The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 4.06 miles (6.53 km)
Time to walk: Roughly 1 hour 40 mins although you could spend longer exploring the Nature Reserve
Difficulty: A mixture of hard, gravel & grassy paths. Some of the paths through the wooded areas could get muddy in winter. Flat & easy walking with no stiles so good for dogs, although these must be kept on leads if sheep are present, or the signs in the Nature Reserve tell you
Parking: Carefully & respectfully on-road in Upton, or on the grass near the church
Postcode: PE6 7BD
what3words: seagulls.dash.parading
Public toilets: None
Map of the route:
Upton is a small, historic, farming village & civil parish that was once part of Northamptonshire, but now comes under the Peterborough unitary authority area of Cambridgeshire. It sits on a Roman Road that links nearby Castor with Lincoln
The name “Upton” means “upper farm or settlement” from Old English. Unlike some neighbouring settlements, Upton was not explicitly named in the Domesday Survey, though it may have been grouped with nearby Castor. Early landholders included Godwin of Upton in the early 12th century & the Waterville family by the mid-12th century
The manor changed hands through various prominent families & figures over the centuries. It passed to the Torpel & Camoys families, was sold to Eleanor of Castile (Queen of Edward I), & at one point belonged to Piers Gaveston, the favourite of Edward II
In 1544, King Henry VIII granted the former manor of Queen Jane Seymour to Sir Robert Wingfield. Later, the estate passed through figures like Bishop Dove around 1600 & the Fitzwilliam family
Reason for devising this walk…
So what has caused Northamptonshire Walks to visit & devise a walk around this beautiful, small village?
Well… at 18.52 hours on 11th December 1944 , No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit Lancaster Bomber NG270 BS-U piloted by F/O Charles Leslie Makewell 154763 RAFVR, aged just 21, took off from RAF Woolfox Lodge, Ailsworth for a night navigation training sortie
The weather was overcast with continuous, slight rain & visibility down to 4000 yards. At 19.10 hrs (just 18 minutes later) the Lancaster fell from the sky & crashed near the village killing all of the crew
‘Twinwood Aviation Museum excavated the crash site on the 21st August 1993 & recovered various items:’
“The subsequent investigation into the accident determined that the Heavy Conversion Unit was ill advised in allowing the aircraft to take off in such weather conditions. The weather was very poor, heavy rain, low cloud & high icing levels & visibility nil. It is believed that the Lancaster almost certainly ran into a severe local shower & became heavily iced up & its pilot lost control & the striken Lancaster dived into the ground & burnt out”
My wife has recently been researching her family tree
Her maiden name is Makewell & her father, Alfred’s cousin was Charles, the pilot of that Lancaster Bomber. All of the Makewell family originate from Essex, so to find that one of them had a link with Northamptonshire seems quite poignant
We visited his War Grave a couple of years ago in Chingford Mounts Cemetery but didn’t know the story that was about to unfold
When Charles was tragically killed his wife was expecting a child. Recently we made contact with Ann Raub, the daughter he never knew, who now lives in Ohio USA
We would like to say a special thank you to Robert Allen & William Manton Baxter who kindly gave up their time to meet & share with us their knowledge, & help us piece together this family story, & reunite Alfred & Ann in November 2026
We’ll come back to more of this story throughout these directions but, having set the scene…
Let’s Walk!
