{"id":1034,"date":"2012-11-27T13:42:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-27T13:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=1034"},"modified":"2014-11-22T15:18:01","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T15:18:01","slug":"hit-the-north-stage-5-peterborough-to-stamford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2012\/11\/hit-the-north-stage-5-peterborough-to-stamford\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit the North! \u2013 Stage 5: Peterborough to Stamford"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is stage five of the\u00a0<a title=\"Hit the North!\" href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/2012\/09\/hit-the-north\/\">Hit The North expedition<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This was something of an epic hike, heroic even, especially as night started to fall. I covered 17 miles across the north of the Cambridgeshire fens to the southern tip of the (relatively) hilly Lincolnshire uplands. The walk took in rivers, woodland, potentially dangerous animals (kinda), trespass and night hiking by compass.<\/p>\n<p>Adventure on a grand scale! \u00a0Adventures close to home.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msa=0&amp;msid=205759860622319968049.0004ced8502ec43b71392&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=52.591369,-0.352936&amp;spn=0.250281,0.411987&amp;z=10&amp;output=embed\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><small><\/small>It was a beautiful autumn day as I left Ely for Peterborough. \u00a0Due to various delays I arrived in Peterborough at around midday which meant I had only four and a half hours or so of daylight for walking, with this in mind I had a torch in my pocket, just in case.<\/p>\n<p>The walk to the riverside is only five minutes or so from the station. \u00a0The river Nene west of\u00a0Peterborough\u00a0is a completely different looking river to that of the east of the city. \u00a0A wonderful riot of trees and hedgerows showing their autumn colours, birds singing and swooping about.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The River Nene, west of Peterborough\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-PCsmjBFtpzk\/UKaJ_nZW1MI\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/M5u4ec3CVzg\/s640\/DSCN1923.JPG\" alt=\"The River Nene, west of Peterborough\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Footpath along the River Nene, west of Peterborough<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I was on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ramblers.org.uk\/info\/paths\/name\/n\/nene\">Nene Valley Way<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 384px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nene Valley Way\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-VxIfuoAJbtA\/UKaKV2TcHII\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/b1v63rr-PV8\/s512\/DSCN1935.JPG\" alt=\"Nene Valley Way\" width=\"384\" height=\"512\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nene Valley Way<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This lovely riverside walk continued for nearly five miles&#8230;<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"River Nene\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-Q_HAW5o5efQ\/UKaJ_tZy1TI\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/u19Ns-NpaIg\/s640\/DSCN1924.JPG\" alt=\"River Nene\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">River Nene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On crossing a bridge I was given a guard of honour by local wildfowl&#8230; <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Birds on a bridge\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-QBFPPH_oleM\/UKaKGjEy3qI\/AAAAAAAAC6k\/hiq7DPaSshM\/s512\/DSCN1926.JPG\" alt=\"Birds on a bridge\" width=\"478\" height=\"512\" \/>The local council had put in boardwalks along some of the path and benches appeared every now and again. While it was tempting to stop for a bit and enjoy the view, I was very aware of the movement of \u00a0the sun to the west. \u00a0The walk was going to become a race against time at some point.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 384px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nene boardwalk\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-RejU7GHdZ8I\/UKaKIhXdaeI\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/PKLsgXC4bso\/s512\/DSCN1928.JPG\" alt=\"Nene boardwalk\" width=\"384\" height=\"512\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nene boardwalk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Milton Ferry bridge was the landmark that signalled the end of my river walk. \u00a0From here the Nene flows on westwards to Northampton where it meets up with the Grand Union Canal. We&#8217;ll meet up again at that stage of my <a title=\"King\u2019s Cross to Birmingham via the Grand Union Canal\" href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/2012\/09\/kings-cross-to-tring-along-the-grand-union-canal\/\">King\u2019s Cross to Birmingham canal<\/a>\u00a0expedition.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wansford, Milton Ferry Bridge on the River Nene\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-i9d6Lb9kwV0\/UKaKPcWvlwI\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/kdZW2DaIbd8\/s640\/DSCN1931.JPG\" alt=\"Wansford, Milton Ferry Bridge on the River Nene\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wansford, Milton Ferry Bridge on the River Nene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Turning north from the Nene I took the interestingly named &#8216;Landy Green Way&#8217; to the village of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Castor,_Cambridgeshire\">Castor<\/a>. \u00a0The Landy path apparently pre-dates Roman times, the signpost below is probably from that period.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Landy Green Way\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/-0spjNglbp-0\/UKaKWq3T4QI\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/mV_kKCgD4jA\/s640\/DSCN1938.JPG\" alt=\"Landy Green Way\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Landy Green Way<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was here that I noticed contours, (almost) hilly regions. \u00a0The road to Castor\u00a0went down a slope! \u00a0This was thrilling for a hiker used to the fenny lowlands. I passed some attractive pubs in Castor (the village even has its own <a href=\"http:\/\/www.castorales.co.uk\/\">brewery<\/a>!) but was too wary of the shortening daylight to stop for refreshments. \u00a0Instead I sat on a wall and drank from my flask of luke-warm tea.