Stamford to Oakham

After a walk along the Hereward Way that had been so much interrupted by inclement weather, it was fitting that on this, the final leg, we definitely beat the weather! The forecast was for mist early in the morning, then sunshine, then an increasing probability of rain as the afternoon progressed. We got up early, drove through mist on the way to Oakham (where we parked at the station, had a look around, then caught the 8.45 train back to Stamford) then walked in sunshine turning to cloud and a hint of drizzle, before it tipped it down when we were in a cafe celebrating the end of the Hereward Way, back in Oakham around 4.30pm.

We didn't have to go into the centre of Stamford of the start of the walk - the path doesn't which is a shame (though I expect they knew everyone would) - but we walked around for a bit, taking more photographs of the attractive churches and mellow limestone buildings. We meandered our way back to The (Water) Meadows, delightful this morning, but in writing up today's walk I discovered that the Stamford Meadows were seriously flooded in November, whilst we were walking the earlier stages of the Hereward Way - a salutary reminder of the need to be conscious of the weather when planning walks. We crossed the Meadows, where Stamford Boot Camp was taking place, with lots of dog walkers for company as we left the town on a path between two braids of the River Welland. Our path was shared with the Jurassic Way and the Macmillan Way (both better signposted than the Hereward Way).

We crossed one of the braids of the River Welland, passed underneath the A1 and crossed the railway line. We climbed on a clear path across agricultural land and through woodland, realising from the Jurassic Way signs that we were in Northamptonshire. We reached the delightful village of Easton on the Hill, with more attractive limestone buildings and definitely on a hill. We left Easton on the Hill on Ketton Drift (a broad track) then descended again, with views to Collyweston Church. I mention this because Collyweston gives its name to 'Collyweston Stone Slate', a local roofing material (actually limestone not slate...). In the opposite direction there were good views down to Ketton and to Ketton Cement Works. Our path was generally good, though on one occasion we crossed a recently ploughed field which was heavy going.

We descended to a road, crossed the River Welland...and we were in Rutland. We reached the village of Ketton (shown as Geeston on the map, but Geeston is now a part of Ketton). The Jurassic Way turned left at this point whilst we turned right, then left onto a passageway leading to a bridge over the railway. We passed one Hereward Way sign which gave us a false sense of security - we had some navigational difficulties from this point. There were 'Rutland Round' signs, but we didn't know whether to follow them or not - there are at least two routes through the village marked with diamonds on the map (indicating long distance footpaths) and it was not clear which we should follow. We chose to go past an old bridge and the magnificant Church of St Mary the Virgin, then along the main road.

The track went over a bridge through the middle of the quarry workings and then climbed, with the Rutland Round signposted to the right at a fork whilst the Macmillan Way was signposted to the left. And the Hereward Way? - who knows! We knew we had been diverted away from the route shown on the map, and were anxious that the Rutland Round might take us too far east, so we followed the Macmillan Way route. We soon rejoined the Rutland Round, but we didn't have a clue where we were and we began to get quite anxious. What a day to come out without either GPS or iPad. We followed a path signed 'Rutland Round' off to the right, but when it turned right again we were sure it would take us way too far east, so we retraced our steps and continued along the (unmarked) track. This too turned to the right, just yards from the path...Suddenly footpath signs reappeared and we followed these, bearing left and eventually finding our position on the map again, at SK 965060. It appears that the path through the quarry is further to the west than shown on OS Explorer Sheet 234 (copyright 2011) so heading to the east around the northern edge of the quarry is quite OK. Phew!

Now we'd found where we were progress was rapid. We walked across farmland to a road north of Woodside Farm (at SK 957070) - where, out of the blue, there was an old-style 'Fen Tigers' Hereward Way sign. We immediately left the road again, on a track to the main A606. We crossed this and continued on a field edge towards Empingham, stopping for lunch halfway down the slope. The route to Empingham meandered a bit, but it was reasonably signposted. However once we were in the village, we made the mistake of assuming that there would be a way out at the end of a modern housing estate, and had to retrace our steps in order to follow the road exit from the estate. We passed the Church and the Village sign and walked a short distance along the main road. We'd have walked a shorter distance along the main road if we'd had the confidence to take the first turning on the left ('Nook Lane') despite the 'no access to Rutland Water' sign. We ended up approaching Nook Lane from the other end and once on it, the cut-through down to Rutland Water became obvious. We followed the signs all the way down to the reservoir, noticing that there were a large number of the cyclists cycling across the dam.

There were a few spots of rain as we reached Rutland Water but it didn't come to anything. We visited the Visitor Centre and had a cup of tea at the Crafty Fox Kiosk at Sykes Lane, then admired 'The Great Tower' by Alexander and set off to walk along the northern shore of the reservoir. I can't say I enjoyed it much. Maybe it would have felt better if the sun was shining, but we were mostly on a tarmacked path (it was MUCH better when it wasn't) alongside a reservoir that was formed in the 1970s by the drowning of a valley including most of the village of Normanton. Before I complain too much, perhaps I should be more careful about my use of water - and at least Normanton Church survives, now deconsecrated and a wedding venue. It looks a pretty and atmospheric place.

We walked along past the harbour at Whitwell and Barnsdale Woods - Geoff Hamilton's Barnsdale Gardens are nearby. The Hambleton Peninsula was visible in the middle of the reservoir and this section of the walk alongside the reservoir was the most pleasant - there were fewer people and we got away from the tarmaced path. However I wasn't greatly impressed by the lodges at the Barnsdale Hall Hotel - they looked very close together, just not my thing. The path veered away from the reservoir and was soon running alongside the A606. In its favour, there was a path and there was also a large verge between us and the road. However it was still tarmacked and there were still too many cyclists (including a rather irritating child who appeared to be out by himself) - and it went on and on and on.