1. Upton is a really small hamlet so please be careful where you park…
One of the residents of the village is Keith, the 90 year old ex gamekeeper, who was taken out of the mines of Yorkshire & brought down to the estate by the Fitzwilliam family. It was a privilege to meet & listen to his stories of his life working on the estate – we’ll come back to him shortly
2. Turn left through the gate…
…& walk towards the Church, where we were met by William Manton Baxter, Treasurer & Trustee St. Kyneburgha Building Preservation Trust who kindly gave us a private tour of the church and shared many historical facts & stories with us
3. St John the Baptist Church, which has been handed back to the Churches Commission, was built in 1120 as a daughter church to St Kyneburgha, Castor. It became a separate parish in 1851, & in 1903 was united with Sutton. It is now part of the Benefice of Castor with Sutton & Upton with Marholm, & thereby retains its close historical links with Castor Church
The inside is very interesting from a historical & architectural perspective. Towards the end of the 12th century, a North Aisle was added…
The Dove tomb is impressive. The Dove family rose to prominence through Thomas Dove (nicknamed Queen Elizabeth I’s ‘silver dove’), who served as the Bishop of Peterborough
4. Also in the church is a painting by a local villager of a Lancaster Bomber. What’s poignant is, although the church is no longer used, on the 80th anniversary of the crash the bells were rung in memory of the crew
Come out of the Church & walk round to the back of the graveyard wall to find a row of gravestones…
These are the graves of Keith, the gamekeeper’s, dogs. When he passes, Keith has permission to be buried within the graveyard
5. Come back out of the church, turn right & walk up the track…
Continue along this track for quite a while passing under a large pylon
6. Have a look to your left in the gaps between the trees to find a couple of interesting items…firstly a Trig Point…
…& then the ruins of a large concrete platform & a derelict tower. Keith informed us that this was once a lookout tower & that search lights were mounted on the platform
7. After passing a ‘bay’ on the left, look for a footpath sign on the right…
Turn right & walk along the grassy track keeping the ditch on your right
8. Walk into the woods at the end & turn right to arrive at a gate which is the entrance to Castor Hanglands National Nature Reserve…
“Castor Hanglands is a 222 acre biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. The history of the area goes back over 2,000 years & the western boundary follows King Street, a Roman Road connecting Castor & Bourne.
Castor Hanglands wood is thought to have existed for over 1,000 years: the woodland in Castor is mentioned in the Domesday Book & the name ‘hangra’ is Old English for a wood on a hill. The woods later became part of the Mediaeval hunting Forest of Nassaburgh
The grassland, scrub & wetland areas of the reserve are part of Ailsworth Heath. This land was ploughed around 800 years ago, leaving distinct ridges & furrows, some of which can still be seen today
In about 1350, cultivation was abandoned, & the Heath became common land, grazed by sheep, cattle & ponies belonging to commoners in the village of Ailsworth. The Heath was later celebrated in the writings of Helpston’s Northamptonshire ‘peasant poet’, John Clare; who was the first person to record many of the plants, birds & other wildlife on the site”
It’s called ‘Emmonsail’s Heath in Winter’
“I love to see the old heath’s withered brake
Mingle its crimpled leaves with furze & ling
While the old heron from the lonely lake
Starts slow and flaps his melancholy wing
And oddling crow in idle motion swing
On the half-rotten ash tree’s topmost twig
Besides whose trunk the gypsy makes his bed
Up flies the bouncing woodcock from the brig
Where a black quagmire quakes beneath the tread
The fieldfare chatter in the whistling thorn
And for the haw round fields and closen rove
And coy bumbarrels, twenty in a drove
Flitdown the hedge rows in the frozen plain
And hang on little twigs and start again”
9. Follow the track & pass through another gate onto the Heath…
“In 1953 the remaining areas of woodland & heath were declared as one of Britain’s first National Nature Reserves. For centuries the open grassland on Ailsworth Heath was grazed by sheep & cattle. This traditional management allowed many grasses & wild flowers to survive
A profusion of wild flowers such as bird’s foot trefoil, rock-rose, harebell, ox-eye daisy & hay rattle may be seen on the drier soils of the limestone. Wetter ground on the clay is richer in grasses, but other plants such as adder’s-tongue fern & meadowsweet are also found. Butterflies such as common blue, meadow brown & brown argus can be seen in summer feeding on the wild flowers. Common grazing ended by the 1930’s & today Natural England use traditional breeds to maintain the grassland
A range of typical woodland birds are found including nuthatch, treecreeper, tawny owl & woodcock. Woodland butterflies present include speckled wood, purple hairstreak & white admiral”
10. Pass through the gate in the picture below & turn right…
