The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 3.7 miles (5.95km)
Time to walk: Roughly 2 hours
Difficulty: A mixture of hard surface, tow paths & fields, some of which can be muddy. There are a few hills, but nothing strenuous. There are numerous stiles that dogs will have to be lifted over & please be careful on the short road section
Parking: On road outside the church in Rothersthorpe
Public toilets: None
Map of the route:
Rothersthorpe is a small medieval village that lies 4 miles to the south of Northampton. The Berry ringworks that can be found around the village are medieval fortifications built & occupied from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They were small defended areas of buildings surrounded partly or completely by large ditches & earthworks topped by wooden palisades. They are rare nationally
The Berry is the site of a ringwork which stood at the centre of medieval Rothersthorpe. The site is irregularly shaped with a wide ditch on the north & west sides. There are the remains of an inner rampart in the north east corner & southern end. Features in the west of the interior of the works show the locations of former buildings. Remains of ridge and furrow farming are on the eastern side
The Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal, built in 1815 passes near to Rothersthorpe. Seventeen locks, taking the canal into Northampton & its junction with the River Nene, take about two hours for a boat to travel through
So that’s a small bit of background information, but it’s a gorgeous February day so…
Let’s Walk!
1. Our walk actually starts in the churchyard!
This is the Church of St Peter & St Paul which forms a Benefice with others in nearby Bugbrooke, Harpole & Kislingbury. Unfortunately it wasn’t open when we visited. Spring has definitely sprung early this year…
2. Exit the churchyard through the small gate at the back & continue down Church Street passing the Baptist Chapel, which opened in 1841 & was rebuilt in 1892 on the right…
3. Look for a stile on the right leading into a paddock – this is our way out of the village…
Follow the fence line to another gate in the corner of the paddock
4. Pass through this & continue across a small field to another stile (there’s lots on this walk)
The path continues diagonally left (it should be well-trodden) towards a clump of bushes & beyond that, yes another stile
5. Continue straight ahead towards the marker post & hedge…
Walk with the hedge on your right & look for a stile over the fence on your left. Cross the stile…
…& then continue in the same direction & then follow the grass track round to the left, through a barbed wire fence to arrive at a gate
6. Ignore the kissing gate on the right. Climb the new stile next to the metal gate…
…& walk diagonally right (you should see trodden grass) heading towards an old barn in the right corner of the field
7. Climb the next new stile…
…& turn right following the field edge & ditch round & along
8. Exit through a barrier & onto the Gayton road. Please be careful as cars move quickly along here. Turn left & walk up the hill passing the gas station…
At the top of the hill round to the left, past the entrance to Gayton Marina
9. Continue on the road & cross the canal bridge…
Once over, turn immediately down onto the tow path…
Pass under the traditional canal bridge…
9. There’s an impressive new canal-side house on the right where used to be rather a run-down shack. It was home to a yappy little Jack Russell who would run up & down chasing walkers, but sadly he’s no longer here…
Pass Gayton Marina – there were lots of boats being over-wintered & some out of the water having repair work done. In the summer this is a place of activity & always good at weekends watching new boaties learning how to control their hire boat for the first time!
10. At the next bridge cross over the canal to the towpath on the other side…
…to arrive at Gayton Junction. We’ve been walking along the Northampton Arm. Running North to South now is the Grand Union Canal – to the right is Birmingham, to the left London. It was also good to see a familiar boat moored near the bridge…The Cheese Boat
The Cheese Boat is owned by Geraldine & Michael Prescott who wanted a way to combine their passion for narrow boating with something to earn money from. They approached Snowdonia Cheese with the idea of selling their cheeses from their boat on the side of the canals & fortunately the cheese company thought it was a good idea. Success came quickly & they added Caw Cenarth Cheese to their list. Next came Mike’s Homemade Chutneys
11. Turn right towards Birmingham – a good idea as if we wanted to go towards London we’d have to get wet! There were several house boats along this stretch & we thoroughly enjoyed meeting the pack of greyhound, two pugs (including a ‘one-eyed’ wonder) & a jack russell
Cute one
12. The next bridge (47) is a stunner, a classic example of a Turnover Bridge with the horse cobbles leading up & over…
This beautiful old Grand Union Canal bridge not only carries a small road across the canal, but also was built with a walkway so that the horses that towed the barges could go over the water without having to be unhitched
13. It’s worth walking over the bridge just to get the experience of days gone by, but come back as we need to keep on the same side of the canal passing underneath the bridge itself
They could have taken the decorations off it!
Looking across to the right you can see the state of the fields…
14. The path back towards Rothersthorpe starts at the next bridge…follow the track up the side…
& turn right along the bridleway, keeping the hedge on your right
15. Cross the buried pipeline & look for the gap in the hedge at the bottom of the field leading into the small copse
At the bottom’s one of those lovely little places you occasionally come across whilst walking. The picture doesn’t really do the tranquility of the place with the water running through justice
Follow the path through the copse & out into the next field
16. After passing through the gap by the large tree above, look for another gap in the hedge on the right just past the telegraph pole below…
Go through & continue down the hill towards Rothersthorpe ahead keeping the hedge now on the left
17. There’s a stile in the bottom left of the field…
What does the sign say?
Nooooooooooooo!!!!
200 yards from the end of the walk & we come across this!
18. Right…gotta just go for it so cross the stile into the beast’s lair. Our goal is diagonally right towards the thatched cottage besides the church…
Wait an minute…is that the beast in the field to the left?
No…it’s an alpaca
Hang on something’s rustling in the hedge…
Awwwwwwww….sweetie
19. The good news is the bull doesn’t appear to be home although the farmyard gate is open so best foot forward. There’s a stream running through this field with a crossing place near the cottage & a kissing gate to go through
20. Follow the driveway around the cottage to the end of the walk, back at the church, & safety once more
So that’s the end of a lovely short walk that had a bit of everything. Some of the fields were very wet, especially the Bull’s one, so maybe a walk to do when the drier weather arrives
Maybe combine it with a walk round Rothersthorpe village itself using the details on the map outside the Memorial Garden. the Dovecote is really worth a look at…
Go Walk!