Titchmarsh Nature Reserve to Ringstead
Walked by Sally and Richard, Sunday 2nd August 2020
7.8 miles (3.5 hours, including lunch), about 7.25 miles on route of Nene Way.
To see the photographs taken on this leg click here.
We thoroughly enjoyed today's leg of the Nene Way, but after the last few legs which had surpassed our wildest expectations, it nevertheless felt like something of an anticlimax. The only moral I can draw from this is that my usual "glass half-empty" attitude, in which I tend to expect the worst, has some definite benefits in that one is then pleasantly surprised!
We were both en route from Norfolk to Milton Keynes (to enable Richard to paint the front door of the flat the following day). We drove to the little car park (SP983750) for the "Pocket Park" (not a phrase I had encountered before) at Kinewell Lake in a former gravel pit on the outskirts of the Northamptonshire village of Ringstead to the north of the A45 near Raunds. I managed to park my car in some shade (though unsure how long this would last) and so we moved the food we had with us for the flat from Richard's car to mine, before driving in Richard's car back to the car park (TL007813) at TItchmarsh Nature Reserve.
Titchmarsh Nature Reserve comprises several lakes, again flooded former gravel pits and incorporating the largest heronry in Northamptonshire, though our route didn't go that way and herons breed in February not August! Instead we took a path alongside Harper's Brook. We passed occasional bird hides, but initially the view from them was only of reeds. Soon we could see a fishing lake to the right, busy with people fishing from boats. This is Elinor Trout Fishery; I can't say that fly-fishing appeals to me, but here at least you get to get to sit in a boat on a lake on a sunny summer Sunday and can keep the fish (provided you don't exceed the maximum for your £25 day fee). Then we got better views to the nature reserve lake on our left; things were improving.
We came closer to the River Nene and watched several groups of canoeists heading in opposite directions. There was then a delightful section alongside the river (which I can't see on the OS map...) where we were following a little family (mother, father and small child) with good views to Islip Church in the distance. And so we reached Islip, which sits on higher ground above the river. We retraced the route we had take in the opposite direction when driving between the two places we had left cars, passing the church and attractive medieval buildings then down towards Nine Arches Bridge (which separates the village from the town of Thrapston). The route on the opposite side of the road wasn't entirely clear, and we almost certainly didn't go the right way; I think you're meant to take the track opposite the road through Islip, whilst we went further down the hill to the bridge (which was interesting) then followed a bank by the river. We eventually found the right route between two lakes, and continued, with a lake to our right and the river to the left, towards a disused railway bridge and the (certainly not disused!) bridge over the A14.
The route under the disused railway bridge and the A14 is also not clear on the OS map, but this one was extremely straightforward - just straight ahead, still with the river to our left (and we were following another group of walkers, which helped). After passing under the A14, the route turned sharply right and emerged onto a positive motorway of a walking/cycling route. This is another disused railway, and had we continued straight ahead we'd have been back at the car, or indeed in Irthingborough (on the next leg) in next to no time. But of course the route of the Nene Way doesn't do that, instead turning left onto a path which was initially slightly overgrown, which led across the fields towards Denford, which we had also driven through, with its church (also up on a hill) clearly visible ahead of us.
At the point at which we reached the river, which had meandered away from the direct route, the route of the Nene Way turns away from Denford and heads back across the fields back towards the river (now further west). However, although we didn't go into Denford, we did leave the Nene Way for long enough to cross the river and then find a picnic spot next to Denford Lock. Here we had the (distanced) company, first of all of an extended group of family/friends who were carrying the equipment for a barbeque and presumably looking for a good site for it (and we may have beaten them to the best spot), and then of a group of canoeists who drew up at a landing site near the lock, hoisted their canoes out of the river, and stopped for a smoke. Although we enjoy nice quiet lunch spots, both groups were friendly, and it wouldn't be civil to expect to have the countryside to ourselves - and they both provided us with some amusement!
After lunch we headed back over the river and returned to the route of the Nene Way across the fields, with good views back to Denford Church, whilst Woodford Church (which looks very similar to Denford Church) was in view on its hill in the distance in front of us. We came close to the river again, near another lock, and a rather fiddly section followed. Although the route looks quite reasonable on the map and our trace shown below, it felt as if we were repeatedly being taken away from the direct route to Woodford Church. Firstly, we turned right away from the river to reach the wood of Woodford Shrubbery, which we didn't enter directly, but rather walked around before taking a path through the wood. Mind you, it was a very nice wood, especially when the sun came out.
We left Woodford Shrubbery and it felt as if we were about to walk into Woodford, and we stopped to admire three well cared for donkeys. However, our route then turned right again and climbed across an area of rough ground. The views were lovely, but the route wasn't clear and we really weren't sure where we were heading. in the absence of signposting, we cut across onto a residential street, which may actually have been the correct route (we soon picked up signs again). We emerged onto a Green (nothing very special, but clearly the route-makers of the Nene Way wanted us to come this way, then descended to the Church and turned right past it, and descended out of the village.
We emerged close to the river and we would have had nice views back to the Church had trees not blocked the view. We continued across fields and emerged onto a drive which would have led us to Glebe Farm had we turned right, but our route led to the left. We reached a disused railway line, which we needed to cross, but our route was blocked by a family of cyclists, each taking some time to get through the gate. We stood back and waited; a thank you would have been nice! On the other side of the railway we emerged onto a road on a corner, near the former Woodford Mill. It was buzzing with activity and just as the irritating family headed off behind the buildings (perhaps heading to a holiday cottage?), a vehicle came screeching round the bend and stopped within inches of the pavement of where I was standing. By this stage I was fairly fed up of other people!
We continued past Willy Watt Marina, which was attractive, and followed the road with gravel pit lakes on either side. We realised too late that that there was a path around Kinewell Lake, to our left, but we couldn't get through to it so continued along the road until we were close to Station Road (the road from which we had accessed the car park). Here there was a way through to the path around the lake and we took this path, around to the south of the Lake and so to the car park. It's an attractive enough lake, with lots of swans, though (quite reasonably for a pleasant Sunday afternoon in a country out of lockdown, but not travelling far) it was again rather busy.
