To Fineshade Wood from Barrowden and return

Last weekend the temperature was hovering just above freezing; today it reached 14 degrees Celsius. The change to warmer temperatures had also brought unsettled weather, and rain was forecast for tomorrow. However, today looked as if it should be a good day for walking. It was overcast this morning, but the sun came out around midday and it felt positively springlike, a "good to be alive" sort of day. There were some good displays of snowdrops. The walk was a but muddy in places, and it was so warm that I kept removing layers of clothes, but we very much enjoyed it.

Rather than starting from Fineshade Visitor Centre, where we'd reached last time we were here, we instead drove to Barrowden, back in Rutland and our intended furthest point for today. OK, this was partly because we're mean; why pay £9 to park at Fineshade when you can park for free in Barrowden (on this occasion on Back Lane, by the Wakerley and Barrowden Cricket Club, at SK948004) but it also meant that we could break the walk up nicely with a coffee break at Grounds Café at Fineshade between our outward and return walk. We set off walking about 9.35 am, saying "hello" to a few of Barrowden's residents as we left the village and passing their Community Shop and the new "Community Hub". It seems a friendly place.

There's a choice of route between Barrowden and Wakerley and on our outward walk we followed something approximating to the Rutland Round, crossing the River Welland (into Northamptonshire) at Wakerley Bridge, with the former Wakerley and Barrowden Station building beyond, and Wakerley Church  beyond that. We joined the Jurassic Way just before the climb up to the church and followed it to Fineshade Wood, getting there more quickly than I'd expected, despite being slowed down by the mud in a couple of places. Grounds Cafe was not too busy when we reached the Fineshade Wood Visitor Centre, but it got busier as we drank our coffee, in particular with a group of 6-8 male cyclists, who all ordered their drinks separately.   

I'll describe our return walk in more detail. From the Visitor Centre, we turned right along the vehicular access road, where there was a steady stream of cars arriving and leaving. It's a busy place. Our path soon headed off to the left, crossing an undulating field to an area of woodland (Mill Wood) beyond.  There was a stunning display of snowdrops within Mill Wood; that's where the photo at the top of the page was taken. and the picture to the right/below shows Richard walking through the wood.

Out the other side of the wood, we emerged onto the site of St Mary's Priory/Fineshade Abbey. I'm not sure that my understanding of what has been here, and when is correct, but the "Friends of Fineshade" website tells that it started with Castle Hymel Castle which was built in the 12th Century, but demolished around 1200. An Augustinian Priory dedicated to St Mary was then built to the north east of the castle site, and this survived to the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid 16th Century, at which point Finshade Abbey became a private house, which was rebuilt in Georgian times. The Stable Block of the Georgian house remains and is shown in the photo, but the house itself was demolished in 1955. So far as I can see, the big house on the other side of a lake is not directly related to to grand house, but behind the stable block there is what looks like a rather nice new build, in local stone and a style that complements the stable block.

We crossed open land near the sites of these various buildings, then a narrow path between fences took us around the perimeter of the stable block.  Narrow paths often get muddy at this time of year, and there was a particularly difficult bit to negotiate either side of a gate. Leaving the buildings behind, we crossed more open countryside, descending to a waterway (which I'd suspect was associated with the former abbey) then climbing gently to the A43; note that the photo was taken earlier, when we were walking in the opposite direction.

On the other side of the road sit Laxton Lodge Gates, once the entrance to Laxton Hall. The path doesn't actually go through the gates and indeed there no longer seems to be an approach road from here to Laxton Hall which, after turning right towards Wakerley Wood and climbing, we could see in the distance. Laxton Hall is now a residential care home, run by the Polish Sisters of Mary Immaculate for residents who must have been living in the UK but have Polish as their first language.  It sounds bizarre, but from their website it looks like a lovely, caring community.

At the top of the hill we'd been climbing, we reached woodland. Having walked the route in the other direction, we were not looking forward to the next bit. On the outward leg we'd been climbing up on a track betwee Adams Wood and St Mary's Wood and the mud made it distinctly slippery. Now were were descending. As is so often the case, it wasn't anything like as bad as I'd feared it would be. It was only a short section and by walking at the side of the path and proceeding very carefully, we both managed to stay upright! Adams Wood and St Mary's Wood led into Wakerley Great Wood and it was all very pleasant. There were now other people about, mostly dog walkers, but it was nothing like as busy as Fineshade Wood, and the parking here is in attractive areas amongst the trees - and free! 

We stopped for lunch at a conveniently placed picnic table in the wood, then continued along a section that was only muddy because of forestry operations and emerged onto a minor road. A second car park shown on this road doesn't seem to exist any more; instead, there's the entrance to a quarry, but it's not obtrusive. After rounding a corner, we turned left off the road and descended towards Wakerley Church, dedicated to St John the Baptist and now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. We'd thought it was an attractive place as we passed this morning, now the Sun was out it was glorious. You probably won't be able to make it out on the photo, but from our vantage point, we could see both Wakerley Church and, beyond and to the left, Barrowden Church on the other side of a valley.

After a quick look inside the Church, we continued down to the hamlet of Wakeley, soon reaching the point at which we'd joined the Jurassic Way this morning. Now we stayed on the Jurassic Way, continuing on the road through Wakeley, passing some attractive buildings including a grand house with a wonderful display of snowdrops, aconites and crocuses, which I couldn't photograph because the Sun was in an unhelpful direction. We turned onto a track which passed under the disused railway line, then a rather squishy path led us across a field, passing a family group, to a bridge over the river and so back to Rutland and back to Barrowden. Our path took us past the site of the former Barrowden Mill and up to the Main Street.

As we'd left the car this morning we'd heard church bells ringing, so much so that I mistakenly thought it must be a Sunday, with the bells calling the faithful to prayer. Now again, from some distance back from Barrowden, we'd again heard the bells of St Peter's Church ringing out. We suspected that this meant that there was an event of some sort going on at the church, so today was probably not a good day to visit, However, we continued through the pretty village to the duck pond. We sat on a bench by the pond to eat a piece of fruit then we left the route of the Jurassic Way, climbed up Tippings Lane, and so returned to the car. When I started writing up this page of Jordanwalks, I'd thought that the event at the church might be a bellringing festival of some sort, but online searching did not reveal details of any such event. It was only when we visited the church after walking the next leg of the Jurassic Way the following weekend that we realised that there had been a wedding there on the day we'd heard the bells, so perhaps that was a better explanation (oractice in the morning, celebration in the afternoon?).

Following leg