Harringworth, Shotley, Turtle Bridge, Harringworth

Monday 14th June. Eddie, Norma, Maureen, Kate. 6 miles or so in very hot weather. Photos out of order.

 Thursday 14th June. Very hot. With Maureen, Norma, Kate and Eddie. About 6 miles.

More catch up posts from December 2018

I've done a fair bit of walking in December and January, but haven't recorded them all, so here we go - again!

Monday 10 December

A ten miles walk from Market Harborough to Foxton Locks and back with Norma, Maureen and Kate. The same route as the one we did on December 06. 

Wednesday 12 December

Four miles around Fineshade Woods with Marta.

Thursday 13 December
Walk from East Carlton to Neville Holt, via Drayton. With Maureen and Eddie. Just over 8 miles, and the last muddy stretch uphill was a killer!

Bringhurst

A garden ornament in Drayton

Onwards and upwards....

Neville Holt

Monday 17 December
a superb day. Bright cold weather. Eddie and I walked from Gretton, to Harringworth Lodge, down to Shotley and Harrinworth, across the valley and under the viaduct to Seaton, then to Lyddington and Gretton. 11.5 miles in all. Quite a workout.

Harringworth, Shotley, Wakerley, Barrowden, Harringworth.

With Marta on a murky day - we saw the sun, veiled by mist, briefly! This is the same walk as on October 31st 2016, but in reverse, checking a few details of the route. For some reason it seems to have been over 8 miles this time.

We had a sandwich in the Community Shop at Barrowden.

Yes, it's definitely a red kite.

The vegetation around Barrowden Mill pond has been cleared

A duck with a topknot? A doodle?

Harringworth- Barrowden-Wakerley- Shotley- H'worth

Monday 5 December 9.20 am. With Harry, Maureen, Gordon and Eddie. The walk covered mostly the same ground as the walk on November 8th 2016. 7.3 miles. Fine though not as clear as last time. A frosty start but some fields were muddy later. 

Lots of fieldfares in evidence, as well as a heron and red kites. 

We started the walk by turning left from the road past the stables, and crossing the field full of horses.

The path continues by the Welland, crossing Turtle Bridge, and later the disused railway line, before tackling the drag up the fields to Barrowden.

We rewarded ourselves with cake and coffee at the table near Barrowden duckpond. The ducks had a little ice free area to swim in.

We went along Mill Lane and followed the Jurassic Way path past the pond, before crossing the footbridge over the Welland.

The path crosses the field, and then there's a bridge under the disused railway. The track leads to the main road through Wakerley.
We turn right and follow the road round until we reach a metal gate with a stile next to it after the last farmhouse. We take this path, with a minor diversion to avoid a very muddy field where sheep are feeing on the remains of the crop. At the road we turn right and walk for a short distance before turning left along a bridleway - it's the first surfaced track, though the bridleway sign is no longer clear since it was chopped with the hedge cutter.

We continue to the bridleway above Shotley with views of the viaduct, and follow the Jurassic Way down hill into Shotley and then Harringworth.

Barrowden, Wakerley, Shotley, Harringworth

Monday 7th November, with Harry.  Seven and a half miles. fine cold morning, though there was some mud underfoot after yesterday's rain.

Pretty much as the walk a week ago.

There's still plenty of colour on Barrowden village green.

The leaves are falling now.

We walked past the old mill pond .  . .

across the field and under the disused railway . . .

through Wakerley with views of the lime kilns and Morcot windmill.

From the path above the Welland valley, the view of the viaduct and Harringworth is clearer today. We saw several red kites, a few buzzards and a couple of jays.

Back down in the valley, we walked through Shotley and Harringworth, and took the footpath just before the stables. We crossed Turtle Bridge and followed the footpath back to Barrowden.

Barrowden, Wakerley, Shotley and Harringworth

Barrowden to Wakerley, Shotley and Harringworth.

Monday 31 October 2016. 7.75 miles. Led by Tommy, with Gordon, Norma and me.

From Barrowden village green, near the Marquis of Exeter pub, we walked east along Main Street, turning slightly right opposite Kings Lane, and joining Mill Street. We had a small delay while the owner of a bounty of apples insited on giving us one each, and provided us with a bag of windfalls to take home after our walk.

Mill Lane becomes a narrow path past the old mill and the millpond, then through a wooded area. Shortly afterwards a footbridge crosses the Welland - this path is part of both the Jurassic Way and the Rutland Round long distance walks.  

This path lead across the fields, under the disused railway, and into Wakerley. We turned right along the road, and soon came out of the village. We took the footpath where the road bends.

This has a good view of the old lime kilns and Barrowden church behind. 

