Lutton and Great Gidding (mainly on minor roads)

Thu, 2014 Mar 13 9:48 AM GMT

Led by Barry, with Gordon, Maureen and me. Flattish, mainly roads, though fields are drying now. Mist gave way to sunny, warm  weather - (down to teeshirts for a while). Wide views. 9.5 miles approx.

We set off west from Lutton,  and when the main road bends to the left we carry on straight ahead, pretty well northwest by now.  Near the road to Papley Farm we turn left, and walk southeast along a road next to a large estate with a drive protected by security gates,  and woodlands. We cross the Lutton to Polebrook Road, and shortly afterwards come to the USAF memorial to the 351st Bombardment Group which was stationed here 1943-1945.

Our road continues southeast, and just past Hemington House, with its high double hedge, our route becomes a track, rutted by farm traffic and still muddy, but passable. On the map it's called Stamford Lane!  We come out at Rectory Farm, where we are greeted by dogs, loud, but luckily friendly. From here a road takes us into Great Gidding. We find time for a coffee break before the village.

 The first landmark we see is Townsend Pond. At the T-junction we turn right.

 Lots of information about the pond and the village on this board.  We carry on and turn left into Mill Road, which climbs gently out of the village.

It would be a brave person . . .

 At the top of the hill is Great Gidding Mill, which is being renovated. A fine dwelling with a view all round from the top!

A slightly ravilious view, I thought.

We walk along Milking Slade Road, and follow it round to our left after we've gone downhill and up again. At the corner the road becomes Bullock Road (on the map) and there's a sign to the track of the same name. The road goes gently downhill for a couple of miles.  We are getting a little footsore, so a second break tempts us.  

Eventually we reach a T-junction, and turn right, then follow the road round to our left and back into Lutton. We call in at the church, which has a small memorial to the 19 aircrew lost returning from a bombing mission, who crashed with another plane near Polebrook Airfield.

After visiting the church we stroll back to the car. Spring is in the air and on the trees . . .

 . . .and by the water.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Map and details

Great Easton - Nevill Holt - Drayton - Bringhurst - Gt Easton

Mon, 2014 Mar 10 9:43 AM GMT

Led by Mel. Barrie E, Terry, Thomas, Norma, Sue, Chris, Marion, Phil, Gordon, Barry O, Maureen, me. Footpaths not too muddy, apart from a few gateways and stiles. Some slightly awkward stiles. Just under 6 miles.

We set off from the central green in Great Easton, walking up the High Street, and turning along Broadgate and Deepdale to pick up the footpath. This takes us alongside a stream, and we should keep it on our right. That way we won't need to cross the narrow bridge - twice.

We follow the bridleway up the hill to Nevill Holt, then turn left along,the road to Drayton. Part way down we stop for a break at a convenient bench, with a view.

wise monkeys?

Though there's no space for thirteen of us on the bench!  We walk down into Drayton, cross the main road and carry on to meet the path leading uphill through a field towards Bringhurst. The conditions underfoot here are the best I've seen, surprisingly.

Climbing up towards the tiny village.

Bringhurst church

1630

We follow the road turning right and walking for a short distance downhill. There is a path off the the left, which we take.

It's part of the Jurassic Way, and we take the path into Great Easton, and back to the cars.

Map and details

Marston Trussell, Sibbertoft, Clipston and back - minor roads.

Thu, 2014 Mar 6 9:31 AM GMT

Led by me with Gordon and Maureen. Almost 9 miles on minor roads - a little hard on the feet and legs! 483 ft of climbing. it was raining when we set off by car, but not a drop fell on us once we were walking.

Just to prove that the sun almost shone

From the church in Marston Trussell, we take the road through the village. When it bends to the right, we carry straight on past Marston Trussell Hall. We follow this road for a good mile to a T-junction.
We turn left almost opposite Hothorpe Hall, towards Sibbertoft. We follow this road for about a mile and a half, up a steep hill to a T-junction.  Here we turn right into the village of Sibbertoft, walking past the church and the war memorial and straight on until we reach a sign to Clipston (single track road).

Sibbertoft church

We walk along the road to Clipston. Part way along, there is a Battle of Naseby information board at the Moot Hill viewpoint .
The battle, on 14th June 1645, was a decisive moment in the English Civil War, when Charles I's army was defeated by Cromwell's New Model Army.  

After about a mile and a half a road to the left shows a signpost to Marston Trussell( 2 1/2 miles). We went on a little further into Clipston to find a place to sit for a break.

There's a rather fine chapel.

Near the chapel is a gravestone to Thomas Jarman, composer of hymns. There's some interesting information about him, in particular his quarrel with the local Church of England vicar here. After coffee and a scone, we retraced our steps to the signpost to Marston Trussell.

The road climbs up,and we can see the Royal Observer Corps look out with its flagpole. From here you have a great view of the site of the Battle of Naseby, though we're saving it for next time.

Later, we pass the entrance to the oddly named Twantry Farm. Our road goes downhill past some woodland, and at the bottom is crossed by the Jurassic Way. On the map this part of the road is labelled Dick's Hill. It must refer to the bit we've passed already, since it's flat from now on. The whole length of the road is about two miles. We reach a junction, and the drive to Marston Lodge Farm, with a pond.

