#39 Barton Hills

10.87 Miles
273 Metres Ascent

Back into the Barton Hills for a muddy adventure!  Bedfordshire generally has two types of mud, claggy boot clinging mud across some fields and slippy slidey gloop along tracks.  This walk happily had both!  The day was unseasonably warm above 10c, so I managed with just a shirt.  Layering is proving complicated this season.

From Deacon Hill

I followed the same route as this walk in May.  With a slight variation up to the top of Deacon Hill to eat a pork pie, well you can't eat a pork pie without reaching the top of something can you!  This hill has great views over towards Bedford, and could be a good wild camp spot, although the beer cans in the bushes suggest it wouldn't be quiet in summer...!

You're not in Kansas anymore...

Follow the yellow planted road, follow the... ok you get the idea....

#36 Win Hill and Ladybower

9.44 Miles
433 Metres Ascent

Today was somewhat of an experiment.  I was driving back down south, and usually take the motorway, by the time I leave and get home I have 'lost' a day.  So today, I was going to go home via the Peak District, which is actually a short distance route, but about 1 hour longer.  This meant I could do a reasonable walk and drive south.

I picked a relatively easy walk up Win Hill and then back through the woods to walk along Ladybower.  I had done this walk a few years ago so knew the route without much (any...) planning.  Parking at Hatherdene, I wandered down past the dam towards Yorkshire bridge.  I had 2 choices to get up Win Hill, the steep, muddy, slippy, Parkin Clough path, or a slightly less muddy path towards New Barn before cutting back towards Win Hill.

#35 Watergrove and Clay Pots Hill

7.64 Miles
485 Metres Ascent

It was an early start on a cold day.  I was out before 8am into a cold dawn.  The thermometer said 2 degrees C and it certainly had a chill to it.  This was a quick walk with the limited time I had available, it was the Rugby World Cup final in the afternoon so I was off to Old Trafford for the first time in years.

The plan was to head to Watergrove then follow the Pennine Bridleway towards Clay hill, a quick stop at the shelter and then back to the Bridleway.  For once I followed the plan!

#34 Brampton Wood + Grafham Water

14 Miles
144 metres Ascent

I really wasn't in the walking mood.  4 hours sleep then into work for a 2 hour team meeting wasn't the ideal preparation.  I had taken the walking gear to work so the nagging in my head took control and off the Grafham we went.  I had a walk in mind, a variation of the usual Grafham loop, that had appeared in 'Country Walking'.  It was tagged as challenging, though this was just because of the distance (8-10 miles is CW's standard distance). 

Starting in Brampton Wood, Cambridgeshire's 2nd largest wood no less, the walk followed the 'main ride' through the ancient woodland.  Apparently the wood was completely felled during one of the world wars, so I'm not sure how it qualifies as ancient, I guess I'm missing something?  After 10 minutes I broke out of the wood into farmland, maybe being Cambridgeshire's 2nd largest wood isn't the highest bar...