Page 48 - Phonebox Magazine July 2014

Phonebox Ramblings
This is another great walk, with views across to Castle Ashby house.
It is 4.8 miles with three stiles, so takes about 2 hours. Grendon is reached from the A509 via the centre of
Bozeat, along Easton Lane and then through Easton Maudit. There are also refreshments at the public house in Grendon.
The walk starts at the church, but please park carefully at the northern (wider end) of Main Street, or park in The Half Moon’s car park (if you have first cleared it with the landlord).
Originally meaning “Green Hill”, Grendon was once owned by Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror, and she also owned Earls Barton.
1. Cross Main Road and proceed into St Mary’s church yard (The gargoyles on the four corners of the tower represent the four evangelists: a man’s head for St Matthew, a lion for St Mark, a bull for St Luke and an eagle for St John) and then exit on to Church Way. Keeping right, follow Church Way round and past Station Road, then, keeping to the right hand side of the road, look for a footpath between the houses. Follow this to a kissing gate leading to fields, and bear diagonally left acrossthem. With views of Castle Ashby in the distance, join a lane.
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2. Turn left and proceed along the lane (caution here as
it can be quite busy) past Parkhill Farm on your left,
to a T junction with Yardley Road and turn right. In
about 100 yards, turn left into a field and follow the
path across a bridge. Shortly, you will go through more
fields and onto a lane opposite Limes Farm. Turn left
here into Easton Maudit to the junction with Easton
Way, (on the triangle at the junction is the hollow trunk 12 of an ancient oak tree, which now has a steel frame
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inside to support it).
3. Cross the road to the church of St Peter and St Paul and then find the footpath just to the left of the church. In 150 yards, the left of the path is the site of the original demolished manor house, but all that remains now is the site’s of ancient fish ponds as shown on the area’s OS maps.
4. The path now bears slightly to the right, and in 500 yards or so cross more fields and look out for a crossways of paths. Turn left (this is in a field not near a hedge or boundary). This path heads slightly diagonally across three fields for about a kilometre. In the bottom right hand corner go through a gap in the hedge and follow the right hand perimeter of this field.
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5. Walk through a hedge and diagonally right to look for a
foot path sign and a stile (with a steep step down to the
other side). Keep the hedge to the right and proceed 2 to join Chequers Lane, then turn left and walk up the
lane to Main Street and return to your car.
48 Phonebox Magazine