Brampton Valley Way and Pitsford Water

Saturday 10th April 2021

Since there were still restrictions on travel at this time I decided that for the last day of my holiday I would visit Pitsford Water in Northamptonshire, which is a place I have visited several times, but not recently. This walk was inspired by the walk I did on my first visit to the area many years ago parking at the Spratton Road crossing on the Brampton Valley Way, which runs along the old track bed of the Northampton to Market Harborough Railway. Heading south from the car park I had a pleasant stroll along the old railway line and reflected that I really must spend more time in future exploring the Brampton Valley Way and maybe even walking the whole route from Market Harborough to Northampton. I had a lovely walk at this point filled with birdsong past blackthorn hedges that were covered in white flowers and contrasted sharply against the grey, overcast skies. When I eventually reached Merry Tom Crossing I turned left off the trail onto a track that climbs out of the valley to the main road that comes out of Brixworth and after crossing the road entered the grounds of Pitsford Water. By the time I reached the reservoir it had started raining and this would continue for a long time.

Under miserable weather, but with a clear path under foot, I walked along the perimeter path and had a relaxing, straightforward walk with little undulation, but with few trees to alleviate the scenery, which does not compare well with other reservoirs that have dense woodland all around their shores, and I felt this lack of wild scenery. To be fair to the reservoir, the eastern half is heavily wooded and must be a great place to walk, but access is restricted as a nature reserve, though I would love to purchase a permit that would allow me to explore this wilder scenery, but sadly that was not on this occasion. When I reached the causeway the rain had finally begun to ease, which was a great comfort as it is always much nicer to walk when it is not raining. After crossing the causeway I turned back towards Brixworth enjoying the walk along the northern shore as the weather slowly improved along with the terrain. When I reached the woodland landscape of Brixworth Country Park I turned away from the reservoir to do a walk around the more pleasing terrain that is in park rather than elsewhere around the reservoir, but is unfortunately too small, though I have a fond memory of a previous visit finding there long grass that was alive with the sound of chirping insects.

Unfortunately this was the wrong time of the year, though when the sun came out I was prompted to nip back down to the shore to take some pictures, but soon I was climbing back through the country park onto a footpath that leaves the reservoir and enters the village of Brixworth. When I did this walk many years ago I headed straight from Brixworth onto Spratton Road back to the car park, but this road is steep and narrow so is not safe to walk on. This time I decided to take an alternative route passing through the interesting village of Brixworth past the Anglo-Saxon church of All Saints onto a footpath that took me down to the site of Brixworth railway station on the Brampton Valley Way where I turned south again and had a pleasurable walk back to the Spratton Road crossing. This was an enjoyable walk despite the poor weather, though helped by the improvement in the weather.  It had been a long time since I had been to Pitsford Water and I was surprised to see how popular it was with many people jogging along the perimeter path, though I was disappointed at the lack of interesting scenery along the southern shore of the reservoir. The Brampton Valley Way, was a lovely place and I really must find a way to walk along more of this disused railway line.

Cotswold Way - Buckland Wood to Winchcombe

Thursday 8th April 2021

The day before this walk I returned to the Cotswolds for the first time in twenty years prompted merely by its proximity to home and I was pleasantly surprised to have an enjoyable walk over the rolling hills and through wildflower-rich woodland, so I had no hesitation in returning the day after to continue my trek along the Cotswold Way. This time I parked in the market town of Winchcombe and heading out tried to find my way back to the point in Buckland Wood where I had left the Cotswold Way the day before. Rather than walk along the trail there and back again I took an alternative route, but first I had a choice whether to follow the Gloucestershire Way or the Winchcombe Way. Interesting terrain around Monk’s Hole prompted me to take the former and climbed up Fluke’s Hill through grassy fields that were decorated with very large notices proudly proclaiming: “PATH”. I have never seen that done before and I appreciated knowing which way to go up Fluke’s Hill until after passing the undulating terrain at Monk’s Hole the gradient eased and I followed a clear track past Little Farmcote. Behind me I had extensive views past Winchcombe across the Severn Valley under sunny skies that promised much better weather than I found the day before.

On reaching a road I continued to follow the Gloucestershire Way along the road and past a small quarry to the tiny hamlet of Ford where I could not find the path beside the small river that is marked on the map, but I did find an alternative path through some stables that soon brought me onto the marked route of the Winchcombe Way that I was now following through the interesting terrain of the River Windrush. While passing through the pretty, little village of Cutsdean it occurred to me that walking through farmland requires more effort in navigation than on a mountain where there is normally a clear path and your onward route is obvious. When walking through farmland it can often be difficult to know where the path goes with no sign on the ground, so you have to rely on the signposts, plus you have a legal obligation to keep to the footpath, which is not a problem on a mountain where there is open access. Thankfully the Winchcombe Way was pretty straightforward after I had climbed out of the valley where I had a gentle stroll in the increasingly warm, sunny weather keeping to a roughly northerly direction along the broad ridge that heads towards the top of Shenberrow Hill.

Just before reaching the highest point on the hill the trail turns east towards the village of Snowshill, but I could see on my map that the Winchcombe Way turns back west after Snowshill descending steeply into a valley before climbing steeply back out again. I did not need to go through Snowshill and could save myself a lot of effort by cutting the corner following a narrow farmer’s road past Great Brockhampton Farm to the point where the Winchcombe Way reappears from Snowshill beside a National Trust wood that was full of dog’s mercury and primroses. Soon I was at Buckland Wood where I had left the Cotswold Way the day before and rejoining the trail I climbed back up Shenberrow Hill along a byway under grey skies after the sunshine that I had enjoyed during the morning had deteriorated. I was now heading south and following the western edge of the broad ridge to Shenberrow Buildings where the terrain improved dramatically with a steep descent through gorgeous woodland and it was a joy to walk through the enclosed surroundings that eventually led me all the way down into the village of Stanton.

This village was filled with flowers, notably primroses, and gave me a delightful walk through the village that compensated for the tedious walking that followed as I crossed many fields and passed the impressive Jacobean manor house at Stanway until the Cotswold Way finally started to climb the ridge that had been looming ahead of me for some time. This unrelenting climb eventually brought me back up to the top of the hill where I was rewarded with extensive, though grey and misty, views behind me across the valley of the River Isbourne to Bredon Hill. The trail now crossed more tedious farmland to the escarpment edge of Coscombe Corner and the remains of the ancient settlement of Beckbury where there is also a monument that marks where Thomas Cromwell allegedly sat while watching the burning of Hailes Abbey in the valley. The Cotswold Way now descended back down the hill passing beside the delightfully decorated Hailes Wood to reach the ruins of the abbey with Winchcombe just a short distance away through more tedious farmland.

During the first half of this walk I was following the Gloucestershire and Winchcombe Ways as I tried to get back to Buckland Wood where I had left the Cotswold Way the day before and this involved a lot of road walking or along wide tracks that were not particularly exciting. But the Cotswold Way was generally along narrow paths and rewarded me with some lovely sections like the steep, wooded descent into Stanton or beautiful little villages like I found in Stanton. Despite moments of tedium on the Cotswold Way these were fleeting compared with the prolonged road walking that I endured earlier in the day when the weather was better. The Cotswold Way was also better decorated with many wildflowers, especially celandines and primroses that lifted the walk when the weather was otherwise bleak.