<\/p>\n<p>From Castor I took a footbridge over the busy A47 and entered the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Castor_Hanglands_NNR\">Castor Hanglands National Nature Reserve<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The entrance to Castor Hanglands\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-RDu8jZWtJOw\/UKaKc_A0S4I\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/zqBPsKKjSjk\/s640\/DSCN1941.JPG\" alt=\"The entrance to Castor Hanglands\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entrance to Castor Hanglands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And thus I began the woodland stage of my hike. \u00a0The Castor Hanglands are lovely and looked lush and verdant in the late afternoon sun. I passed horses grazing&#8230;<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Grazing horses - Castor Hanglands\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-WNqoTkUUK0M\/UKaKdr31RmI\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/AmMN0MiMOqI\/s640\/DSCN1943.JPG\" alt=\"Grazing horses - Castor Hanglands\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grazing horses &#8211; Castor Hanglands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8230;and cow\/bulls with scary horns. \u00a0The one below blocked my way, I took a wide detour around him and his pals, they ignored me.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A cow\/bull thing with horns\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/-Bug3I4atru4\/UKaKjDxlitI\/AAAAAAAAC6M\/PUwAPFKyNC4\/s640\/DSCN1948.JPG\" alt=\"A cow\/bull thing with horns\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cow\/bull thing with horns &#8211; Castor Hanglands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I stopped for a rest and took a photo of myself&#8230;<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Lonesome Traveller in Castor Hanglands\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/-_K_DLMJ_iA0\/UKaKoK9GADI\/AAAAAAAAC7E\/WXrsraqcouU\/s640\/DSCN1949.JPG\" alt=\"The Lonesome Traveller in Castor Hanglands\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lonesome Traveller in Castor Hanglands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After forty minutes I arrived at the north westerly corner of the Hanglands, from there it was a short hop across a quiet road to <a href=\"http:\/\/visitwoods.org.uk\/en\/visit-woods\/Pages\/wood-details.aspx?wood=12642&amp;site=Rockingham-Forest---Southey-Wood#.ULSB06dBd5Q\">Southey Wood<\/a>. \u00a0I was starting to tire at this point so I sat down and munched my way through the last of my sandwiches.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at my watch, 3pm, an hour and a half of sunlight left. Southey Wood was far busier than the Hanglands. \u00a0Families, couples, barking dogs, litter. \u00a0I put my head down and picked up the pace, heading to the other side of the wood to a lane I had seen on the map. The lane ran alongside the wood and would take me on to the final stage of the hike.<\/p>\n<p>I arrived at my\u00a0destination\u00a0only to find a hedge between the wood and the lane, I hadn&#8217;t expected this, another example of the map not being the\u00a0territory\u00a0 \u00a0At this point in the day a hedge was not going to get in the way of me and a pint in Stamford. \u00a0I put my head down and burrowed my way on through, dragging my rucksack behind me. Brushing off twigs and other debris, I trundled a mile or so down the lane as the sun began its steady dive into the west.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the lane I noticed a sign, &#8216;Private Road&#8217; it announced. I had been trespassing! I began to whistle a Wood\u00a0Guthrie\u00a0song, it felt like the right thing to do.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1040\" height=\"780\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XaI5IRuS2aE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I began the final stage of the walk as the sun began to set.\u00a0\u00a0A Roman road\/path would take me three miles across the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.burghley.co.uk\/\">Burghley House Estate<\/a>. What did the Romans do for us? \u00a0They gave weary hikers arrow-straight paths on which to set bearings.<\/p>\n<p>I devoured my final marathon bar, finished off what was left of my water and exchanged my map for a compass and torch. \u00a0Setting my compass I strode off into the gathering gloom. Forward brave legionnaire! \u00a0A pint in a Stamford pub is calling!!<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 657px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"  \" title=\"Sunset - the race against time\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-vqRMPcD5VJE\/UKaKnFGLwRI\/AAAAAAAAC7U\/KKU_qTWuWNI\/s912\/DSCN1954.JPG\" alt=\"Sunset - the race against time\" width=\"657\" height=\"247\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Burghley Park sunset &#8211; the race against time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I made my way across fields and into woodland. \u00a0Walking into a wood at night requires a tiny bit of courage, I think there is something instinctual in us that says &#8216;uh, no, I don&#8217;t want to be here all on my own in the dark&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>I told myself there were no dangerous animals on the loose in Lincolnshire, there was nothing really to worry about other than falling into a stream, twisting my ankle and spending the night going around and around in circles.<\/p>\n<p>I checked my bearings and kept to the path. \u00a0Through the woods, across the\u00a0manicured\u00a0lawns of Burghley\u00a0Park, along the side of Stamford golf course.<\/p>\n<p>And then suddenly, I was there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Welcome to Lincolnshire&#8217;\u00a0announced\u00a0a sign, &#8216;Welcome to Stamford&#8217; said another. \u00a0I crossed the river Welland into the town and found a pub, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fancyapint.com\/pub\/kings-head\/stamford\/4150\">King&#8217;s Head<\/a> where I downed the much anticipated pint.<\/p>\n<p>Stamford looks very pretty and rather posh, it was too dark and cold to hang about and sightsee, that can be done next time.<\/p>\n<p>Next stop: the county of Rutland and town of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=2&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CEkQFjAB&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOakham&amp;ei=B8G0UJ_9NMnO0QWuo4HoAw&amp;usg=AFQjCNEiPBX7BupIAzjfkDJ9R1ViGxtHPA&amp;sig2=svoCs0HKezznw5Tb8NxqGA\">Oakham<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is stage five of the\u00a0Hit The North expedition. This was something of an epic hike, heroic even, especially as&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,26],"tags":[61,36,35,32,66,42,33,62,65,43,64,54,46],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1084,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions\/1084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}