The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 4 miles (6.4km) or 5 miles including Thornhaugh church
Time to walk: Roughly 2.5 hours, more if you like to explore
Difficulty: Gentle rolling countryside, no stiles, some rugged walking underfoot because of tree roots. Some stretches are along very quiet, straight roads but generally dog friendly
Parking: Park up by the pavement along the wall on the “church” side of Church Road. Postcode is PE8 6DZ.
Public toilets: Most reliable (when open) are the Phoenix pub, or Coffee Stop in Wittering village, but buy a drink if you do go to them! Thornhaugh church has a loo, but I can’t guarantee if it’s always accessible. It always has been when I’ve been in Thornhaugh
Map of the route:
This walk was done for me by Gary Alderson, who many of you may have met on a Group Walk. Gary has amazing knowledge & it’s always great to get together with him
This walk is very much a borderlands walk! Wittering & Thornhaugh are two villages that, as part of the Soke of Peterborough, were originally in Northamptonshire, transferred successively to Huntingdonshire, then Cambridgeshire, & now are in the Unitary Authority of the City of Peterborough
They lie in the rolling limestone countryside that extends through north-east Northamptonshire as far as Ufford & Barnack, where the Fens start. The north end of Wittering, near to Stamford, is on the watershed between the Rivers Nene & the Welland
They were also historically divided between two great families of the English nobility – Wittering was (& still largely is) part of the Burghley estates belonging to the Cecil family, who rose under Elizabeth I & ended up as Marquesses of Exeter. Thornhaugh belonged, until the 20th century, to the Russells who became the Dukes of Bedford. In 1904 the village was sold to Earl Fitzwilliam, of the third great local landowning family
But they are united in being, for safe travelling purposes, effectively on an island. Each village has one road out to the A47, & one road out to the A1. They are cut off together, bounded on two sides by these major roads & to the north & west by RAF Wittering
Once known as the ‘Home of the Harrier Jump Jet” these days the air base is used mostly for training. But every now & then if you’re lucky you might see something more exciting in the skies above
Let’s Walk!
1. This walk starts by the Church in Wittering. As mentioned above, park by the pavement along the wall…
Wittering Churchyard is a solemn place. There are the fallen from the RAF in World War II, as well as many service people who mostly served at RAF Wittering at one time or another.
Henry Boswell, “King of the Gypsies”, is apparently buried somewhere in the churchyard. He was a friend of the Northamptonshire peasant poet, John Clare
The church is normally locked (we’re working on it…) but if you contact the Parish Adminstrator before visiting we’ll do our best to get you in. It’s well worth it. Which other church has an Anglo-Saxon arch (maybe the best in the country) & the nose cone off a Harrier Jump Jet missile launcher?!!
In autumn there was a lovely cloud of blue & white harebells. At other times of the year you may find snowdrops, & primroses…
The lych gate you entered by is dedicated to Group Captain John Woodroffe, Station Commander at Wittering. He died in a flying accident in Florida in 1957
2. Go out through the lych gate & walk down Hall Lane, opposite. Part way down Hall Lane on the right is the Old Rectory. Vicars don’t get houses this size anymore – they can’t afford the staff!
You reach a point where a public footpath is signed through a gate off to the right. Ignore this as the wide metal gate on your left is also a footpath. Turn left & go through (or round) the gate…
3. Follow the track as the countryside to your right & left starts to open out. As the track splits, take the left one (the right one goes down to the sewerage works!)…
Over to the right, towards modern Northamptonshire, you can see rolling countryside & normally a fair number of horses. You also start to notice different local wild flowers & plants, such as White Campion…
4. The next road to your right also goes down to the sewage works! Bear left onto the smaller footpath in the picture below…
In the autumn, the ivy is in flower – a valuable late-season source of nectar & later the berries feed the birds. On these limestone ridges, the alkali-loving wild clematis, “Old Man’s Beard” (see below). Seen best in autumn & winter, with its wispy seed heads
5. Follow the footpath left through the gate into the field…
…bearing round to the right, along the edge of the field
6. This is where we start the circular part of the walk. When the footpath divides, follow the right hand path through the gate & into the woods…
But on the way look out for the hogweed! This is the small member of the family that includes keck & the Giant Hogweed. Potentially slightly irritant, but not like its deadly giant relative
Continue into the woods, heading downhill. Be careful as it’s a bit bumpy. You are walking down the edge of West Wood here…
7. And there’s Horsetail, an incredibly old Genus. The modern species emerged during the Jurassic period, as did the stone around here, although of course in the Jurassic the stone was at the bottom of a warm, shallow sea
Cross over the brook & into Thornhaugh parish…
The brook is one of a group flowing from the area around Wittering to the Nene. It is a clear, limestone stream. As you cross the brook, to the left is a clearing which is fenced off. The fence supports quite a lot of plants including… more Old Man’s Beard, Dog Rose, Hops, some Fungi, Ferns which are very common in these woods, & Deadly Nightshade (belladonna) – deadly by name & by nature. Do not eat!
