Weston-by-Welland and Welham to Tilton on the Hill

We started the day in Norfolk and wanted to be in Milton Keynes by the end of it, in part because I was worried that the toilet cistern in the flat was running constantly and didn't want to be away any longer (though I had turned the water off for safety). I didn't really have the time to take off to do a walk, but I badly needed a break and common sense won - we went for the walk! I hadn't slept well, so was a bit tired and grumpy, but I still enjoyed the walk. There was rather a lot of road walking, which isn't ideal though it means you make rapid  progress. The latter part was more interesting than the earlier sections, largely because the countryside was more undulating and varied. We passed lots of attractive churches; the photograph shows the view back to Tilton on the Hill from our final walk back to the car.

Because it is close to the A47, access to today's walk was relatively quick from Norfolk; we walked the preceding leg as part of a mini-break involving an overnight stay and don't expect to be progressing further north on the Midshires Way on day walks from either Norfolk or Milton Keynes. We had wondered about finishing today's leg at Tugby, where I had spotted a large lay-by about a quarter of a mile back along the A47 from the point where the route crosses the main road, but that would have led to rather a short walk. After some searching on Google Maps we found what looked like a plausible lay-by at SK737055 on the B6047 to the east of Tilton on the Hill, close to where the Midshires Way  crosses this road. Our journey there was excellent; the B6047 is a good road, and is signposted as leading to Milton Mowbray, which is worth knowing as that is where we are hoping to stay next time we are walking in the area. The lay-by was fine so we left one car there and  drove back to the lay-by where we parked last time, at SP778914 in Weston-by-Welland. The journey was straightforward and pleasant;  there really is some lovely countryside around here, on the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire border. We set off walking at about 10.15.

Weston-by-Welland is in Northamptonshire and not on the route of the Midshires Way, but we quickly retraced our steps to Welham, which is on the route and is over the border in Leicestershire. So that is Northamptonshire "done", at least for now; away from Northampton and the M1, it really is an extremely pleasant county.  We rejoined the official route  just by the church in Welham, turning right where we had approached from the left last time we were here, on my birthday in late August. The colours of the trees around the church (shown above) were now turning autumnal.  We continued on the road around a sharp left hand bend by a pub and were not particularly looking forward to following the road all the way to Cranoe. However, shortly after the left hand turn, the road along which occasional cars and tractors were driving then made a sharp right hand turn, whilst we continued straight ahead on a very minor road. We were passed by occasional cyclists, but that was all.  The countryside here is rather flat, but we could see higher land ahead.

Over the attractive little cross-roads in the hamlet of Cranoe (complete with sign and phone box) the road climbed steeply, and to reach the church, up to the left of the road, required a further climb up a steep flight of steps, though apparently there is also step free access round the back. We were rewarded with a tantalising glimpse of the view back across the plain we had crossed, though trees made it impossible to photograph. We returned to the road but, on a bend just past the church, we found our onward path. This crossed the Leicestershire Round then proceeded to climb some more - very steeply. There were a few others walkers about, though I would be surprised if one couple in particular had come the way we had. A dog-walker going the other way commented that he chooses to walk whatever circuit he was on in a direction so as to avoid the climb we had just done. I didn't like to say that I am actually rather better at steep ascents than steep descents, especially when, as today, I have come out without my walking poles.

We now had a clear view back the way we had come, though I don't think the photographs do it justice. Richard and I had a debate about whether it was even worth trying to photograph it; I'm pleased we did. We emerged onto a track across more level ground, albeit at a height of some 150 metres. Progress was again rapid. We stopped for lunch on a patch of grass by a hedge just off the path, being passed while we were there by some young boys on bikes, out with a dog. We crossed "Goadby Road" where some motorcyclists were contemplating their route, then climbed gradually past Keythorpe Lodge Farm to the highest point on today's walk, at 179 metres. From here there was a descent to Keythorpe Hall Farm, but in the distance we now had views to Keythorpe Hall, back on higher ground ahead of us.  Keythorpe Hall has recently been restored as an extremely upmarket holiday rental property; the idea seems to be that you and up to 19 friends get to behave as this is your country house estate, with good food and your every need provided for.  Keythorpe Hall is not to be confused with Keythorpe Manor, a wedding venue on the other side of the A47, just as Keythorpe Lodge Farm is not to be confused with Keythorpe Hall Farm...

