Grafton Regis to Salcey Forest

This leg of the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk traverses attractive countryside close to the Northamptonshire county border; indeed I had assumed that we were entirely within Northamptonshire (because the walk seemed so rural) until I saw the Northamptonshire boundary sign to the north as we crossed the M1 and checked on the map! It appears that we were actually in Northamptonshire at the beginning and the end but otherwise in Milton Keynes. We were aiming to be back at our regular Sunday night Bedford South Premier Inn in time for a phone call at 4.30pm, so we left home at around 11am. We left one car in the car-park at Salcey Forest (SP811508) and then drove, by way of Hartwell and then minor roads under the railway line and over the canal, to the same parking place by the canal at Grafton Regis (SP762473) where we had parked last week. There were several other cars there today but fortunately we managed to squeeze Richard's little Matiz into a short space, and we ate our lunch before setting off; the time quoted above reflects this - yes we managed 3 m.p.h., but our walking time did not include a break.

After a very mild autumn, the weather had suddenly turned much colder and yesterday's weather had been horrible (driving rain). Today was much better, though it felt a bit raw when we set off walking around 1.30pm and in places it was very muddy underfoot. We walked back along the Grand Union Canal to Bridge 58. There was more activity on the canal than when we were here just over a week ago, presumably because it was the weekend; two boats passed us as we walked back past the weir. After leaving the canal we walked along field boundaries to two footbridges, one over the River Tove and one over a drainage ditch. It wasn't the most exciting of walking, but there were good views back to Grafton Regis.

We joined the Hanslope Circular Ride, but at a minor road we turned left whilst the Hanslope Circular Ride turned right. After a short distance we took a path, through a gate which was difficult to open because it had both latch and padlocked chain, and followed this to a tunnel under the railway (the West Coast Main Line, so there was plenty of activity).

The gates either side of the tunnel were difficult to negotiate because of mud! We rejoined the Hanslope Circular Ride and followed it on a track which curved round to the right, being very grateful at this point for the OS maps app on Richard's iPad, which we are now using to track our progress. Unfortunately we have not yet managed to export the resultant "routes" (trails of our progress) to JordanWalks, so I still have to do battle with Google Maps after every walk.

We emerged onto another minor road and crossed the M1. Immediately after crossing the motorway we turned onto another path, definitely on the route of the Hanslope Circular Ride, and possibly the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk - but we were heading in the right direction! We meandered our way around to Forest Farm, and passed the farm, where there was a rather unattractive smoldering pile of waste. Salcey Forest was on the other side of a field and we eventually found our rather muddy path across.

The Milton Keynes Boundary Walk turns right immediately after entering the Forest, but we carried straight ahead, now on the Swan's Way. We passed several lots of wood, to be sold by auction in the next week or two, and returned to the car. After collecting the other car from Grafton Regis and driving back to the Bedford South Premier Inn, I was just five minutes late for my phone call.

Following leg