8. Carry on through the woods…
…where there’s more species including Nettle-leaved Bellflower, Hemp Agrimony (on its slender six foot high plant) & chestnuts!
9. The local limestone often comes in quite narrow slabs. The dry stone walls round here are not always maintained too well, but carry some nice mosses!
Continue ahead past the totally unnecessary kissing gate…
10. Walk through the hedge tunnel out towards the road…
…passing this sad little car
11. Continue on & out to the road. I get the feeling in the snow that, if it weren’t for all the cars around, this would feel like Narnia
Follow the footpath left when you come out – do not branch off to the right & the road. Through the gate is a broad track through an avenue of lime trees, with a chicken farm (not free range) on the left, & field on the right. Welcome to modern farming!
There’s quite a remarkable signpost. Anyone for Polaris?
12. The chicken farm takes its biosecurity seriously. In this kind of establishment, any kind of disease outbreak would be disastrous…
There was an abundance of Fairy Ink Caps (I think) along here plus lots of lichens on the wall
13. Pass out through the gate the other side, & onto the one main road through Thornhaugh. On your left the former gatehouse of Thornhaugh Hall…
You can’t see the Hall from the road, but the gardens are lovely
14. The road has mature deciduous trees to the left, & hedgerow to the right. Up ahead, the start of what 10 miles away, are the famous big Fen skies…
Along here I spotted more Ivy Flowers, Ash Keys, Crab Apples &, a surprise for me…an outbreak of sand amongst the limestone
15. Follow the road into the village, up to the little green with the village sign…
The information board will tell you all about the village & the sign. The chap on the sign is William Russell, First Baron Russell of Thornhaugh, ancestor of the modern Dukes of Bedford
16. To shorten the walk, take the left turn at the junction just past the sign. But why would you do that when you’ve got treasure just a little further along the road?
If you keep on for a few hundred yards, you reach the second little gem of a church of this walk – St Andrew’s, Thornhaugh. Thornhaugh is in the same parish as Wansford, & was for a long time the parent church. These days Wansford is definitely a more lively place…
Inside St Andrew’s you’ll find a loo. But of more historical interest – what a lovely church! There’s a squint (a hole in the wall to see the high altar from the side chapel). There’s also the amazing tomb of William Russell
And look out for the sad memorials in the chancel to the wife & daughter of a former rector, drowned in a boating accident on the Nene
17. As you walk back to the road from St Andrew’s notice the gravestone of the Bodger family on the right of the church path. Let’s hope they weren’t a family of builders!
Turn right up the road (called Russell Hill) back to where you came…
…& this time turn right at the junction & pass through the gate
18. Continue along the track with the trees on your right…
The landowner has gone to a lot of trouble to say turn right at the gap in the trees, & stay on the track. So I’d do so…
19. The trees are to your left now. Ahead you can see the traffic jams on the A1..
Turn left through the gate into the field & keep to the right hand side of the field
Along here I saw Stinking Iris, Oak trees with acorns, the dark, luscious berries of sloes (don’t go eating them raw!) & Snowberry
20. Keep the brook on your right &, when you reach the bridge, turn right across it…
You’re back in the wood now. The path is clear (& fenced on both sides). If you’re lucky you’ll see deer. In the spring, bluebells
21. When you get to this pointless stile, turn left…
I know the bridge looks tempting. But going that way will dump you by the side of the A1. Just to be double clear – turn left!
22. Carry on along the path…How many times has this lime been coppiced?
23. The field edge, path & woods here are on sand & I’m starting to feel like I’m back on the heaths of North Northampton here…
The path swings to the right…
You go through the kissing gate & then left to stay on the footpath
24. Introducing the miracle of the plant that eats itself – Shaggy Ink Caps. They start like this, but they exude a kind of soup of enzymes (the “ink”) which eats the plant & releases the spores from its body…
This one has started to melt away…
…these two are almost completely gone!
25. We’re back to the gate where we turned right into the woods an hour ago. So this time bear right, retracing your path…
…back on the track
26. You’ve been through the gate before going the other way. Now turn off onto the narrow path again…
Go through another gate & then you join the main track up from the sewerage works. Eventually you come to the last gate, the metal one. Remember…if it’s closed you can walk around it
27. Turn right to walk up the hill back to Wittering…
I was lucky to see some local craftspeople at work (it was a very windy day so they were very brave!) but the local buildings are well worth a look!
And finally we arrive back at All Saints Church & the start of this walk
What a varied walk it’s been across a mixture of terrains & with plenty of flora to see as you go – we think you’ll love it & it’s only just over the border
Thanks Gary
Go Walk!