A lovely walk around the Cambridgeshire border.
(D) Start from Ellesmere Centre Car Park Grid Ref 641583. Park at the far end of the car park and walk to the end of the tennis court, keeping it on your left. Cross the road at the footpath post. Go through wooden kissing gate and continue southeast downhill between the paddocks. Go straight through the kissing gate and over the training gallop, and over the little wooden bridge, and take a dog leg to continue straight on towards Marmer’s Wood, walking beside the ditch. This is stewardship land you you could well see meadow pipits, woodpeckers, skylarks, bee orchids, badgers and deer – in the spring the bluebells in the wood are a delight. At the wood keep right to the corner, and over the little bridge and continue along the path for half a mile, with the wood on your left and paddocks on the right.
(1)At the corner of the next wood, Basefield Wood, turn left, and follow the path northeast, keeping the wood on the right. Deer are regularly seen here. Bear right at the tennis court and walk between the paddock and the hedge to Stetchworth Ley. Turn right along the road, past the terraced house.
(2) After 100 yards, take the path with a finger post northeast, alongside yet another wood. At the end of the wood the path turns left. Follow the line of poplars for 100 yards and turn right over the little concrete bridge. Follow this path around the field. Do not follow the path to the road, but turn right at the kissing gate in the corner, into the paddock, you will clearly see the water tower ahead and to the left. Walk straight through the paddock and exit through the kissing gate onto a driveway.
(3) Bear left to the road. (If you turn right along the road here, you will see The Blackbirds pub on the left in quarter of a mile). However, turn left towards the water tower. Continue round the double bend. Take the footpath on your right between the first two houses (not the bungalows) and then follow the path diagonally northwest across the field. Go straight in to the wood and follow the path to the right. Officially at the stream the path turns left and continues along the side of the wood, but unofficially most people continue along the path, which in the spring is a carpet of bluebells. The path runs parallel to the start of Devil’s Dyke.
(4) At the corner exiting the wood, turn left, with the field on your left and the hedge on your right and continue in a southeasterly direction. Continue straight over the track and through the gap in the hedge. Immediately turn right and follow the path which then turns left across the middle of the field. The path takes you over a little wooden bridge and back to the Ellesmere Sports field with the tennis courts at the far end.
Waypoints :
D/A : km 0 - alt. 107 m - Ellesmere Centre
1 : km 1.54 - alt. 112 m - Turn left at Basefield Wood
2 : km 2.46 - alt. 116 m - Take footpath northeast
3 : km 3.56 - alt. 118 m - Bear left onto road
4 : km 4.56 - alt. 105 m - Turn left out of wood
D/A : km 5.48 - alt. 107 m - Ellesmere Centre
Visorando and this author cannot be held responsible in the case of accidents or problems occuring on this walk.
Global average : 4.44/5
Number of opinions : 6
Clarity of route description : 4.67/5
Clarity of route map : 4.5/5
Walk interest : 4.17/5
Global average : 4.67 / 5
Date of walk
: 15/06/22
Clarity of route description
: Very good
Clarity of route map
: Very good
Walk interest
: Good
A beautiful walk that I would happily walk again.
Global average : 4.67 / 5
Date of walk
: 15/10/20
Clarity of route description
: Very good
Clarity of route map
: Very good
Walk interest
: Good
Directions were clear & easy to follow, providing more detail when necessary. Very glad we did the slight detour to The Blackbirds pub, hose provided to clean your muddy boots before entry!
Global average : 3.67 / 5
Date of walk
: 23/07/20
Clarity of route description
: Good
Clarity of route map
: Average
Walk interest
: Good
The instructions when entering the wood after point 3 are a little ambiguous. Do not go up the wooden steps on to the dyke but bear left.
Point 4: The instructions for leaving the wood are a little unclear. There is an earlier opportunity to leave the wood, obvious and indicated by a way marker post, but this should be ignored.
Global average : 4.33 / 5
Date of walk
: 19/04/20
Clarity of route description
: Good
Clarity of route map
: Good
Walk interest
: Very good
Got a little lost after the water tower, taking the path on the right between the 2 houses. Did not see a stream, but managed to find my way back past the beautiful horses and fields of clover taking me back to Stetchworth via Strollers Way.
Global average : 4.67 / 5
Date of walk
: 08/10/19
Clarity of route description
: Very good
Clarity of route map
: Very good
Walk interest
: Good
Nice walk. I linked together the Dullingham Circular and Stretchworth Circular walks to make it longer A few sections of the path were a bit cut up and muddy due to horses, but nothing too difficult to avoid
Global average : 4.67 / 5
Date of walk
: 28/06/19
Clarity of route description
: Very good
Clarity of route map
: Very good
Walk interest
: Good
Lovely walk through varied rolling countryside - paddocks,fields and woodland. Instructions were easy to follow and worked well.
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The GPS track and description are the property of the author.