To Yardley Road from Warrington (A428) and return

We had a whole free day in the Milton Keynes area and had hoped to walk from Yardley Road north of Olney (where we reached last weekend) to Turvey, however circumstances conspired against us. We woke (in Sherington) to rain, and I had lots of work to do, but the main problem was that the exhaust system on my car had developed a hole which made itself very obvious on the drive over from Norfolk yesterday. Kwik Fit were open but they couldn't get the part they needed on a Sunday, and although the man tied up what was left of the exhaust pipe, having seen the state of it Richard was reluctant to drive the car unnecessarily. So we had less time than planned and effectively only one car. Given that there is also a shortage of access points in the next stretch of the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk, we decided that it was best just to park on the A428 at Warrington (where there is excellent parking) and do a short return walk to Yardley Road north of Olney, where we reached last week.

We drove up through Olney on the A509 and turned left onto the A428. The lay-by is about a kilometre from the roundabout, right on the Milton Keynes/Northamptonshire boundary (SP886556). It had stopped raining by the time we left the car, but it was misty, and if anything the visibility became less good while we were walking. It was also distinctly muddy! However, the walk, mostly along field boundaries across rolling countryside, was enjoyable and attractive, with birds and rabbits for company. We had just one stomp across a muddy field and a distinctive descent (on the outward walk) to the farm at Olney Hyde. From here we followed a track to Yardley Road, emerging onto the road at the point where we parked last weekend (SP878539). Then we retraced our steps, noticing that the ascent from Olney Hyde felt harder than the descent!

following leg