Gretton, Thorpe by Water, Lyddington, Caldecott.

 Monday 02 August. With Maureen and Eddie. We chose this walk because we thought the A6003 was closed between Caldecott  next junction, but the work had been done the previous day. That makes a section walking on the road verge not very pleasant, and potentially unsafe…the rest is a decent walk.  Almost 8 miles.  280 feet of ups and downs.

9.30 from the village hall…

Fields in late summer

Passing the Welland

Cows looking mildly curious

A new-looking stile

and does the church clock stand at twelve o’clock? In Caldecott

and back across the valley to Gretton.

Corby to Pipewell circular in reverse.

 Monday 26th July.  6 1/2 miles. With Eddie and Maureen. The route was easier to follow from the other end.

 

The graves of several Lloyds of Stewart and LLoyds and Lloyds Bank fame are buried here as the family used to own Pipewell Hall.

When I walked here in 2008 this pillar was in the field near the footpath to Wilbarston. We found no trace this year.

Hardly surprising we had problems finding the path last time.

Corby to Pipewell circular

 

Thursday 22nd July, with Maureen. 6.5 miles. 

A very hot day, so we had lots of pauses for shade and water.

It was a struggle to find the public footpath near The Spread Eagle at Great Oakley leading to the A6003.

On the other side we couldn’t find the way through. We accessed the path via the road to Pipewell.

The first field of the official route was not easy to walk through - an overgrown meadow, fine. No clear footpath, not so fine. Even after that there were still obstacles: a couple of excessively high stiles, and ones with overgrown nettles.

We decided against retracing this route for the return from Pipewell, choosing instead the bridleway about a quarter of a mile out of the village on the road towards East Carlton.

This was easier, though not always clearly marked. It emerges on to the A6003 by a farm gate. From there we crossed into Danesholme and life was straightforward again.

Southwick circular (again from water tower lay-by)

 Tuesday 20th July, with Marta. Another very hot day, so we tackled the walk in the same direction, counting on getting the least shady section done first.  Just under 8 miles.

The route was as yesterday until almost mile 4. This time we followed public footpaths more carefully, which makes the walk a little longer, but much easier.

We walked past Provost Lodge Farm, and followed the path past Westwood Lodge and the remains of Tottenham Lodge, then downhill to the road. Across and past Crossway Hands Farm

and Boars Head Farm, as yesterday.

Lurking by the pond…a plastic alligator…

There was still little shade on this route as we passed the building I guess is used for shooting parties, securely locked nowadays.

Then we took the footpath to our right into the welcome shade of the woods

and back to Southwick

After this we had a wild goose chase for drinks and sandwiches afterwards. A garden centre restaurant - closed, and the Chequered Skipper at Ashton - also closed. We ended up going home.

Southwick circular from water tower.

Monday 19th July

The day started cloudier and fresher, but forecast likely to heat later. I met Eddie at 9.20 at the lay-by near the water tower.  It was already very hot. We walked across to Provost Lodge Farm near Glapthorn Cow Pasture, following the path to the ruined Tottenham Lodge, then downhill toward the road, with very little shade.

Across the footbridge to the road, and across to the drive past Crossway Hands Farm. This continues past Boars Head farm with its bowl of water for dogs, and pond opposite and goes downhill. We took a track to the right, but had to divert into undergrowth after seeing a sign “Stop! Go no further!” 

Machetes would have helped but we emerged onto another track which soon joined a public footpath.

We followed this to the edge of the wood. The sight of the water tower confirmed that our direction was good, and we crossed a field into Southwick.

Unfortunately on this hot Monday the Shuckburgh arms was not open, so we walked up the road to rejoin the lay-by.

Barnack Hills and holes nature reserve.

 Not really a walk, but a lovely place to visit, with butterflies - blues and marbled whites, though we didn’t see any silver-washed fritillaries today.