On a bright sunny winters day four of us undertaking the longer walk set of from Duck Street at 9.30am. We were followed by six of us, doing the shorter walk leaving at 10.15am. The journey to Chelwelton takes at least ¾hr from Rushden and the group which left 1st immediately hit a problem with the A45 being closed to west bound traffic. We where diverted off and had to go through Earls Barton to rejoin the route. This added on 30min to the journey. At least we could warn the 2nd group who travelled via Wollaston and then the A428 to Northampton – The group doing the longer walk parked on a very wet and muddy grass verge and set off by the old Central Railway line which soon came to Catesby Tunnel which has been converted into an aerodynamics testing facility specifically for Formula1 cars (although looked unused now). Continuing on we passed Arbury Hill which is the highest point in Northamptonshire (738ft) and is where the rivers Nene, Cherwell (tributary of the Thames) and Leam (tributary of the Severn) rise. Walking on to Upper Catesby which is linked to Robert Catesby the leader of the gunpowder plot. The village, divided into Upper and Lower Catesby, is historically linked to his family they held most of the land in the region. Passing by Catesby House and its very ornate stables we walked up the hill into Hellidon. In the meantime, the group doing the shorter walk had taken a similar route passing the aerodynamics testing facility. Their route cross over the tunnel by an airshaft went on to Stockwell Lane which led them to the The Red Lion pub in Hellidon for lunch. Here they waited for the longer walk to join them. Having all met up at the pub and after lunch we all set off over two very tall ladder stiles and made our way towards the striking feature of Charwelton TV mast which is sited on a 722ft hill. Taking our time to climb the hill we were soon rewarded fantastic views over the Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire countryside. We then moved on making our way back to the village of Charwelton and our cars. We all agreed that it had been a lovely day in one of the most picturesque areas of Northamptonshire. The weather had been very kind with sun all day and conditions underfoot although very muddy where passable despite all the rain we had in the days leading up to the walk.

Starting from the Warth Country Park near the Industrial Area in Raunds nine of us met at the car park to walk through the old medieval village of Mallows Cotton and on to the disused railway line at Ringstead to lead us back to Raunds via Hogs Dyke. The messages went out that its was likely to be very wet and that wellingtons would be best to walk in. However, the both paths from Stanwick Lakes were flooded and impassable. In the end, we had to retrace our steps which made the walk approximately 6 miles. At least it was a dry day and not too cold for this time of the year.
 

Eleven of us met at Woodlands Country Park in Brickhill, Bedford on a very dank, misty, damp day with a light drizzle which was forecast to be heavier later in the day. Leaving the football pitches with multiple games going on we walked through the Country Park out into the open countryside with what would have been wide expansive views on a clearer day. We soon got into a rhythm of walking on very wet and muddy bridlepaths and made our way to a convenient log where we stopped for a coffee break. Following our break, we walked on to the site of RAF Twinwood Farm which opened in mid-1941 when the RAF began to use the grassed field. By April 1942 it had three concrete runways and additional temporary buildings. From then until the end of the war the airfield was used as a training base. In 1944 the airfield was transferred to the U.S. Eighth Air Force and operated in conjunction with the nearby RAF Thurleigh. This gives the link with Glen Miller and the Army Air Forces Band (Special) which was based around Bedford and which there is a museum dedicated to Glen Miller at Twinwoods. Passing by the modern-day pig farm and Biogen plant we made our way to what was the war time access road which now is used to gain access to Yarls Wood Detention Centre and Industrial Estate. We soon made our way on the road down into Clapham and our lunch stop at the Fox & Hounds Pub. Conveniently the forecast heavy rain came down while we had our lunch under cover in the pub garden. After lunch and as the rain eased, we made our way through Clapham to negotiate glutinous mud to get to Clapham Green and then on dryer roads and paths to Clapham Park. On through more mud in Clapham Park Wood back to the country park and the end of the walk. We all agreed it had been a great walk. Many thanks to Jay & Andy who led the walk.

Twelve of us met up in the Higham Ferrers Market Square for a pre-Christmas Lunch Walk around Higham. We set off by walking along Midland Road to visit the 3 plaques located there. On reaching Kimbolton Road we turned left and walked to the roundabout and then made our way through Windmill Banks and York Close to York Road. Crossing over into King Meadow Lane we walked to Saffron Road. Here we turned left and walked to the Cemetery and Cemetery Road on the left. Turning right into College Street we walked past Chichele College and into the gardens. We then made our way back towards the Market Square passing the Green Dragon on the way. On reaching the square we made our way to St Marys Church for a very interesting visit. We then made our way to the Carriage House for a well-earned Christmas Lunch.

Meeting opposite the old Red Lion which is now an Indian Restaurant called Mooche Wala eleven of us set off up the short steep footpath to the doctor’s surgery and village hall. At the top of the hill, we took a footpath which led us out into open countryside. We soon dropped down to Denton Brook which we walked alongside for a few metres until we came to a bridge. Crossing over we began to climb again across some very muddy fields. Passing Castle Ashby Lodge on our right we soon made our way into the picturesque estate hamlet of Chadstone. On reaching a road we turned left to drop downhill to Denton Brook on which there are a series of manmade ponds. These are called Paradise Ponds, and are an elaborate arrangement of ponds and water-courses, probably constructed in the 18th or early 19th century (and existing in their present form in 1840) but which may have originated as medieval fishponds. Chadstone appears in the Domesday Book when it had a total population of 14 people. Moving on we followed the access road to Chadstone Lodge. Here the bridleway led us through some trees to a minor road. Turning left we walked along the road to a footpath on the left. Taking this we followed the access road to Whiston Slade. Tracing our way round the farm we then headed back across more very muddy fields to arrive back at Denton. Fortunately, the walk was done with no rain with some lovely views across the fields.  It was a bit hard going because our footwear got clogged up and heavy but it was well worth doing.