Page 40 - Phonebox Magazine December 2014

Rambling away to Woburn
This is an easy and interesting circular walk from the car park behind the Inn at Woburn; it’s not often that you may pass elephants and wallabies when out walking in this country. Coming through from Woburn Sands turn left off the A5130
at the cross roads in Woburn, and then right in to the car park opposite the church.
Duration: circa 5.5 miles about 2 hours 30 minutes and mostly flat with a couple of slight ascents and descents and two stiles.
There are plenty of refreshments in Woburn to suit all tastes and purses.
1. Fromthecarparkturnlefttothecrossroadsandthenrightthrough the town centre (keep to the right hand path), cross the A4012 and shortly bear right into Birchmoor Lane. Follow this past the pretty cottages on the left, soon the track becomes a path and at a sort of T junction turn right and pass in front of Birchmoor Farm house, cross the main drive and then through the gate towards a small spinney.
2. Just before the road turn right onto a path through a small wood, this path then crosses diagonally to the left across two fields to a gate onto Horsepool Lane, (at this gate is a plaque to a WW2 Hampden bomber that crashed near here killing two of the crew on 9th September 1941). Once through the gate turn right and then right again on to the Crawley Road, by the houses cross the road and go through the big gate on the left of Crawley Lodge and enter the grounds of the Woburn Estate.
3. The signage for the paths here is a little difficult to see, however initially you are walking directly away from the road after the lodge bearing slightly to the right, you soon cross a road (ignore the track that leads straight on) but keep slightly to the right through the trees until the path joins a road coming from the right at an angle, now keep left on this road towards a large gate, just before the gate there is a signed path to the left.
4. This path climbs up a little through the woodlands (there are wallabies to your right in the Australian Walk through enclosure) and then bears left a little to a metal gate, once through go right and then almost immediately left, you are now on a path that passes between a new elephant house on your left and the paddocks on the right with views across the Safari park and its animals. At the end of this path turn right after the gate to pass across the front of the main entrance to the Safari Park. (The two lion statues here are from the 1924 British Empire Exhibition).
5. Having crossed the entrance there is a path that goes through a gate into the woods to the left of some disused kennels (it is not clearly signed, but is straight on), this path climbs up through woodlands to emerge on to a road. Cross the road and turn right and climb the double stile by a house; the path, which is mown in the grass, continues to wind a little to the left and eventually you leave the road going down through bracken (there could well be deer here) and eventually coming to another road (which leaves the park over a cattle grid through a gate, but ignore this).
6. Turn right here and along the road for a little way and then cross the road (the path is signed) gradually moving away to the left from the road the path undulates down and crosses a small access lane (possibility of more deer here, the Abbey keep a variety of species) to head down through the park towards the Horse Pond, and then the stable area of the Abbey and also the paying entry point to your left for entry into the Abbey grounds for vehicles.
40 Phonebox Magazine
11
11
1
2
22
2