Cold Ashby - Winwick - Cold Ashby (via Thornby Grange)

View on the way down Honey Hill

We set off from the village hall, along Main Street, then took the right fork along Stanford Road, past the entrance to Cold Ashby Golf Club, and Bunkers Hill Farm.  In a field there is a trig point marking a height of 210 metres.  At the top of Stanford Road, on Honey Hill,  you turn left along the small road past Honey Hill Farm, and along a narrow track beside trees, then across a field down to the golf course.

The path is clear

This part of the walk is part of the Jurassic Way - which I walked in reverse on May 30 2012. There are excellent views, though today it was a little hazy.


On the other side of the golf course the path is clearly marked, along the edge of a couple of fields, then over some meadow, until you join a wider track, which leads to Winwick.  A farmer was herding sheep using a dog and a car.

Before long you can see Winwick Hall ahead, and emerge on to the road.  The brick wall and gateposts are curved.

Is Barry nostalgic for days on sentry duty? 

 We had an early snack break by the pond, making use of the millennium seat constructed by students from Rugby School. A few drops of rain encouraged us to take waterproofs out, but stopped before we even put them on.

We walked down the hill  past the black VR postbox, a door in the wall, and some well-tended flower pots to the crossroads,  where we turned left along the gated road to West Haddon.

Red dog-rose or feral flower?

a door in the wall

After passing another Rugby School millennium seat of a different design, we turned left off the road, and followed a footpath, which becomes a track, and leads towards White House Farm.  We joined the road for a short distance before taking a footpath/track to the right. This took us towards Grange Farm and Thornby Grange.  Just before these buildings,  in the valley there is another 'unsafe' building, which we learned is an abandoned watermill for flour. It was never used since someone was killed while the construction was being finished - though there may be more to the story.

The derelict mill

As the weather was so sultry, we stopped for a second short break beside the road to Thornby Grange, then continued to a small crossroads. We took the left hand road towards Cold Ashby, ignoring the road into Thornby.  This soon bent to the right and joined the Cold Ashby road from Thornby, and led us into Cold Ashby towards the church.

 St Denys Church, believed to date from the twelfth century - and the garden flowers are beautiful

This stark reminder of mortality /immortality?  was built in 1883, by "Gregorius Bateman'

More info and pictures of the church are here. From the church we walked up to the road junction and turned left to our starting point.

Our thanks to The Cold Ashby Rambler for this walk
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

Jurassic Way 4 - Braunston to Winwick

With Marta. 11 miles. Very hot. It felt like hard work. Dry underfoot apart from under the M1.

We started from the Admiral Nelson, crossing the canal to the towpath, and following it as far as Braunston Bottom Lock.

Here we crossed the bridge and made our way uphill - there are a couple of footpaths, and more by luck than judgment we ended up, as we should, going through Jetty Field Pocket Park, past the allotments and into the village, at a road junction.  Just by the Wheatsheaf Inn, take Ashby Road to the right,  follow it until it bends to the right. At this point the old road is now a track leading straight ahead - towards Ashby St Ledgers.

Looking back towards Braunston

The track narrows to a path, and climbs up to a minor road. Here we turned right and walked a short distance before turning left, in the same direction as previously.  The path goes downhill to the A361, which we crossed, then followed the main street of Ashby St Ledgers through the village, until it bent left just before the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Leodegarius.

As well as some very attractive thatched cottages, the village has a Manor House, which was worked on by Lutyens, in the first third of the twentieth century.

 Its gatehouse was a meeting place for the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, including Robert Catesby.

Timber-framed gatehouse - Catesby rode 80 miles from London to bring news that the Gunpowder Plot had been discovered 5th November 1605. He was caught up with, refused to surrender and was shot dead three days later.

The Jurassic Way continues straight ahead from the bend in the road, by the church.
We were in need of a break and a snack, but first we crossed several open fields before finding a suitable shady tree.  After this we headed across more fields slightly downhill towards the M1 and the mainline railway of Watford Gap.
There's a bridge under the railway, but you have to cross the A5 - fortunately it is not too busy.

The path took us over the canal and up the towpath past the flight of locks and marina. A lovely oasis, spoiled by the noise of M1 traffic.

We crossed a field making for the tunnel under the M1. It smelled and felt rather as though cows had sheltered there - the wettest place for miles.

We followed the footpath into Watford, where we turned left along the main road, uphill as far as Church Street. Another left turn took us to a junction where we turned left, then right just past a barn, where wagtails alighted on the roof and swallows were flying around.
The path goes across some parkland, and makes towards Henley's railway bridge, which the then owner of Watford Court built so that the railway would be at a distance from his house. Watford Court was built in Elizabethan times, and demolished in the 1970s.

Henley's railway bridge

The path is generally well marked, but we did need to consult the map a couple of times - for reassurance at least.  Most of the time it's a case of following the paths. There are a few places where a way mark would come in handy, for example when the path (clearly restored through a field of crops goes diagonally across a field, then zig-zags round field boundaries. This is marked on the map as near Flavell's Lodge, though we couldn't identify any building.
You come to a cross paths (crossroads for paths) where you take the right hand path past Silsworth Lodge - this can be identified.  The path goes round the buildings, turning north briefly before going east towards West Haddon, and entering the village near the primary school. The path goes along a short street named The Green.
Turn right, go to the mini-roundabout, and turn left up High Street. Take the next left, Crown Lane, or walk through the churchyard.  At the top of Crown Lane the path for Winwick leaves.
We bought lunch in the local shop, though there are a couple of pubs as well. Faced with the choice of sitting on a bench in the sun, or grass in the shade, the shade won, easily.

The final section was pretty straightforward, following the signed path north through fields and under the West Haddon bypass (A428).

The path arrives at a surfaced track near Glebe Farm. Follow this and turn right on the gated road which leads all the way to Winwick.  We turned right at the crossroads in the tiny village and walked uphill past the Hall to the seat by the pond where we'd left the car.

Thanks to Northants CC leaflet - available only online as a PDF, alas.


Map and details