marked on the OS map as Bugbrooke Mill. Weirs remain from the original watermill.   The water is very clear - we saw small fish and a froglet, as well as damselflies.  There's also a walled fruit and veg garden full of rows of beans, and with a fig tree growing against the wall.

Just here was the only place we made a small unintentional detour.  After crossing the service road, we followed the clearly signposted path, but didn't notice the gap in the hedge a couple of hundred yards further on - no signs here. We realised what we'd done when we came to an impassable ditch and barbed wire at the end of the field.  We even walked all the way back and missed the turning.  Careful consulting of the map - and, yes, there had to be some way through the hedge - it's just after the end of the taller bushes, to skirt the industrial building.

The path leads diagonally through a field storing what look like abandoned food storage containers - grain silos? - round and very big. 

 Through the gate and across a wheat field towards the M1 and through a tunnel underneath.  

Under the M1

This was the quietest place within a hundred yards or so, and was clearly the place where old farm machinery comes to die.


Across a meadow where cows were doing their best to eat the maize in the next field, then through the maize jungle, closely planted, neat rows, computerised sowing, taller than we are, past an area where children were playing by the river and a cat was observing from its vantage point.

Totem cat

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The fourteenth century church at Kislingbury

 Kislingbury has three pubs, a general store and a butcher's shop, as well as the church.

I like the colours here, though I should have got the writing and flowers in focus too. Need to study 'depth of field'.

The path to the footbridge is part of the flood defences, and a large metal gate can be closed off to protect the village against another two for three foot rise in the water level.


After Kislingbury we turned right from the road, and walked through several fields, quite a distance from the Nene, which was on our right.  We could see a raised dyke area, and the path was clearly marked.  We walked past a long wall, which has fallen down in places, although there is a door in one of the remaining sections.  We arrived at Upton Hall Farm with horses and vociferous geese, then came to the new development of Upton Sustainable Urban Extension.  It still looks rather new, but when the trees have grown and the water/ drainage areas have settled in it promises to be an attractive area.

Part of Upton Sustainable Housing Development

The signs for the Nene Way were a little sparse through the new houses, but we found our way through to where the path crosses the dual carriageway of the old A45 at traffic lights
and were ready to take the Duston Mill Lane when we decided we had to turn back.

Geese getting ornery

Wildlife - kestrels and a couple of herons. 

For details click here