Mary Gilbert Walk from Welford Wharf

 

Tuesday 26th July

Suggested Welford walk to Marta. I drove over and on to Welford along A14. We parked near The Welford Wharf Inn, with its beer garden.

There is a board with several suggestions for walks. We decided on the Mary Gilbert Walk starting with the hillier part.

It was a bit tricky to work out the start at first. We enlisted the help of a passing couple and their dogs, and soon found the way. We passed a garden with phlox, where the two men told us they attract hummingbird hawk moths… As a side note, there were a couple of these one morning on our buddleia at home!

Then along the canal - pause-café, when Marta spotted a bullfinch. We saw several boats.

Dryad’s saddle

and later met the couple who’d given us advice earlier. 

Back to the wharf, via the marina,

and to the pub for lunch. Another place that insists on giving cups of tea in cardboard cups, though beer seems to come in glasses for outside. Good vegetarian sausage sandwich. 

Just over 5 miles.

Welford - Canal - Hemplow Hills - Welford

Led by Barry, with Maureen, Gordon and me. Fine - dry underfoot. Just over 6 miles.

Covered some of yesterday's route as well. 

We parked in Welford opposite this cottage.  We took a path to the west north west and walked along a path in a field behind houses.  This soon turned south west towards Hall Lane, which we crossed and turned right, along a path which diverged from the lane, slightly more to the west. 
The path crossed several fields before reaching the Grand Union Canal - a quiet stretch here. At first the canal was on our right, then we crossed to take the towpath with the canal on our left as we headed more or less south-west.

We followed the canal round a fairly large loop for a good two and half miles as far as Bridge 31.

 The Old Union Canals Society plants living milestones along the Leicester Line of the Grand Union. You know the ones, the trees with black painted steel plaques next to them. Thank you to jakepithf and his blog 

The path goes uphill through a field of growing crops, then into the woods of Hemplow Hills.

A snack-stop with a great view - Wood Cottage in the background.

Another 'permissive path'

Through the woods, - after the steep climb!

The tower-adorned gatehouses of West Hill Farm.

From Hemplow Hills we walk past West Hill Farm, and along Hemplow Drive. At the crossroads, straight on into West End and back to Welford.


We saw terns diving into the canal, a heron, and a hare in the field going up to Hemplow Hills.

Map and details

Jurassic Way 5 - Winwick to Sibbertoft

Winwick - Elkington - Welford - Sibbertoft
11 miles.  With Marta. Fine, sunny, very warm. Dry conditions.

Winwick church - photograph taken at end of the walk! See time.

From the pond at Winwick we walked past the gateway to Winwick Hall, then turned left, through a field gate to the bridleway.

The gates and Winwick Hall.

The route was clearly marked until we had to turn off to the left towards Honey Hill. This sign was a little harder to find:

Hunt the way markers

The path to Honey Hill skirts the hillsides to begin with, through some fields - at one point there is a way marker near a wooden bridge - don't even bother trying to cross the bridge, the path continues round the field and on, alongside a golf course, which you eventually cross over.

The climb starts here and after crossing a field or two, you join a wide surfaced track past Honey Hill Farm and a field with horses - lovely views if you look back.

The third horse was just relaxing - above Honey Hill Farm.

The road flattens out, and you pass another large house before reaching the road between Welford and Cold Ashby. Turn left for a very short stretch, and the footpath leads off to the left, taking you down Honey Hill towards Elkington.

From the path down Honey Hill

The path was opened here in 1994

In Elkington, you turn right along the road, and follow it to the junction.  On the noticeboard, this notice caught my eye - memories of times past, not I hope portents of times to come:

Keep to the left hand road (signposted to Yelverton) and after a short distance,  you cross a canal bridge. Turn right here and follow the canal for about a mile, along and under the A14. Continue to bridge 31.

I haven't yet worked out what these 'living milestones' are for

At bridge 31 you leave the canal, cross the bridge and take the footpath on the left. At this time of year, the sign is half hidden in the hedge, but the path is clear.

