Northern Extension: To Sharpenhoe Clappers from Barton-le-Clay
Walked by Sally and Richard, Sunday 10th November 2019
3.5 miles of walking (One and three-quarter hours), just over three miles on the route of the Chiltern Way (Northern Extension)
For photographs of this walk click here
We'd reached a period of a few weeks where it was difficult to see how we'd get the opportunity to get out walking, and the shortening hours of daylight and likelihood of inclement weather meant that some days when we might have time would prove to be impractical. So the prospect of a lovely autumnal day today, after yet more rain, meant that we were keen to get out for a walk, even though we only had a few hours to spare.
The weather forecast had actually been better for Norfolk than Bedfordshire, so we were pleased to find that the sun was still shining when we got to the Sharpenhoe Clappers car park (TL065296) at about 10.20 am. As I pulled into the car park there were only a couple of spaces free, so I was relieved to be able to park. I later realised that it a popular dog-walking spot and most people don't stay very long, so if you arrive and there isn't a space, one will probably become free in a little while. Richard arrived just slightly after me (though our identical Maps Apps on identical phones had sent us different ways from the A6 - I came via Barton-le-Clay and Sharpenhoe whilst Richard came via Streatley) and we drove together back to Barton-le-Clay where we parked in the same little car park outside Ramsey Manor Lower School (TL086308) that we had used when walking the John Bunyan Trail. We decided to walk slightly further to the south than necessary, so as to join the path by Barton-le-Clay's attractive Church. The next leg climbs from here onto the Barton Hills (as we did on the John Bunyan Trail) but for today we cut across to and then across a muddy playing field.
It was Remembrance Sunday; as I'd driven through Barton-le-Clay the first time I had past a scout (indicating that we might expect a remembrance event somewhere in the village) and as we drove through the second time, there were people making their way towards the war memorial close to the junction of Hexton Road and Luton Road. By the time we passed the same place on foot, just before 11am, there was quite a crowd. We continued down Luton Road and then turned left onto Mill Road, which led to a passageway which eventually took us to the A6, which by-passes the village. We crossed the road and took a path on the other side which brought us to the Olde Watermill Shopping Village (ah, so that explains the "Mill Road"), described on its website as "Bedfordshire's best-kept secret", but currently featuring a "Christmas Barn" and with a pretty full car park this morning. We crossed the car park and were soon walking steadily towards the west, initially on field edges and then between two hedges. The Chiltern Escarpment, including the Sharpenhoe Clappers to our left (rather irritatingly for photography, the Sun was in the same direction) and the ridge around Pulloxhill was to our right, with the water tower that we walked past on the John Bunyan Trail being the notable landmark.
We turned left onto a track, along which we had walked in the opposite direction whilst walking the John Bunyan Way on 17th September 2017. We meandered our way around the buildings of Bury Farm and out into the village of Sharpenhoe, with the tree-topped Iron Age promontory fort of the Clappers just behind. We turned left onto the road through the village then right onto a footpath. Initially the climb was gentle, across a rather damp field, but then we reached the flight of steps leading up to the woodland. We were just behind a group of walkers who had emerged from another footpath to our right, so we let them get ahead before starting the climb. It was quite a steep climb, but not too challenging and excellent views opened up behind us. When we reached the top we spent a little while wandering around the woodland taking photographs.
There are several routes from here to the car park and we took the lower one, which was rather muddy and busy, but no-one was sitting on the bench which commemorates Gordon Edwards, the founder of the John Bunyan Trail. We stopped for lunch here, admiring the glorious views back to the autumn colours on Sharpenhoe Clappers. When we were here on the main route of the Chiltern Way in August there had been lots of butterfly-spotters here! We rescued the other car and drove on to Milton Keynes.
