Stamford to Collyweston Bridge and return

Just less than a week since our first walk on the Jurassic Way, at its south-western end,  the opportunity arose for us to return to the path, though since we were driving from Norfolk and returning there, it was appropriate on this occasion to walk from the north-eastern (i.e Stamford) end.  We had a good journey via Peterborough and the A1 to Stamford and parked in the Cattle Market long stay car park (£5 for over 4 hours), which Google confusingly describes as the Wothorpe Road car park). It's a large car park and there was plenty of space. We decided to leave our exploration of the town until after our walk, and we set off around 9:50.

We've actually walked the whole of this route before, as part of our walk from Stamford to Oakham on the Hereward Way. It was again a very enjoyable walk on a  lovely sunny day. though we'd had a lot of rain (and more came the following day) so it was sometimes rather muddy; and there were also some slippery  bits because of ice, including as we crossed over the River Welland to the start of the Jurassic Way on The Meadows. From the "Jurassic Way: a walk through Northamptonshire" book, I'd expected a marker of some start to indicate the start of the walk, but there isn't - and that  is not actually quite what what the book says. There is a stone marker indicating Vence Way (not Venice Way, which is what the book says) and from here we headed diagonally across The Meadows, with lots of dog walkers for company.

As we crossed The Meadows, there were attractive views back to the Stamford skyline, and after following close to some of its meanders (including, apparently the site of the original river crossing), we eventually crossed the River Welland. At long last, we started to encounter Jurassic Way signs and, after veering away from the river, it wasn't that far to the tunnel under the A1. On the other side we just had to cross one field to cross the final spur of the river and a railway, but it was an extremely muddy field. Unfortunately, the mud on our boots made the bridge across the river slippery and I was then nervous that I might slip over on the railway crossing. 

Safely over the river and railway, there was a bit more mud. and we were overtaken by a pleasant young dog walker, who was going quite a lot faster than us. We climbed up through a lovely woodland bank, and before long we reached the edge of the village of Easton on the Hill. The first building we passed in the village was the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), which seemed a bit bizarre in this location; they have thoughtfully provided a little picnic area for walkers. Opposite CIPS was the attractive All Saints Church, complete with gargoyles. We didn't go inside; we decided that with all the mud on our boots we'd make too much of a mess!

We had only intended to walk as far as Easton on the Hill , but we now decided that this would be rather a short walk, and we wanted to go further. We continued through the beautiful old part of the village, then turned right past newer houses. We continued onto the track of Ketton Drift and left the village; some distance later we passed Easton's playing field. The Ketton Cement Works were clearly visible to our right; the works are not pretty but  this didn't bother us as much as it appears to bother Julia Thorley, author of "Jurassic Way: a walk through Northamptonshire".  Limestone, quarries and cement works just seem to go together. 

We reached the brow of the hill and from here the land in front of us fell away, back down to the River Welland and the villages of Geeston and Ketton beyond. There was a track heading straight ahead down the hill, but that wasn't our route; after passing around the end of a couple hedges, we took a path diagnonally across a field. It was initially easy walking, with nice views ahead of us (as shown), but as we descended down towards the road, the ground again became rather muddy.

We emerged onto a road and I was so busy attempting to remove mud from my boots that it took me a while to realise that Richard was pointing out a lay-by (at SK992036), a suitable place for us to park next time we're here and thus a suitable place to end today's walk. We went just slightly further, crossing the river at Collyweston Bridge and reaching a sign that indicated that we'd reached the county of Rutland. We'd actually walked all of today's leg before, when on the Hereward Way in April 2013 (the two routes part company just slightly further on) and I have a clear memory of walking past that Rutland sign on that occasion; then we wondered if Rutland was still a "real" county, now we know it is a ceremonial county - and a lovely county at that (we have friends who have recently moved to Oakham). 

Returning to today, we spent some time watching a cygnet on the point of becoming a swan on the River Welland beneath Collyweston Bridge. Then we walked back to Stamford, avoiding the muddy field close to Collyweston Bridge by instead following a track straight up the hedge boundary and then turning right onto the continuation of Ketton Drift. We stopped for lunch at the playing field in Easton, where there was a convenient bench.  We could have completely avoided the other field we knew to muddy by heading to the Priest's House in Easton and continuing straight ahead on a track from there, which would have brought us River Welland to the west of the A1;  we'd then have  needed to follow a path alongside the river to rejoin our outward route. However, on the basis that this route might have been even worse, we stuck with the path we knew, and managed to avoid the mud just by walking around the edge of the offending field.

We returned to our car to change out of our muddy boots, amazed to discover that the large car park was now full, and I'm sure we irritated several drivers who saw us by the car and thought we were leaving. We weren't! We headed into the centre of Stamford by way of the Town Bridge, intending to explore the town a little (we've visited a couple of times before, but don't know it well) and to get a cup of tea. Sir Walter Scott claimed that Stamford was “the finest sight on the road between Edinburgh and London” and the historian WG Hoskins said “If there is a more beautiful town in the whole of England, I have yet to see it”.  It is undoubtedly a pretty place, but it was absolutely heaving with people, and the tea shops all looked pretty busy. It was too busy for us; we gave up and returned to the car, where we no doubt irritated more arriving drivers by sitting to eat some fruit before setting off for a good drive home.