Dick's Hill

At the junction we turn right towards Marston Trussell.  Walk about half a mile.This is the only part of the walk where we meet more than a couple of cars.

At the next junction, we take the left-hand fork. There is a fine view of Marston Trussell Hall from the Lake to our left.

At the T-junction, we turn right and back to the church.

Map and details

Northamptonshire Round 4 (Salcey-Ashton) + Ashton-Blisworth (shortened)

Wed, 2014 Mar 5 11:28 AM GMT

With Marta. Around 9 miles in all. We shortened the route from Ashton because time was a little short. Next leg will start from Ashton and do it properly!

Not an auspicious start, when we both got caught up in traffic jams this morning. So what should have been a 10.15 ish start, ended up, after a coffee and teacakes for me, as an 11.30 start for the walk. 

From Salcey Forest Café we walked on to the road, turned left, then right at the junction towards the M1. We'd just decided that the path in the forest looked far too muddy, and were looking at the map when a helpful man appeared.  Funny how person looking at map = lost.  Still he did tell us about another path, which turned out to be the one we wanted.

It's very close to the M1, and quite noisy, but is open countryside and otherwise pleasant, then a section of woodland which takes us to a road under the M1. We turn right under the motorway, then left into more woodland which gradually leaves the noise and traffic behind us.

The path is marked pretty well and we walk along the path coming out at Hartwell End Farm and House. We walk past a large pond, and through a gate - at this point I switched my garmin off by taking my coat off, so the mileage recorded isn't accurate.How many times have I done this?

We follow the path, diverting slightly round a field edge and come out, as we intended at Stonepit Farm.  Here we turn left along Hartwell Road, and after a couple of hundred yards we take the footpath to our right, soon turning right again with the hedge.  We follow it to Chapel Farm, where we see our first outdoor lambs of the season.

We turn right along the farm road and at the next bend take the footpath to our left.  We ignore the first footpath coming in on our right, and carry on until we cross another path. Here we turn left, and follow this path just north of west, across a minor road, then as far as the Hartwell Road coming out of Ashton.  We turn left and walk a short distance along the road, then take a bridleway heading northwest at a left-hand bend in the road. This makes a right-angled turn left and brings us under a railway bridge and into Ashton near the school and church.

We turn right at the Old Crown and walk through the rest of the village.

Spring is springing!

At this point we have a rethink of the original plans for the walk and decide to take the shorter route to Stoke Bruerne by minor road.

 A good move - it's already well past two when we stop for lunch at The Navigation, right by the canal. It's warm enough to sit outside in a sheltered and sunny spot, the sandwiches arrive very quickly and taste good - ideal!

We take a short route to Blisworth, leaving out Shutlanger (until next time, anyway) and taking the Grand Union Canal walk, along the canal and the road.

When we reach Blisworth Tunnel entrance we have to climb up to the road, which is a little busier than I like, but nothing too bad.

We pass several farms and just before we go downhill towards Blisworth we pass this air shaft for the tunnel.

At Blisworth Tunnel car park we go back down to the canal. At this end of the 2821 meter long tunnel the tunnel hut has been restored and decorated inside.

We walk along the towpath until we reach Blisworth Mill (once a spice mill), and the road to the car.

Approaching Blisworth

The church stands on a rise and there's an overspill cemetery with fine gates just across the road.

We reach the car, and have plenty of time to pick up the other one from Salcey Forest well before they shut their gates at 5pm.

So, not entirely Northamptonshire Round, but a fine walk in beautiful weather. 

Map and details

Skeffington - Rolleston - Noseley - Skeffington

Mon, 2014 Mar 3 9:26 AM GMT

Led by Barry, with me and Gordon. Mostly road walking as ground is still wet, and bridleways are hoof-battered in places. About 8 miles in fine sunny weather. Warm in places too! 642 feet of climbing.

We walk through Skeffington and past the church to the village green with the circular seat. Here we turn left along the Gated road to Rolleston.  The road heads south downhill past Vale Cottages, further down and across a bridge over a stream.  The second gate we meet takes us into the Rolleston Estate, with its posts along the road verges, and recently planted trees to form an avenue.  Lots of horses and horse jumps - we see a four horse carriage practising on a nearby field.

We carry on towards the hall, taking the road signed to New Inn. Just before we meet the bigger public road our route turns sharply to the left, still within the Estate.  We follow this to Top Lodge, where we turn left along the Avenue, past the entrance to Noseley Hall to our right, past Nether Cottages (with the date 1937) on our left, and then past the turning to Goadby on our right.  

Soon after this our path leaves the road and makes its way uphill between two hedges on our left. As the bridleway has been very much used by horses we walk up on the other side of the hedge and manage to regain our correct route nearer the top. Through a muddy gate and we're in open country - not bad underfoot, and a good view.

Sunny and sheltered - time for coffee and cake? 

We head downhill to the yellow marker post, then cross a bridge and follow the bridleway which turns into farm track and takes us without much trouble back to Rolleston. This time we pass the lake.

There's a path to Tugby off to the right. Not ours. We stick with the Estate road until it bends round to the left. Our original plan is to take the footpath off to the right - but we turn back after a short distance, put off by yet more muddy fields. 

Instead we follow the gated road back to Skeffington, retracing the beginning of the walk. Although inevitably this goes uphill,  the ending is less strenuous than Thursday's walk.

Map and details

A walk from 2009