PLEASE NOTE: THE FOOTPATH BETWEEN POINTS 6 – 8 IS CURRENTLY CLOSED
The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 8.25 miles (13.3km)
Time to walk: Roughly 3 hours 45 minutes
Difficulty: A mixture of surfaces & very hilly in parts as this walk takes in Northamptonshire’s second highest peak, Borough Hill
Parking: Dodford Church car park in Church Hill NN7 4SU
Public toilets: None
Map of the route:
Dodford whose name means ‘ford of a man called Dodda’ lies around 10 miles west of Northampton & is bounded on the east by the Roman road of Watling Street
There are considerable earthworks around the village, which indicate that Dodford was once a larger settlement than it is today. The Manor’s past owners have included William the Conqueror’s half-brother Robert the Count of Mortain
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, where our walk begins, dates back in parts to Norman times with later additions, including the 13th century tower
We’re going to save a ‘surprise’ until the end of the walk as a ‘reward’ for completing it so…
Let’s Walk!
1. Starting outside the church, enter the churchyard & walk through it…
…& exit through the gate on the other side & continue down the path
2. Cross the bridge & turn left up the road with the paddocks on your left…
On reaching the metal gate, go through it & carry on up the hill…
3. Walk around the next gate…
…& stay on the track, passing under the telegraph lines. Once you’ve crossed the old train bridge continue ahead on the grass track – do not go left down the hill
4. On reaching the gap in the hedge, pass through it & cross the field to the gate in the distance…
At the gate you’ll arrive at a road (in the picture below)
Carefully turn right up the road
5. You are now starting the Borough Hill loop of the map at the start of these instructions. We will come back to this exact point at the end of the loop so if you don’t want to explore Borough Hill you just continue the walk from Point 19. But you’d be missing out so for now bear left between the two fences…
Now the grassy path really starts to climb…well you are heading to the top of our second highest hill!
6. On reaching the fence in the picture below, turn left…
And continue to climb, always keeping the fence on your right. Please be careful as there’s lots of rabbit holes along here
7. Don’t forget to pause every so often for a breather & to admire the views that are starting to appear over industrial Daventry. Keep following the fence…
Finally you arrive at a road…
Walk along the hard track & follow the footpath sign beside the road as you climb towards the car park
8. Carefully join the road for the climb to the car park…
It is possible to visit Borough Hill simply by parking in the car park & then walking the loop around the top
9. Pass through the gate…
Welcome to Borough Hill! You’ll find many information boards telling you the importance of where you’re now standing. This is Northamptonshire’s second highest hill standing at 660 feet above sea level
Borough Hill has a history of human habitation dating into prehistory. Remains have been found on the hill of two Bronze Age barrows, two Iron Age hill forts, one of which is the fourth largest found in Britain, & a later Roman villa & farming settlement. The hill is designated as a scheduled monument
In 1645, Borough Hill was used as a base by the Royalist army of King Charles I, in the week prior to the Battle of Naseby, in which the Royalists were defeated by Sir Thomas Fairfax’s Parliamentarian army
10. It’s time to start our loop by following the well-trodden path towards the mast.
The BBC began broadcasting from here in 1925. From 1932 the BBC Empire Service (which became the BBC World Service) was broadcast from Borough Hill & the radio announcement of “Daventry calling” made Daventry well-known across the world
On 26 February 1935, the transmitter was used for an early RADAR experiment, which demonstrated the feasibility of radio detection of aircraft
In 1950 the BBC constructed a 720 ft mast at nearby Dodford for the BBC Third Programme, with a 150 kW transmitter in a building near to the short wave transmitter building. This service closed in 1978 & the mast was removed in 1984
Due to the nature of short wave broadcasting, large areas of Borough Hill were occupied with towers, & masts to support large antennas. Transmissions from the short wave station could be received across the world
The BBC decided to close the station &, on 28 March 1992, the last transmission took place, & the transmission equipment was moved to other BBC World Service transmitters around the country. The station became an electronic service centre for the repair of BBC transmission equipment, & a local transmitter maintenance team was also based here until the late 1990s. All but the radio mast you see before you now, have been taken down
11. The area is now a country park & you’ll see lots of remnants of what was once here…
There’s so many information boards. At the one in the picture below, turn left towards the two benches…
12. Have a seat & take in the wonderful view…
There’s some strange structures on the hill, including the large concrete blocks in the picture below. These are the large bases that once held the other masts. Look closely & you’ll also find tether points for the impressive tethers that kept the towers upright
13. Keep the fence on your right as you pass the woods…
On the corner the path forks. Take the right-hand one still following the woods
14. If the branch is still there, walk underneath it & continue along the well marked path…
Pass another bench & walk towards the next information board ahead of you
15. This information board tells you that the two buildings ahead used to house the transmission masts for bombers in World War II…
These buildings were instrumental in guiding bombing raids into Germany. The transmitter was in the largest building, the small one was where the power supply came in & other one building housed the emergency generators
This station controlled the eastern system. The first guided raid was for 200 bombers targeting Essen on the 8th & 9th March 1942. On the 15th of December 1944 a USAF B-17G Flying Fortress based at Chelveston was returning from a bombing mission. Badly damaged & flying in low cloud or fog, it crashed into one of the stations masts. All of the crew on board were killed, but there was one survivor who had bailed out just before the crash. There’s a memorial to them at the Daventry War Memorial
16.Walk past the two buildings & bear left up the hill to the fence, where you pick up a gravel path, that leads us back towards the car park…
The gravel path turns more & more grassy, but just keep the hedge on your right & you’ll be fine…
17. Shortly the grassy path turns into a hard one once more…
At the end leave Borough Hill through the gate. Now it’s a case of retracing your footsteps along the same path back down the hill
18. Retrace your footsteps all the way back to the farm, this time keeping the fence & trees on your left
Pass the gate & the house…
19. Finally back at where we started the loop from, continue down the road opposite. Don’t cross the stile
You’re now going to follow this quiet road for a while. There’s some beautiful Northamptonshire views to admire all around…
20. You never know you might make some new friends as you pass the paddocks…
Keep on the road, passing the farm buildings on your right
21. The road reaches a T-junction where you need to bear right…
This is really good, easy walking & the path’s extremely easy to follow…we’ll see you at the top of the hill!
22. The track arrive at a gate. Go through it & continue to climb the hill…
Pass some concrete blocks on both sides of the track. The thinking is they were part of the system on Borough Hill…
23. Go through the next gate…
…& walk straight through the farm to continue in the same direction. After what feels forever turn right at the junction in the picture below
24. Pass under the old railway bridge…
…& follow the track as it heads towards the village. Carefully make your way around the side of the ford
25. Now bear left up the hill…
To finish the walk let’s have a look at the village. Pass the phone box , ignoring the little sign ‘To the Church’
26. On reaching the grassy triangle it’s time for a treat. Bear left towards Brockhall, or should that say ‘Middle Earth’?…
Continue along the lane until it bends, stopping outside Honeymoon Cottage on the right…
27. It’s now time to be cheeky as just up on the right’s Dodford’s very own Hobbit(ty) House! And you can stay there…please see this link for all the details
Please be aware that this is on private property. Please do not leave the public road to go exploring 🙂
picture@DodfordManor
28. Walk back to the junction & bear left towards Weedon & Daventy. Shortly on the right you’ll see a Nursery. Beside it’s a footpath that will take you back up to the church car park where this walk started
So that’s it…8.25 miles that just about has a bit of everything including hills! I firmly believe that this walk will become a firm favourite for both individuals & Group Walks
It’s fab so….
Go Walk!