Jurassic Way

I should start by making it clear that the Jurassic Way is not on the Jurassic Coast in Devon and Dorset; it runs across Northamptonshire! All the Jurassic Coast and the Jurassic Way share is their  geology; both are underlain by Jurassic Limestone.   The route's logo, one of the prettiest I've seen for a long distance footpath, is a reminder of this; it shows a brachiopod fossil Sharpirhynchia sharpi (previously known as Kallirhynchia sharpi) which is apparently an index fossil i.e. the organism lived in a specific time-period so can be used to date the rock in which it is found, in this case to  slap bang in the middle of the Jurassic Period, which is defined as running from 201 to 143 million years ago.  Sharpirhynchia sharpi was named after Samuel Sharp, a 19th Century geologist who lived in Northamptonshire. So its a suitable choice of logo all round. 

For all its claim to be a walk across Northamptonshire, the northern part of the Jurassic Way seems to spend a lot of its time in Rutland, and the route starts in Stamford (just over the county border in Lincolnshire) and ends in Banbury (just over the county border in Oxfordshire). Or possibly the other way round! We had intended to walk from Stamford to Banbury, but  our choice of where to walk on any particular occasion was partly determined by whether we are travelling from our house in Norfolk (just over an hour's drive from Stamford) or our flat in MIlton Keynes (something less than an hour's drive from Banbury).  On the murky Sunday in January 2025 when we decided to start the walk, we were unexpectedly in MIlton Keyes, so Banbury it was! Banbury is home of the Banbury Cross and the "fine lady upon a white horse" of nursery rhyme fame. It was also the town where Richard lived from when he was a few months old to when he was 7. The following weekend we were travelling from Norfolk so headed for a walk from Stamford.

In addition to the towns of Stamford and Banbury, the walk passes through picturesque villages, with buildings often constructed of the the local cream-coloured limestone and roofed with either thatch or Collyweston Slate (which isn't actually slate at all, but a type of limestone that can be worked as slate).  Between the villages there's beautiful rolling countryside. We had discovered on previous walks just what an under-rated county Northamptonshire is, and that feeling was reinforced on this walk. 

As usual, we  are using both paper Ordnance Survey maps (we'll need  Explorer sheets 234, 224, 223, 222, 206 and 191 for the whole Jurassic Way) and the OS Maps app on my phone. Over time, we're making more use of the app and less use of the paper maps while out walking, but it is still nice to be able to see the broader context when we're planning. In searching for a guidebook, I stumbled across "Jurassic Way: a walk through Northamptonshire" by Julia Thorley, so I bought a copy. The blurb explicitly says that "This isn't a 'turn left, turn right' guide book. Instead it is a personal exploration of the area...". I enjoyed the personal touch, up to a point,  and the book gave us ideas for things to look out for and useful hints like possible parking places. However, beware: some of the detail is slightly wrong. I suspect that it may have been written a little while after some sections of the path were walked, relying on slightly false memories (as I'm sure I do too in writing up Jordanwalks). 

I'm writing up the Jurassic Way as if walked from the Northern (Stamford) end. At the time of writing (10th August 2025) we have walked from  Stamford to Stoke Albany, plus a couple of short legs at the southern end, taking us from  Chipping Warden to Banbury. 

First leg