The Midshires Way website tells the story of the local landowner, Lord Berners, who apparently appeared at a dinner of the Leicester Agricultural Society in a coat made from wool that had been sheared that morning from one of his sheep kept at Keythorpe Hall. Today there were no obvious sheep in the immediate vicinity of Keythorpe Hall Farm, though there was a young calf with its mother near the buildings marked as "The Lake Buildings" on the map. There were also lots of cars driving to the   same area; we couldn't work out what was was going on, though we wondered if people were parking there prior to going on a shoot. The track became a road which led down to Tugby. There were some benches here so we stopped for an apple then continued past the church and across the A47.

The next bit of the walk is correctly described in the guidebook as "a detour to avoid [walking along] the A47" and I hadn't looked forward to this section as, in my experience, detours like this on on a long distance walk are often rather uninspiring and omitted by many walkers. However the route  was rather better than I'd expected. The first mystery was working out "Cafe Ventoux", which we passed shortly to the north of the A47 and which is signposted from the main road.  It didn't seem quite like an ordinary cafe; it turns out that this is a "destination cafe" which is something of a Mecca for cyclists, though their website points out that "No, you do not need to be a cyclist to visit us and enjoy what we have to offer." We continued along the road past the cafe and for another half-mile then turned left on a clear and well-signposted path leading diagonally back across the fields, back towards the A47 at Skeffington Gap. So far so good! According to the map, this path emerges at the A47 and then you immediately turn right again, but that is not quite what we experienced. Straight ahead, blocking our route, we encountered an impenetrable area of sweetcorn (presumably left to attract pheasants etc). We could convince ourselves that there was a path around to the right, but that was not at all the direction in which we wanted to be going, so we edged our way around to the left, and then continued along the field edge . Richard pointed out that if we carried on the way we were heading we would inevitably meet the correct onward track, which we could see heading from a footpath sign on the A47. This is exactly what we did, turning right onto the track. 

There were no more route-finding issues or blocked paths on the rest of today's walk but near Welsh Myers Farm we had a problem with a gate. The gate was fastened by way of a metal chain and we could see that we'd only be able to open the gate if we could separate the two ends of the chain from each other. The two ends were joined by way of a devious screw mechanism, and our initial attempts to undo this seemed to result in the two ends becoming more firmly joined together.  We began to contemplate climbing over the gate or alternative routes around, but these would have been non-trivial and/or involved an encounter with an extremely muddy (or worse) corner of the field, caused by the cows who by now had become extremely interested in our activity and were coming to watch. Fortunately Richard beat the gate just before my anxiety levels turned to absolute panic. The walking in this section was lovely, with gentle undulations and a few well-bridged  stream crossings.  In addition to the cows, here were grazing sheep and later horses,  and we made good progress to Tilton on the Hill. As we walked along the road towards the village, we passed a woman out on a short walk with her dog who was talking to another couple plus dog who had obviously been on a much longer walk.

The route of the MIdshires Way doesn't actually go through the centre of Tilton on the Hill, but we'd driven through the village this morning as a way of turning the car round prior to driving back to the start of the walk after leaving the other car at this end, and it had seemed a pretty place. In addition, the guidebook goes on about the impressive church with "amusing, well-preserved gargoyles". So we decided to walk into the village before returning to the car.  The gargoyles were indeed rather good. We then retraced our steps, passing the couple with their dog, who probably wondered what we were doing walking backwards and forwards through their village.  We then followed Back Lane, an attractive lane with good views back to the village, back to the car. After rescuing the other car, we had a good journey on to Milton Keynes. 

Following leg