Croxton Kerrial to Waltham on the Wolds

Date: 2012-09-09

From: Croxton Kerrial

Region: Leicestershire

Walk :  Linear

OS Sheet: Explorer OL24

Start Grid: SK 836 291

Distance: 11.1 ml, 17.9 km 

Height Gain: 430 ft, 131m

Height Lost: 361 ft, 110 m

Walking with: Andy

Notes: Road walking at start and finish then a fairly flat walk over fields and along tracks, quite a few stiles and gates, muddy in parts.

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

Take the A607 E, towards Grantham, at the bend keep right into lane, passed track to Tippings Lodge to track (Viking Way) on right heading SE. Follow SE around Airfield to just before a road is reached  take footpath on right W. Follow the path through woodland and part of the old airfield across fields and road to Saltby. Take the footpath from Saltby to Bescaby Oaks and Croxton Park, turn SE along track to Bescaby then take footpath by Racecourse Farm up to the Air Traffic Control Mast and into Waltham.

Journey

This was another Number 8 bus from Loughborough walk and Andy joined me to walk it. With clear blue skies and a gentle breeze it was a pretty much a perfect day for a walk

Viking Way

Apart from the road work out of Croxton to the Viking Way the whole walk was very enjoyable. The Viking Way took us some four K South East, crossing part of a decommisioned airfield on the way The track is broad and is earth and stone with grass verges and hedges. In places it is was scored by deep water filled ruts.

Muddy Ruts

As we approached the Airfield we could hear, then see tow planes and gliders. RAF Saltby was built and was operational during the Second World War and was home to British, American and Polish Air Forces. Among its roles was the dropping parachutists on D-Day and later into Arnhem.

Tow Plane towing Glider

Gliders

It is now the home of Buckminster Glider Club. The gliders are towed into the air by a small aircraft that climbs in broad circles until the glider is released to do its own thing, the plane lands to take up the next one.

Tow Plane

Memorial RAF Saltby

As we walked around the southern end of the airfield we met a large bunch of people standing around or sitting in an array of camp chairs. They were talking, waving papers about, looking at books, holding clip boards, all looking, to us, somewhat furtive and a little embarrassed by our presence.

Being bold we asked ‘what ya doing’.“There is a glider acrobatic competition here this afternoon and we are doing the scorering”. Was the reply. Not a lot we could say to that, so wishing them well we moved on.

NE from Bescaby Oaks

For a walk of over eleven miles it felt easy and seemed to go very quickly. It is not a walk to rave over but is a  good walk through largely arable countryside .

Waltham-on-the-Wolds: St Mary Magdalene

Harlaxton to Croxton Kerrial, Lincolnshire

Date: 2012-08-01

From: Harlaxton to Croxton Kerrial

Region: Lincolnshire, South of Grantham

Walk :  Linear

OS Sheet: Explorer 247

Start Grid: SK 884 330

Finish Grid: SK 836 291

Distance: 8.5 ml, 13.6 km 

Height Gain: 497 ft, 151 m

Height Lost: 324 ft, 99 m

Notes:  Walking mainly on canal towpath and farm tracks, with sections of roads and paths to join things together. There were a few stiles and along the canal there were a couple of chicane type barriers.

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

From the A607 Grantham Road go down High Street to the footpath on the left to the Grantham Road, along the road to the track North to the Grantham Canal and Harlaxton Lower Lodge. Join the canal towpath heading West to Longmoor Bridge. Cross the bridge onto the Viking Way South to the A607. Go West along A607 to footpath on right, through fields to just outside Croxton Kerrial.

Journey

This walk is the first of several walks I have planned based on using the bus services available from Loughborough to get me to the start and back home again.

It is many years since I made regular or frequent trips on buses, about 45 plus years in fact. Although since getting my bus pass I have made use of it for short hops, a journey of over an hour was going to be a new experience. The 8 service runs from Loughborough to Grantham via Melton Mowbray once an hour throughout the day, travelling across 35 miles of wolds landscape and through a dozen villages. I got off the bus at the cross roads in Harlaxton. I felt that the  journey had been long and tedious but interesting at the same time as I watched and listened to the people on the bus and saw things along the way I would never see while driving a car.

I had the usual 5 minute faff of getting myself organised, GPS on, map out, hat on, camera ready, rucksack on and comfortable, all done on the side of a main road with cars zipping past and a bunch of Council workmen doing a repair seventy metres away, instead of behind the boot of a car. Then having got myself orientated I strode off about twenty metres the wrong way, before tentatively headed off in the right direction.

