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One of my favourite places for a walk is the sleepy village of Winwick, in West Northamptonshire. I'm in the company of an old friend of 50 years standing today. Also coming along is 'Archie' a four legged friend who I'm looking after today. The plan today was to leave the village and join the canal towpath heading north. Things didn't quite work out as planned though. We had no problem getting canalside. Unfortunately we were so busy chatting we didn't pay too much attention to the direction we were heading. It was only when we saw signs for 'Yelvertoft Marina' that the penny dropped...It was going to be a longer walk than first anticipated. I very much believe in following the path that feels right. Quite often I do end up getting temporarily lost on occasions. A quick look at the O/S and a new route was plotted.
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| Grand Union Canal |
A mother Duck (Hen) sits proudly protecting a brood or raft of young Ducklings.
Even then things were far from straightforward. Actually finding the village of Yelvertoft proved something of a challenge. My idea of leaving the canal and going across the fields wasn't the best. The field was actually a marsh and very soggy underfoot. Not to mention getting stung and bitten into the bargain. Yelvertoft we did make though! we crossed the High Street, which follows the course of an ancient Portway known as Salters Way.Following the lane next to the local pub we picked up the footpath that would take us to our original destination of 'Elkington'. This proved far from straight forward as half way across I realised I had lost my drinks bottle. As it was newly acquired , a gift from Mrs A to encourage me to drink more fluids, I felt duty bound to track it down. After retracing our steps 'said bottle' was found. It was then I realised I had a hole in my rucksack when it fell out again...
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| Views from Honey Hill |
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The walking gets progressively harder as we begin the ascent of Honey Hill. There are great views from the top and on a clear day you can see 5 counties. We are on The Jurassic Way, we pass the standing stone that commemorates the long distance path. The 88 mile path was opened in September 1994.
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| The First UK 'Trig Pillar' |
On reaching the top we are in search of even greater 'treasure.' We head along the road to Cold Ashby to try and find the first ever Trig Pillar/Point created in the UK.According to the map it is just off the road. A bit of research tells us it is now on private land. A short detour and we strike gold! In all fairness we did ring the mobile number on the gate of a drive leading to a farm. As there was no rely we proceeded with caution. about 20 yard in on the left hand side we spotted it. We didn't hang about though, farmers tend to have big dogs , and guns..It was first used on 18th April 1936. The start of the "re-triangulation of Great Britain More than 6,500 trig pillars were built across the country and used for the re-triangulation between April 18, 1936, and June 4, 1962, when the trig pillar at Thorney Gale, Westmorland, was used for the final calculation. A mathematical process that makes accurate map-making possible. It works by determining the location of a point by measuring angles to it from known points at either end of a fixed baseline and, in this case, 6,500 trig pillars.
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| Cold Ashby Golf Club on our left |
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We enjoy one final view of the spectacular scenery from the top of Honey Hill. A sign tells us that 39 wine turbines are visible. We male our way back on the other side of The Jurassic Way with Cold Ashby Golf Course on our left and in the distance. The Farmer has made a real effort in keeping the footpath clear and obvious.
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It is a case then of following other well marked tracks back to the village of Winwick. There is a lovely pond and picnic area where we parked up. Great to see Mark again and look forward to getting out again soon.
In total 12.17 miles walked. 27524 Steps.
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