Our path cuts off the corner of the fields and rejoins the road again. We turned right here.

There was a couple of hundred yards of road walking before we took the first bridleway (sign missing) heading more or less south towards the woods. It crosses a disused airfield and leads into Wood Hollow, which is at the south west end of Wakerley Woods.  There is a fairly wide path where we turned right (west). This leads out of the woodland and towards an open field. We turned slightly left, now heading northwest. We crossed a track, then more fields, turning left along the edge of a field, before the dip of the old quarry.

We passed some bales of straw, and paused for a snack, sitting on an old trailer. From here the path took us west and then slightly north, joining the Jurassic Way as it descends into Shotley.  On this section of the route there are superb views of the valley, featuring the viaduct and the windmill at Morcott . 

I must go back on a clearer day! 

 From Shotley we followed the path and then the road towards Harringworth village centre, turning right at the footpath just before the road to the stables.  This led us through a field of horses and to the Welland, which was on our left all the way to Turtle Bridge. The river was clear and calm today.

Up to the left along the track for a short distance, then before the old railway we turned right again keeping the trees on our left. After a few fields we crossed the old railway and carried on with it on our right for a short distance. The path then heads diagonally across the field and continues until it reaches the road with new houses.  We carried on to the crossroads and followed the road into Barrowden and back to the green. We stopped for lunch at the Community shop and Café.

This is a remarkably pleasant scenic route, and the climbs are pretty gentle.

Jurassic Way 9 - Fineshade to Gretton

With Marta - 11 miles. Started fine, until we reached the road near Harringworth Lodge, then buckets of wet stuff.


We began by thinking we'd not do a decent walk today - forecast wasn't good. So we took one car to Fineshade and started the activity with a cup of coffee. Kick-start caffeine style.
It felt warm and there was no rain, so we decided we'd start off doing this leg in the reverse direction from the rest of our walks, with the proviso that we could retrace our steps if conditions didn't seem good.


From the car park we took the road downhill past the main block of buildings and over the bridge.  There was a footpath sign leading us over the field - downhill at first, then up into the woods. Lots of pink poppies were blooming here.  A right turn through the strip of woodland, until the path emerges into a field and then an enclosed path above Fineshade Abbey.  As ever their flock of Jacob's sheep were grazing. 


Downhill to the footbridge and across the final field to the A43.  Across the road and along the path to Laxton Hall, turning right at the second gate, crossing a field, climbing a stile, crossing another field and entering Wakerley Woods.   Here the path goes more or less north-west, though there are a couple of kinks and the Jurassic Way signs are not always obvious. It's as well I know this part of the route by now.  The path joins a wider track which takes you to the main entrance to Wakerley Woods from the road.


I went wrong on the next bit - I decided to follow the way-marker instead of walking a short distance along the road.   However once we'd set ourselves right we followed the road for a short distance and then took the path through the hedge - quite overgrown this year and  round a field behind Wakerley Church.  We saw masses of wildflowers - from tiny violas and speedwell to scabious and white campion.

The path comes out next to Exeter House - the old pub, now a private residence.  Here we turned left and walked along the road past the junction to Barrowden, until we reached a sign post for Jurassic Way to Barrowden on the right hand side.


The path goes down to the Welland, crosses over a footbridge and climbs slightly to Barrowden emerging near the old mill and mill-pond.

We called in at the Community Shop for a sandwich and soft drink, then walked through the village, past the pub and duck pond, to where the road divides. We took the left hand fork, then turned left to a footpath over a stile and across a field to our right.

The path was clear and easy to follow downhill and along to the south west. After a few fields we arrived at a wider track. We turned left along this to cross the Welland at Turtle Bridge.

The Welland looks full at Turtle Bridge

 We had expected it to be very soggy near the river, but it was nowhere near as bad as we anticipated.  The path turns right and follows the river along the edge of two large fields, before heading south across the third field. Once again the path was clear to see and easy to walk.  We met the road between Harringworth and Wakerley, crossed over and walked through Shotley - really just a few houses and a farm, where building work was in progress.

The footpath has been diverted - an improvement, especially while the work is being done.

We climbed part way up the hill, and took a break just before a hedge. Well-timed, as five minutes after we set off the heavens opened big-time.  I haven't been quite so wet for a year or so.  

The path emerges on to the road between Harringworth and Laxton, and we picked it up again slightly to our right.  Once again it was clearly marked and took us over a couple of fields to Harringworth Lodge.  You skirt this house by turning left just before the tennis court, then right to join the drive past the house and the fox weathervane, down to the end of the lake.  Turn right again along the side of the lake and follow the Jurassic Way signs until you reach Gretton.

  

Map and details