Harlaxton Manor

Crossing the first field I was surprised to see what looked to be a splendid stately pile sitting above a shallow valley with a wooded hillside as a backdrop, and gate houses and parkland in the foreground. I immediately racked my brains for stately homes in the area, with Belvoir and Belton the only contenders it wasn’t Belvoir Castle and Belton House was to the north of Grantham. The map showed it as Harlaxton Manor, which the internet now tells me was built in the 1830’s and is an American owned and run College. See Manor 

Grantham Canal

2 Miles from Grantham

Moving on I was soon on the Grantham Canal towpath, as I walked I realised that this part of the walk was a journey along the canal which had been used by bargees, their families and horses for a hundred years or more. The Grantham Canal had been a vital link between the coalfields of Nottingham and the farmlands of Lincolnshire. The canal opened in 1797 to move of coal from Nottingham to Grantham and the towns and villages beyond. In return the barges brought much needed food, sheep, pigs, cattle, vegetables and building materials to Nottingham. Movement of material by canal was quicker, cheaper and in much greater quantity than had been ever been possible by road. This process continued until the late 1800’s, although from about 1830 the railways gradually took over much of the trade. See Canal

Bridge 62

Swans

Walking along the towpath was very pleasant and quiet, even though it was well used by cyclists, walkers, including two small groups of ladies and a couple of fishermen, unfortunately in many places sight of the water was limited by the height and density of the waterside vegetation. Walking the canal gives an insight to the countryside, its history and how it has developed. The canal is also a wildlife habitat and corridor. I have little knowledge of flora or fauna but what I see as I walk I enjoy.

As an engineer I am always attracted by industrial remains and the second part of the walk is another journey with probable industrial and agricultural links to the canal but possibly also much older.

Shortly after crossing the canal and heading south along the Viking Way the track passes through the remnants of an embankment and bridge. The map shows a network to lines leading to the bridge site from the south, while a short distance east near the Rutland Arms there’s bridge over the canal and what could be sidings along the side of it. I guess that this may well have been a track-way or even a small/light railway network taking stone and timber from quarries and woodland down to the canal for shipping to Nottingham or Grantham and beyond. The OS Map shows a number of quarries, open workings and sawmills in the vicinity of the interconnected tracks.

However, having walked from the canal, past Brewer’s Grave, which I could not find, and up to the A607  I am fairly sure that from its route, appearance and feel that this part of the Viking Way is probably a much older route, possibly a drove way or similar. Looking at the wider map it certainly appears to extend over many miles beyond this section.

Trapped Rabbit

As I walked up towards Brewers Grave I found a small rabbit with its foot caught in what I assumed was a snare. When I got closer to it I could see that it had a bunch of tough grass stems twisted around its leg, it was squealing and thrashing but I managed to hold it and break most of the stems off, it didn’t try to bite me, but as soon as it could it ran.

On the section from the Denton - Harston Road towards Big Wood there were several  sweet Chestnut trees all with these long yellow catkins sprouting all over them. When I took photograph below the noise from the bees etc. in the ‘flowers’ was so noisy and intense I could feel the buzz, it was weird and I was glad to move away. Then I came upon a section of track that could almost be called cobbled, but I think the stones were too small, I’ve not seen any paving quite like it before. Further up the hill the track was paved in smashed up old concrete and tarmac (demolished airfield?)

Sweet Chestnut Flowers

'Cobbled' Track

I expected this walk to be a fairly bland training walk and it turned out to be more interesting than expected. At only 8.5m miles it was completed in exactly 3 hours including stops and photographs. I reached Croxton Kerrial along the A607, not quite as hairy as anticipated, in time to eat my lunch and catch the next bus home.

Belvoir Castle from A607

If anyone can shed any light on the history of rail/tracks down to the canal, the Viking Way, or the cobbles please leave a note in comments. Ta.

