Ravensdon

Ravensdon

Distance - 6.59 Miles (10.9Km)
Time Taken - 2Hrs 26mins
Ascent - 91m

Second walk in 4 days?  It's almost like I'm in training!  Ok so I am making a concerted effort to get out and about (and to write about it).  I was a bit late getting out, so I had about 2.5 hours of daylight left, which was leaving things a little tight.  In the event I took longer than I wanted due to a couple of areas on the path being overgrown.  Shorts and nettles do not mix well.

Typical Bedfordshire landscape

 

For the first mile I felt a bit achy, which is a poor effort really.  The path is easy to follow along field boundaries and pretty flat.  Even the 'hills' are not much more than long slopes.  The wet and warm weather has led to an eruption in nettles and thistles.  These often cover the whole field edge forcing the walker along the edge of crops (harvested recently so not an issue today).  Walking along the 'stubble' gives a satisfying crunch, though I'm not sure how good it is for rolling ankles.

After about 2 miles in I came across a number of obstructions/annoyances.  First was a bridge over a stream partially weeded over.  The bridge leads to a path sandwiched between a fence and hedge, prime nettle land!  However I couldn't see this path until I crossed the bridge, if the path in impassable I'd have to get back over the bridge.  I decided to risk it, I wasn't in the mood to bail out of the walk already.

 



 

The first part of this path was weed free, but that soon changed as I crossed a dodgy stile (by dodgy, I mean half rotted/broken).  The next section was blocked, but as it led to a corner gate I decided to walk in the field, I know terrible behavior.  The field was pasture land and the cows did take an interest which made me walk a little faster.  The gate led to another blocked section of path, this wasn't going very well.  So back into the field I went and headed for the next gate, only it wasn't a gate but a cross country horse jump, this meant I could roll over the top of it with little chance of damage (to me or the fence).

 

Theres a path in there somewhere...

After this the path was clear, wide and easy to follow up the edge of Great Wood.  There are some nice views over soft rolling hills and it's easy to feel that you are away from the town, despite being only a mile away, as the crow flies.  A couple of hawks/falcons patrolled above the field, there are buzzards in the area too but I didn't spot any.  They are surprisingly big and look like a bird of prey should do, though why I should be surprised I don't know, maybe it's because the English countryside is generally so tame.

 

Ravensdon Church



 

Ravensdon village is a mix of the old and new houses, not picturesque but pleasant and quiet.  None of the houses appear to be numbered and all have names, ranging from traditional to quite obscure (Kaituna to name but one).  Must be fun being a postman.

 

The route leads from Ravensdon down past a golf course into Mowsbury park, which is less a park than a series of paths between football pitches.  All in all not a bad walk, nice rolling hills and a few views over Bedford.

 

Views over Bedford (not best pic...)

I think I might be writing to the council again highlighting a few issues.  Must be an age thing, writing complaints to the council must be a bad sign of things to come!

 

Not sure that is allowed...