Salcey Forest Circular

Salcey Forest Circular

Distance - 10.2 Km - 6.35miles
Time Taken - 2hrs 10mins
Assent - 74m

Salcey Forest is a former hunting forest in the South of Northamptonshire near Newport Pagnell and was today's destination.  I had been on a short course at work till 2 but had a free afternoon for a wander.  There wasn't enough time for anything too long so the 6 miles of the 'Woodpecker' walk in Salcey forest seemed to fit the bill.  Also after such a dry March we had recently had some rain so I figured the ground would be better underfoot in a forest.

That theory was correct for about 5/6's of the walk...

The forest.

A forest walk gives a different feel to a walk in open countryside or the hills, there are no views or open long skies.  They do however feel more 'wild' than wandering round the arable fields of the home counties.  Near a nice cafe and car park the forest was anything but quiet, with wild kids and families enjoying the freedom of the holidays and the open forest.  However after about a mile I saw few people, the nice lady carving her and her kids name into a tree were the last people I saw for about an hour.

Grafham Water Circular

Grafham Water Circular

Distance - 13.7 Km - 8.5miles
Time Taken - 3hrs
Assent - 86m

With the good weather due to end abruptly this afternoon I decided to head to the closest thing to the seaside in the area!  Bedford is one of those places that are pretty much as far from the sea that you can find.  So it was off to Grafham Water before it pee'd it down.  Grafham is a big man made reservoir sat in open countryside, so good for a nice circular walk around the edge.

It's a big lake...

The walk it self was very easy to navigate along an obvious path with a helpful landmark to work from.  Most of the path follows a cycle route so the track is wide and is mostly in good condition.  It does mean that in summer it will be very busy (Hire bikes are available, along with parking for over 1000 cars...).  The land is owned by Anglia water and this means (along with the cycle route) there are more H&S and warning signs than should be allowed in the countryside!  Every slope had a warning to cyclists to dismount...