Nassington to Oundle

We took the track on the opposite side of the road, right next to Nene Way Caravan Club, which was also just re-opening after the Pandemic. We were heading towards the village hall, playing field and preschool, and nearly missed the correct route, which turns left in front of the village hall and then around the playing field. I suspect that most people don't follow the correct route here but instead walk across the field. The exit point on the far side was very clear and as we crossed the fields we had good views back to Nassington Church.

The path became a track and led us to a road where we turned left into Fotheringhay, another extremely attractive medieval village, even if there weren't any benches on which to sit to eat our lunch! We passed "The Falcon" (where I have eaten with friends in the past, but still closed following Covid-19, until Friday) and the church, with its distinctive tower, with an octagonal structure on top of a more conventional square one. As the road made a right-hand bend we continued onto a track which brought us to Fotheringhay Castle (just a mound now, but the site of Mary Queen of Scots final imprisonment and execution). Nearby is Fotheringhay Castle Farm and campsite, where a couple of touring caravans/camper vans had presumably just arrived today. We passed a group of children, presumably from one of the caravans/camper vans; what a lovely place to take a family for a break from the stresses of the pandemic.

We were now on a track heading towards the A605 near Warmington. There were attractive views behind, across rolling cereal fields to Fotheringhay Church, and ahead of us we noticed what looked like a row of boats...it was (indeed we'd been walking a short distance from the river since Fotheringhay). We reached a modern lock, which a woman was struggling to close. Her partner came to assist and we crossed to the other side of the lock then the other side of a weir. The River Nene has had least three strands in this area, and after walking across common land we crossed a narrow channel of river then another patch of common ground (busy with dog-walkers etc.) and arrived at Warmington Mill, formerly a Fired Earth showroom, but now for sale. It was all very pretty, and with moored boats etc., and the presence of what felt like an enormous number of people (given how few we are currently seeing most of the time) was explained by the close proximity of the A605 (which links Peterborough to the A14 at Thrapston). A subway under the A605 led to the village of Warmington.

Fotheringhay's lack of places to sit for lunch was almost immediately rectified by a seat on the Green at the Eaglesthorpe end of Warmington. There were attractive medieval buildings here, though the village overall had a slightly less "pretty pretty" but more friendly and functional feel than Fotheringhay had done; perhaps this was just a result of us seeing another couple of benches and the fact that there were more people about. In summary, it is just a bigger village. After meandering our way through the streets of Warmington we found ourselves on a straight track which essentially continued straight ahead, crossing a minor road at one point and passing a rifle range. It was all rather nicer than that sounds. We passed a family with a dog near the rifle range (indeed they were turning to walk across it) then we saw a deer in the distance; it wasn't a Muntjac but it was small. Maybe it was young? Well no, an even smaller animal, clearly the first one's offspring, then appeared. Googling afterwards suggested that these were probably Chinese water deer. The species first escaped into the wild in the UK from Whipsnade zoo in 1929, but the UK population is now estimated to make up 10% of the world total. We also passed a horse and foal which were behaving as mother and child but looked oddly mismatched - the horse had something of a heavy horse about it, but the foal, with long spindly legs, looked destined to become a race horse. Ah well, I don't know much about these things.

The track became a tarmacked lane and eventually we came to its end, at a T junction in a delightful wooded area with a house marked as "Entrance Lodge" on the OS map, but the name on the ground is West Lodge. It's a chocolate box of a place, but it doesn't have a chocolate box of a history - there was a brutal murder of the two residents here in 1952, which has not been resolved. We turned right towards the centre of Ashton Village, and away from Ashton Wold House, which now appears to have been turned into holiday houses. The village was completely made up of thatched "chocolate box" cottages, and it didn't surprise us to learn that it was built as an estate village for the Ashton Estate, owned by the Rothschild Family. Even the pub (...which was open...) is thatched.

We continued towards Oundle, passing the disused Ashton Mill and crossing the River Nene. The signposting here was a bit confusing - it's possible that the Nene Way has been re-routed around Oundle, but we never properly worked it out (not that it really matters as we (a) followed the route as shown on the OS map; (b) explored the centre of Oundle (which isn't on the route shown on the OS map); (c) enjoyed ourselves! Immediately after crossing the river, the route shown on the OS map turns left, along the river back. However we continued on towards the centre of Oundle. The walk through the outskirts was not terribly thrilling, but the centre was lovely. The town is rather dominated by the independent Oundle School, which must make it a slightly odd place to live, but there are many attractive buildings, and the fact that pubs and hairdressers were just reopening made it all quite poignant. We explored the area around St Peter's Church (whose spire is apparently the tallest in Northamptonshire) then walked through the town back to the car-park. After collecting the other car, we both drove on to Milton Keynes; a much better journey!

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