Page 31 - Phonebox Magazine October 2012

Rambling On: A Four Churches walk from Earls Barton
A longish but very pleasant walk over rolling Northamptonshire countryside visiting churches at Earls Barton, Ecton, Cogenhoe and Whiston
Duration: circa 7.5 miles about 3.5–4 hours, a gentle walk through fields and small villages, four stiles, the walk crosses the river Nene twice and has overbridges crossing the A45. There are refreshments in Earls Barton and Ecton.
Earls Barton is situated on the B573 just off the A45 east of Northampton, parking is available in the village centre on the Square or the nearby side streets (the Coop supermarket has a two hour limit so beware).
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1. With the square behind you and All Saints church to your right walk out of the village on the left hand side via West Street to the main B573, caution here and cross over the road and turn left, very soon turn right through a kissing gate on to a footpath across a field and then with a copse on your left to a bridge across a small stream. The path keeps on across fields and up steps and through a gap in the hedge and then keeps straight on with Ecton Hall to your right, leaving the final field in the top right hand corner and along Barton Fields, a lane to the High Street.
2. Turn right here and proceed up the High Street passing the house built by John Palmer as a school for poor children in 1752, and the Three Horse Shoes Inn originally a blacksmiths who were relatives of Benjamin Franklin, turn right in to Church Way to the church of St. Mary Magdalene (there is a plaque to the Benjamin Franklin link and his relatives are buried in the church yard). Retrace your steps back to the High Street and turn left, cross the road and look for a narrow lane called West Street, turn right and follow to a kissing gate on a bend. Once through keep straight down the field to a stile that now crosses the cricket pitch, proceed slightly to the left to another stile, again keep straight down but looking to your left to a stile, turn right on to Lower Ecton Lane and cross over the road when the footpath starts opposite and cross the A45 via the overbridge, immediately after the bridge turn left into a lane and in about 100 yards or so follow this to the right with a field on your right and a spinney on your left.
3. After the spinney a track joins from the left but our path continues straight on along the track, keep on at a cross roads on to a narrower path and soon over an eighteenth century pack horse bridge, continue half right across a field towards a lock. Cross the river Nene here and into the caravan park and then over the weir, keep straight on and leave the park and up the hill into Cogenhoe, follow the road to the right to the triangular green keep to the right and on round to St Peter’s church.
4. Retrace your steps to the green and then left back round to the top of the road from the caravan park, here turn right through a gate on to a bridleway and within 10 or so yards turn left through a hedge at a sign post. Follow this path across fields, past Roe Farm buildings on your right and then on to the road, turn left here, cross over to the right and in a couple of hundred yards turn in through the hedge. Then left around the field to join the road and right into Whiston village. At the first left turn follow the road round to the right to the gate in front of you with the farm on the left which leads up to the church of St Mary the Virgin, which is on Coombe Hill. Curiously this is a church with no road access.
5. Retrace your steps down the path and back to where you joined the road and then on to the main Whiston Road, cross over this and follow a track to cross the river Nene at Whiston lock. Keep straight on though a small spinney and over a foot bridge, at the field cross half right to a large gap in the hedge go through and then up the track towards the A45, but just before a path leads off to the left but continues forward to cross the A45 on a foot bridge.
6. Continue along the track to White’s fruit and veg nursery, here you have a choice: A. continue along this track until it joins the main B573 road, cross over then continue in to Aggate Way on the right and then right in to West Street and back to the church and the Square. Alternatively: B. turn right at the nursery to the road and cross over to a stile, continue to the back left hand corner of the field where there is a bridge in to a rough field, turn left by the hedge and then right and in a few yards turn left between houses into Compton Way at the top follow the road to the right and then turn left into Station Road and back to the Square and the church
The idea behind these occasional walks is to encourage us to visit our neighbouring villages and to enjoy their surrounding countryside, the different season can greatly effect the scenery, with delightful flowers in the meadows and woodlands in spring time, and crisp clear frosty days in winter can often increase the distance you can see as well as blow away those winter cobwebs. Reversing the walks can also give different views that you might miss in one direction and add another walk to your repertoire.
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The walks can be traced using the Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps No.s: 192/207/208/223/224 which contain a wealth of information for planning walks within the Phonebox catchment area.
There may well be cattle, sheep and horses in some of the pastures, so please keep dogs on a short lead at these points, please close all the gates and take litter home.
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Phonebox Magazine 31