Uphill to Hemplow Hills. On the following walk we saw a hare ahead of us on this path.

Part of West Hill Farm

The path through the woods is clear - a bit steep at the start. Once you emerge, go along beside a field where young trees are growing, and along a track past West Hill Farm, and these lodge buildings. Then it's over a stile by a remote controlled gate and along Hemplow Drive, past Hemplow Lodge Farm and childcare nursery. Continue along the drive until you reach the crossroads. Cross over and West End is the road leading into Welford village.
At this point we went to the pub at the Wharf, rather than following the official JW path, rejoining it on the Naseby Road, just past the fishermen's car park.
We walked along the path next to the reservoir, then across the causeway.

A less daunting causeway in summer time!

the path cuts across fields, through the bumps and hollows of the deserted mediaeval village of Old Sulby, through a field of cows, past some farms to a track where we turned right and followed the path through several fields - it is well marked. 
Soon we arrived at Sibbertoft, where we followed the route round to the churchyard before returning to the car.

Sibbertoft church, photo taken before driving to Winwick - see time on clock!

Map and details

Welford - Sibbertoft - Welford

Barry led this walk, with me and Gordon. Almost 10 and a half miles, and the weather was fine, though blustery, and quite cold in the wind. 

We parked near the school in Welford, on West St, and walked  through Butchers Close to the High Street, past a couple of ex-pubs, and the Old Post Office, then turned left, past a development of new houses ( from barns) and across some fields, following a path, which joined the Jurassic Way, and funnelled us between hedges briefly.  We followed the Jurassic Way through some fine scenery, across a tiny river - the infant Avon, of Stratford fame - and up past Sulby Lodge Farm, home of Shep the dog. Soon afterwards we met the Naseby Road, turned left and after Grange Lodge turned right along the path beside Welford Reservoir, then across the weir which divides it from Sulby Reservoir.

a kestrel

A robin watches as we wander by

The path left the water and went nor'nor'east, through a field showing plenty of evidence (humps and bumps and hollows) of the old mediaeval village of Old Sulby. 

Part of Old Sulby, with the northern arm of Sulby reservoir in the background

The path crossed a track and then another field. Just after some buildings on the right the Jurassic Way turns east. We continued along as far as Sibbertoft, where we turned right and walked along the road which skirts the southern edge of the village, ignoring all turnings to the left, and turned right at a green where three roads converge. At a right-angle bend to the left, our path turned off to the right.  There was a fair amount of walking through fields here, some of them muddy - the path was generally easy to follow, in a more or less south-westerly direction, cutting diagonally across the fields.
We were aiming for the small piece of woodland at the end of the reservoir's eastern arm. Through the wood, the path proved to be very muddy and wet, but at the other side we came out on to a decent track. It leads from Oak Tree Farm - which isn't on the map. The track leads up hill gently, and we had a snack break when we reached the gate by the Naseby road. A good choice - sheltered from the wind.


Across the road is the site of Sulby Abbey, founded in c.1155, occupying a considerable area, and frequently visited by Edward II.  According to this site, the monks were not always perfectly behaved, and there are details of some of the punishments they were given.
In 1538, Thomas Cromwell was informed that  'the papistical den of idle and utterly unlearned beasts at Soulbie'  had been broken up.


Next downhill a bit, and over the mighty Avon again, then upwards and onwards to the A 5199.  We seemed to be approaching the A14, closer and closer, noisier - but a few hundred yards short, we turn west and parallel to it, then meet the minor road which crosses it. We turn our backs on the big road, and after less than half a mile, past Welford Lodge Farm, we turn left again and head across country towards Hemplow Lodge Farm. This is a popular child-care nursery, if the traffic along the lane is anything to go by.  There's a manicured lawn and mini-lake here, and the path could do with clearer signs.

We turned sharp right, and straight along the lane,  past a house named the Hemplow Arms,  straight on at the crossroads, and into Welford along West End.

Hora pars vitae - each hour is a part of life

Map and details