and occasionally rides a bike.
A word of warning. The walk descriptions are not detailed enough to guide you - please take a map. The batteries never run out, and you always have a signal. Oh, And don't take left or right as gospel!

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Illston, Burton Overy, Little Stretton, Kings Norton


Monday 03 April, 9.50 am. With Norma. Fine sunny weather, and very little mud underfoot.
8.3 miles in all.

This is the same route as this walk  and this one, but it's spring now, and feels different. 

Leave Illston by the gate at the end the no through road past the pub, and go up to the next gate on the left. Turn right, and at the end of the next field take the left-hand path. If you can't see it, take the right hand one, and you can join the correct route a couple of fields down via another stile.

Keep Illston Grange on your right, and follow waymarkers to a stile leading on to the metalled section of Gartree Road. Cross the road and follow way markers (easy to see at this time of year) through a few fields, coming out near a farm on a road with a cattle grid. Cross the road and follow the path over two fields to the road leading into Burton Overy.

Houses in Burton Overy.
 Turn slightly left then right, past The Bell, and over a small bridge, near which is an oak tree planted by the local WI in 1988. Soon afterwards there is a path leading off on the right hand side into a field full of sheep and lambs.


The path goes slightly uphill to the corner of the woodland and on to meet the road between Kings Norton and Great Glen.  It becomes a bridleway, and is easy to follow, behind a couple of houses, labelled on the map as The Cottage. Some way further on, at a field boundary there is a permissive path allowing you to take a short cut towards Little Stretton. 

At the road turn left, and look for a driveway and footpath. Public Footpath for 420 yards it says, but it leads past a pond, and a large house, then into a narrow path behind some barn conversions, and into a field behind the church, and round into Little Stretton churchyard.

The church is more visible in spring, through the trees.
 A bench near the church provides a good stopping place.




Little Stretton church
Almost too pleasant to move, but needs must. We walk out to the road through the village, and just outside the footpath goes off to our right, clearly marked, and made good through the growing rape crop. It leads us to Kings Norton, coming out very close to a farmhouse, on the road above the church. We walk down, past the church, turning back to snap this most photographed of churches - by me anyway.

Kings Norton Church showing off its best side in the sun
We take the road to Illston, and when the road bends to the left we carry on ahead on a byway. Today the cows are the other side of the fence, and one or two sidle up to say hi.
GPS is the latest fashion, darlings.
 From here it's straightforward. Follow the byway to the road, turn right and at the next junction look for a footpath sign in the hedge on the left. This takes you back past Illston Grange, which is on the right. There are lots of sheep and lambs here too.
In the opposite corner, a little way past the Grange is the path, through a series of gates near the horse area. Follow the waymarkers and the path goes along field edges down into a dip and then uphill and back to Illston.

6 comments:

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

The smaller church there is very well situated

aliqot said...

Little Stretton is one of my favourite churches - though I have never been inside.

Ida Jones said...

I can see why you'd be tempted to linger, sitting in the sun by such a pretty church in a lovely setting.

aliqot said...

We went back to draw it on Saturday - well, Harry did an oil, I did my usual pencil drawing! Perfect weather, and we were even goven a cup of tea!!

aliqot said...

Ho hum, I have invented a new form of past participle . . .

Ida Jones said...

Ha-ha - and why not!!!