Rutland Water, Whitwell, Exton and Empingham

Date : 18 September 2011
Area : Rutland

Walk : Whitwell, Exton Empingham , Rutland Water

Start At : Car Park South of Whitwell

End At : Return to start

OS Sheet : Explorer 234

Start Grid : SK 9234 0830

End Grid :

Distance (M/k) : 10m / 16k

Ascent (ft) : 633

Descent (ft) : 633

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.
From the car park return to Whitwell, at the main road turn right to the Viking Way sign before the pub. Follow the Way signs north passing through Exton to Grid 9299 1290, take path east. In Osprey Wood cross the embankment take the path on right down steps follow past Fort Henry Lake to Horn Mill. Go downhill to a path on the right to Empingham. Where the paths cross on the hedge line turn left to Loves Lane, then right to the Village. At the A606 cross straight over into a small lane to a path on the right across fields to Rutland Water and along the perimeter path back to the car park.


Journey
As we drove towards Oakham and Rutland Water, the sky was overcast and the wipers were wiping intermittently, by the time we got to Whitwell it was dry and the sky to the south and east was clearing.


The Anglian Water car park at Whitwell costs £3 a day to park which is not bad considering the facilities available, toilets, café, cycle hire, adventure park and an outdoors shop.


The first section of the walk was along part of the Viking Way, a long distance walk between Oakham and the Humber Bridge (143miles).


Leaving the car park to walk up the hill into Whitwell we noted that there was a distinct autumnal feel/smell to the air. The path from Whitwell to the village of Exton starts along the drive way to the car park behind The Noel Pub,  keep to the left hand side to the top then over the stile and into the fields beyond.

This is a wide open farming countryside with attractive views over field to woodlands with the occasional house, barn or church spire in the distance. The path was a wide well mown field margin leading the way gently uphill, past hedgerows full of red and fat black berries. We gradually reached the crest of the ridge and descended into the village of Exton. In the short time since we left the car the air temperature had risen from 18 to 23 C.

Exton is a village of two halves the lower side is more modern housing while higher up the hill, neared the Hall, the houses are much older, more picturesque with plenty of stone and thatched cottages.

Passing by Pudding Bag Lane we continued up the Viking Way on Exton Estate roads, as we walked we were amused by a number of variously worded signs, set just off the path, all warning of great dangers if we dared to step off the right of way.

Later we passed a field full of cows and youngish calves, with a Danger Bull sign pinned to the stile on the far side of the field only, which is worrying. Thankfully we did not see a bull in the field.

North of Tunneley Wood we walked down into and up the far side of a large trough nearly 2k long, perhaps 300m wide and 25m deep. We turned east walking along its north side, where we stopped for lunch. I assumed that this feature was not natural and thought it possibly an old ornamental lake or river.

Back home, on the internet, I found out that it was the remains of an ironstone quarry and/or was the route of a railway line that ran clockwise right around  Exton Park and village, serving several ironstone quarries before heading off to Cottesmore (see Ironstone Tramways ) This perhaps explains some of the warning signs earlier in the walk as the map shows disused workings in that direction.

Nevertheless, the quarry and railway are gone and the remains have merged into the agricultural landscape with little sign of what was here only fifty years ago. We will have to come back and walk over several of the footpaths in the area one of which is marked on the OS Map as passing across one of the disused workings.

Turning south down some steep rough steps we walked into another world, a long tree lined ‘river’ valley that was enchanting to wander through, so peaceful and quiet. We stopped several times to listen, other than an insect buzzing or bird song it was silent. Surprisingly this was also on the line of the quarry railway.

Fort Henry Lake was stunning in the sunshine, the autumn colours starting to appear, the swans and cygnets on the lake, the last of the water lilies and Fort Henry.

Fort Henry is an 18th century folly, The estate website says of it: “The interior boasts the most elaborate plaster work and is a dreamlike setting for a summer lunch, dinner party or photo shoot, with only the swans to watch in this tranquil setting”. (See Exton Estate)

We wandered over the medieval village of Horn, which showed up quite well, and the lovely walk continued down the valley to the Trout Hatchery at Horn Mill where we watched the trout jumping and the spinning paddles aerating the water. The air temperature was now 29 C.

As we headed for Empingham, climbing steadily we met the conundrum of a ploughed field with no way marker in sight and no footprints to show the route, so we took the field edge option. Setting off anti clockwise we ended up walking three sides of the field. The next field was also ploughed, this time I checked the map.

In Empingham we wandered around looking for a shop, anything selling ice cream, without luck, the pub was packed, so we pressed on to Rutland Water and had a nice big 99 cone in the shop/cafe at the car park at the Butterfly Centre.

This was one on of the most satisfying walks we’ve done in some time, it was a journey, it was interesting, it was warm and sunny, which does make a big difference, we both enjoyed it. It rained all the way home.