#26 Great Barford and Roxton the Sequel.

#26 Great Barford and Roxton

Distance - 7.19 miles
Ascent - 28 metres

Earlier in the week I did a 5 mile walk along the Ouse with a loop round Roxton.  I thought I'd come back and do the full Great Barford/Tempsford loop, mainly before the nettles get much higher (they are growing and growing!).  The weather was perfect, I arrived with plenty of time, I was in no rush, what could go wrong?

The Ouse



The section between Great Barford and Roxton is fairly well known to me now.  It's a flat walk along the river, it's quite nice and easy to follow.  As I mentioned last time the rubbish in the trees does detract a little but it is/was offset by the wildlife on show, swans, ducks, birds (I'm such a twitcher...) and butterflies.  The river is very slow (artificially so due to the weirs and locks) and you would be hard pressed to work out which direction it flows in for most of the walk.

#25 Great Barford to Roxton

#25 Great Barford to Roxton

Distance - 6.21 miles
Ascent - 11 metres

Back to regular haunts down the River Great Ouse.  On a nice Saturday afternoon I had planned just to take a wander to Roxton Locks and back.  Should of been about 5 miles long but I decided to extend it slightly with a walk through the village of Roxton.

The river walk was as quiet as usual and it wont be long before the nettles invade again.  The river bank was showing signs of the wet winter, a clear brown 'tide' mark along with (unfortunately) quite a bit of rubbish caught in the tree branches.  It spoilt to whole calm river ambiance to be honest, no thoughts of a wind in the willows style of scene when their are carrier bags blowing in the willows.

The lock and weir had more water flowing through it than I had seen in a while (I avoided the path in the floods), last year it was more like a trickle over the weir.  This year there was more of a rolling rumble.  Much more exciting (if weirs can be exciting to a passer by, more exciting to a boat owner I'd guess!).

The village of Roxton was very pleasant and quiet.  Didn't spot a pub or a shop, but that's quite normal these days.  However even on a quiet Saturday you never escape the 'hum' of the A1.  Would be nice to live in the middle of nowhere someday!

Well a short and sweet posting!

Old Familiar

Great Barford - Roxton Locks - Great Barford

Distance - 5.28 Miles (8.5Km)
Time Taken - 1Hrs 40mins
Ascent - 5m (really!)

Summer finally coincided with a few hours of spare time and it was off to the River Ouse. I only had 2 hours to get a walk in and and get home to get ready for work (lovely 12 hour night shift).  The walk to Roxton has become a bit of a go-to walk, I don't need a map, it's flat and the parking is easy and free.  I really need a dog to gain the full advantage but it serves for now as a way of getting a few miles in.



Roxton Locks

Been a while...

Been a while...

Well I've not been doing much apart from working and getting fat (ter), so today was the start of 7 weeks of walking before my holiday in the USA.  I was thinking of doing the Bright Angel trail in the Grand Canyon, but looking at the ascent involved I'm having second thoughts.  It's not a stupid amount of ascent and shouldn't be too hot in October but I'm chunky and hills are evil.

So last week I had a few wanders on the moors above Whitworth, Lancashire and had a nice walks around Brown Wardle and Cowm Reservoir.  I didn't feel to bad apart from a midge attack that has left me itching bites for a week.

Today was mainly spent sleeping (finished work at 7am) so I fancied a shortish walk in the sun.  The 5 miles along the River Great Ouse was the choice as it is easy, involves no navigation issues and is quite nice.

Pity it didn't turn out that way.  After about mile the path was blocked by log/felled tree on a bridge (quite random) and then head high thistles and waist high nettles.  I was in shorts so the path soon became impassable and was abandoned to walk in the field (the corn had been cut so nothing was trampled).

The next section goes between a house and the river, with the path following a narrow flat area between a fence and the drop off to the river.  This was completely blocked by nettles.  So I turned back and the 5 mile walk came in at just under 2.  It really peed me off, if I was in trousers I might of gone for it.  As it was I skulked away back to whence I came. 

And Finally...

Great Barford - Tempsford - Blunham Loop.

Distance - 11.4Km
Time Taken - 2Hrs 10mins
Ascent - 22m

After 2 failed attempts (1 due to bad admin, 1 due to plumber!) I finally got this loop out of the way.  Overall the walk is very gentle (a whole 22m of ascent!) and a pleasent walk on the whole.  Lots of wildlife to see along the two rivers, I have seen Kingfishers there in previous years.

The walk is mainly along the Great Ouse and the River Ivel, the Ouse is a slow moving navigationable river (hence the locks and weirs), whilst the Ivel is much smaller but has some flow.  The Ouse on previous days was quite bland and grey, the sun helped bring out a bit of colour and it felt like a spring day.  The walk to Roxton locks is gentle, hardly taxing and like all this route easy to follow.  In a few places the Ouse appears to be a dirty river, with rubbish caught in the reed beds and on some tree branches but mostly it's just a gentle sweeping river.

Deja Vu

Ever get the feeling a walk will never happen?  After the last failed attempt to do a 7 mile loop round Great Barford, Tempsford and the Great Ouse, I attempted the walk yet again.  And yet again events conspired to work against me.  This time a call after 2 and a half miles from the landlords plumber forced the change!   Takes him weeks to come round... and now he calls!

Made it slightly further this time and actually managed to make it over the Great Ouse!  Another overcast day made the surroundings surprisingly dreary with most things appearing beige.

The path is pretty good until the lock, where there was short section of wet claggy clay muddyness on an angle.  Nothing that hardcore walkers can't overcome it just made your boots twice their original weight and size!

Abort Abort

After a few days off doing absolutely nothing I decided to do a short walk along the Great Ouse and the River Ivel, about 7 miles (give or take).  However due to being badly organised I didn't start the walk until 15.50, so I only had an hour before dusk.  In the end I wandered down from Great Barford to Roxton Lock along the Great Ouse.  It was a bit chilly, overcast and a bit miserable.  Snow was on the way and it seemed that everyone and everything had hunkered down for the night.

Saying all that it was a nice 2 and a half miles there and the same back, as opposed to the full 7 mile loop.  It was getting dark before I got back to the car and the snow started 15 mins after.  As walks go it was a bit pathetic in length, but still good to get out and about!