To Wardington from Middleton Cheney and return

With one proviso, I very much enjoyed today's walk, back in the delightful undulating  Northamptonshire (and Oxfordshire too today) countryside; the walk described immediately before this one was actually walked the day after we walked this one, so this was our first time in a while towards the southern end of the path.  We were back at the southern end of the Jurassic Way because we were staying for a couple of weeks at our flat in Milton Keynes while our house in Norfolk was rewired. We could have got from  Milton Keynes back to the Gretton area, which is where we'd reached from the north (and is about equidistant from our house and our flat,) but it seemed sensible to take advantage of the circumstances and explore the Banbury area, which isn't so easily accessible from Norfolk.  There were plenty of National Trust and Historic Houses Association properties to visit too! The photo shows Canons Ashby, which we visited after today's walk.

 So what was  my one proviso about the walk? It wasn't the weather (the few spots of rain on the return leg were not even sufficient to require us to put our waterproofs on) nor the ascents and descents (which meant we got good views); no, it was the stiles, especially those on the approach to Wardington i.e. in Oxfordshire.  Many of them didn't have cross planks and even if they did, the distance from the cross plank to the top was greater than the length of my legs, as shown in the rather unflattering photo, and sometimes there was a lot of surrounding vegetation which added to the difficulty of getting both legs from one side of the path to the other. I am willing to accept that I am not as young as I was, and my knees don't bend as easily as they once did. But please, dear Oxfordshire County Council, remember that not all those who walk the footpaths in your county are (a) male; (b) tall; (c)young!

We have a straightforward drive to Middleton Cheney and were aiming to park in the same lay-by as  last time we were here., at SP499417 just in front of the Library on Main Road. On our way into the village from the east, we spotted some other possible parking places, but I commented that we'd be unlikely to need them because it didn't seem likely that the lay-by outside the library would be full. That was reckoning without the building work going on at a house opposite, where concrete was just being poured from a tube that was delivering it to the far side of the house. The various construction vehicles meant that the lay-by was full. Somewhat frustrated, we continued to the junction with High Street in order to turn around. By the time we got back, one of the construction vehicles had left, leaving space for us.

I'm up to the fourth paragraph , so time to get on with describing the walk.  We headed up High Street then took a minor road up towards the Church. The Jurassic Way turns left again before the Church, but we went a bit closer to take a look, though only from the outside; I suspect a Good Friday service was taking place inside. We then left Middleton Cheney, almost immediately descending quite steeply through an area of scrubland, leading me to regret that I’d left my walking poles at home. After crossing a footbridge we climbed again, more gently, then crossed a surprisingly busy road and continued across yellow fields of oilseed rape. Photography back to Middleton Cheney Church was difficult because of the direction of the Sun, but Richard managed a nice picture of me walking across the field, with two attractive trees and the Church beyond.

At the far side of the oilseed rape field, we turned right onto a track and followed this north, only veering slightly to the right of this direction in order to descend to the village of Chacombe. There were good views from the top of the hill, with a grand-looking house ahead of us that was in the wrong place to be Chacombe House. It looked to be where “The Priory and remains of Priory” is marked on the map, but what we were looking at was definitely more than “remains”. Wikipedia tells me that there is now a Grade 2 listed house, confusingly called “The Priory”, on the site of the former priory.

We passed Chacombe House on our descent to the village, a pretty little place, though I couldn’t work out where the church was, so I was feeling a bit disorientated. We reached “Berry Court”, a field that was bequeathed to the local community – and there was the church on the other side of it! From the signpost, it looked as if the Jurassic Way went alongside Berry Court, but the route actually goes across the field. Thankfully, Richard had his wits more about him than I did. 

On our outward walk, I also failed to notice the fact that we left Northamptonshire for Oxfordshire on our way out of Chacombe (I know Wardington was in Oxfordshire but I’d assumed the boundary to be just on the end of Wardington). I did soon become aware of the stile problem and this detracted from an otherwise pleasant walk, under a disused railway line then up onto slightly higher ground and across fields to Wardington. We were looking for a place to park for the next leg to the north, and we realised that Thorpe Road, where we emerged into Upper Wardingon, would do. We didn’t find anywhere better to park, but we continued on our exploration of Wardington, still on the route of the Jurassic Way, which loops around the village. On our almost complete circumnavigation, we discovered a garden centre and café (which we made use of the following day), admired some of the old buildings including the Church, then took a most attractive path through the centre of the village, between Upper and Lower Wardington.

The Jurassic Way brought us back to Thorpe Road, but it was common sense that led us to simply follow the road back to the point where we’d reached the village rather than retracing our steps all the way round. We did then retrace our steps to Middleton Cheney. I managed the stiles a little better on the return leg and particularly enjoyed the section around Chacombe. We stopped for lunch at one of the several benches in the village; ours was opposite “The George and Dragon” and the access route to the church, and as we ate our lunch we were entertained by a large group of parents and children emerging from the church and by the poor parking of some of those visiting the pub. On the climb to the south of Chacombe, a group of sheep even lined up picturesquely for a photo. On the approach to Middleton Cheney, the Sun’s direction was slightly less problematic for photography, and the vehicle that was delivering concrete had gone. Google Maps sent us by way of a rather narrow road for part of the journey to Canon’s Ashby, but it was less busy than I’d feared it might be on Good Friday, and we had an enjoyable visit.