Against our better judgement we have ventured out on a particularly grim day. A steady drizzle greets us as we set off towards the village of Cranfield in Bedfordshire. On arrival the rain has worsened and is now blustery. Undeterred we set off in an anti-clockwise direction from close to the church of St Peter and St Paul. The area is best know for being the home of Cranfield University and Cranfield Airport (Airfield). The airport has a long history of aviation. The airport was formerly opened on 1st June 1937. It was initially the base for 62 Squadron RAF and 82 Squadron RAF NO. 1 (Bomber) Group. It was used after the war by the College of Aeronautics, which has now become Cranfield University. Moving on we pass a couple of houses already decked out for Christmas.A bit early if you were to ask me!
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| Early Christmas decs |
We move out into open country on the Bunyan Trail, getting a soaking into the bargain. In the distance through the mist is the Brogborough Landfill site. It has all been filled in now and covered over with grass. There will be more of that later as we get closer. For now it is a matter of trying to keep the driving rain off and keeping going. It isn't easy as we are very exposed and there is little cover. We pass Holcot Woods and Reynolds Wood. We keep going until we reach a busy stretch of road which we have to cross. Once over the other side we join up with the Clay Way. an 11.5 mile linear walk which stretches the length of the
Forest of Marston Vale taking in spectacular views of the Vale,
Greensand Ridge and other parts of Bedfordshire. The route mainly follows public bridleways and passes through the villages of Bromharn and Cranfield.
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The weather shows no sign of improving, we are pretty much saturated. Leaving the safety of the path we have to negotiate a stretch alongside the main road. This would have to be the low point of the walk so far. Over to our right is a disused gravel pit that is now full of water and a home for nature. I saw a very nice Whinchat perched on a fence top. Over to our left we are looking for a footpath that will take us back to the other side of the road. Unfortunately the footpath seems to have been blocked off and is slightly overgrown. Not to worry though there is another path a bit further ahead. However that is completely covered in brambles and impassable. We back track and tackle the first.option. Picking up a few scratches and splinters into the bargain. Get through we did though, thankfully getting out the other end was slightly easier.
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Gravel Pit
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We emerge close to the site of the Brogborough Power Station. Brogborough is a 30MW station fed by waste gas from a landfill site. From a distance you could be forgiven for thinking you were looking at a Golf Course with sprawling fairways. If you look more closely there are numerous outlet points and pipes. The station is managed for electricity production from the waste gases passing along these pipes. The site was previously used for landfill, mainly from London I believe. At the height of dumping there would be 40 trucks a day coming up from the capital to deposit their waste. It is a complicated process to cover the waste matter into re-usable power. I won't try and explain any further. At least the area is nice and green! We climb to a very wooded area called 'Marston Thrift'. A 92 acre biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. The site is ash and maple woodland on heavy clay, a habitat which has
become scarce in lowland England. It also has areas of damp grassland,
and a grassland valley. It is an important site for butterflies,
including the rare 'Black Hairstreak'.
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Despite the weather there are some nice views from our elevated position. We carry on past 'Rectory Woods'. back in the direction of Cranfield. We emerge close to the Church of St Peter & St Paul Cranfield.
In the graveyard is the grave of Captain William.Soldier, Civil Servant, Farmer and Politician who rose to the rank of Captain in the Royal Horse Artillery. He went on to fight in the Battle of Copenhagen in the Iberian Peninsula, and at Waterloo. In 1840 after retirement he and his family immigrated to Prince Edward Island Canada. There is also the grave of George Washington’s (the first president of
the USA) niece and a number of war graves form both World Wars.
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War Graves
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