“A large number of rare insects have been recorded, many of them living in dead & decaying wood. Old coppice stools, with their gnarled bases, rot-holes & fallen limbs, are especially good for these, as well as for fungi, mosses & lichens. Small areas of the woodland are still managed by traditional coppicing, cutting the trees on a rotational basis every 20-30 years. The remaining woodland is left to develop naturally
Fallow deer are numerous in the area, especially in the autumn & winter – we saw several. The smaller muntjac deer are also fairly common. Large numbers of deer can cause damage to the woodland, killing saplings & shrubs and reducing the number of bluebells & other woodland flowers”
11. This is a truly wonderful place & the track we are following is straight & well marked…
“In parts of the reserve the water table lies just below ground level making the land boggy for much of the year. There are also a number of ponds throughout the reserve which support many aquatic plants & animals
Eighteen species of dragonfly have been recorded as well as all three species of British newt. Frogs, toads & grass snakes can also be found”
12. Pass through several gates but just keep going straight, following the markers…
…to eventually exit the reserve
13. Walk along the grassy track to the crossroads…
…and stop. Does the footpath marker look like a cross to you? Because where you’re now standing was the crash site of the Lancaster Bomber
14. On that fateful evening…
Pilot: F/O. Charles Leslie Makewell 154763 RAFVR Age 21. Killed
Fl/Eng: FI/Sgt. John Ogilvy Edwards 1900724 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
Nav: F/O. Thomas Mulby Watson 164281 RAFVR Age 22. Killed
Air/Bmr: F/O. Edward Robert Turvey 163561 RAFVR Age 34. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Alan Paul Telford Henry 2204861 RAFVR Age 19. Killed
Air/Gn: Sgt. John William Salmon 1864687 RAFVR Age 19. Killed
Air/Gn: Sgt. Ernest Holmes Winzar 1865130 RAFVR Age 31. Killed
If you have a chance please visit Twinwood Air Museum near Bedford. Not only does it have some amazing displays, but was where Major Glenn Miller took off from, never to be seen again
It also hosts a permanent display dedicated to the tragic story of the crew onboard the Lancaster NG270 on 11th December 1944…
15. It was a special day to take Alfred (age 89) to Twinwood to meet Robert who led the excavation at the crash site in August 1993. Alfred had known about Charles’ death all his life, but wasn’t sure of where, when or why it had happened
Robert was able to share his knowledge of the accident & talk us through the display he had created. He’d also met some of the relatives of other crew members & it was a fascinating day for all of us
16. To continue the walk turn right along the track…
…& follow it round to the right looking for a bridge in the left hedge
17. Bear right & then left to walk through the farmyard & out of the gate towards the village again, stopping to see an unusual stone in the field on your right…
What you’re looking at is a mid 17th century astronomical sundial
18. Pass through the gate to arrive back at the start of this walk
So…who knew that one of our family had a link with Northamptonshire & it’s been an amazing journey to discover his life & now be in touch with his daughter who visited Twinwood recently to learn more about her father who sadly died serving his Country before she was born
Here he is, second from the left on his Wedding Day…
His daughter Ann (first on the left) visited Twinwood in September 2026
That’s the end of our walk around this area where we were able to piece together more of our family history & this unknown connection with Northamptonshire
In common with many airfields, you’ll hear the chirping of ‘The Skylark’ when walking around & therefore it’s fitting to finish with the words of the poem of the same name, written by renowned Northamptonshire poet, John Clare who is buried at nearby Helpston
The rolls and harrows lie at rest beside
The battered road; and spreading far and wide
Above the russet clods, the corn is seen
Sprouting its spiry points of tender green,
Where squats the hare, to terrors wide awake,
Like some brown clod the harrows failed to break.
Opening their golden caskets to the sun,
The buttercups make schoolboys eager run,
To see who shall be first to pluck the prize—
Up from their hurry, see, the skylark flies,
And o’er her half-formed nest, with happy wings
Winnows the air, till in the cloud she sings,
Then hangs a dust-spot in the sunny skies,
And drops, and drops, till in her nest she lies,
Which they unheeded passed—not dreaming then
That birds which flew so high would drop agen
To nests upon the ground, which anything
May come at to destroy. Had they the wing
Like such a bird, themselves would be too proud,
And build on nothing but a passing cloud!
As free from danger as the heavens are free
From pain and toil, there would they build and be,
And sail about the world to scenes unheard
Of and unseen—Oh, were they but a bird!
So think they, while they listen to its song,
And smile and fancy and so pass along;
While its low nest, moist with the dews of morn,
Lies safely, with the leveret, in the corn.
Go Walk!