Castle Ashby

Summary

A very pleasant walk on easy paths that takes in woodland, riverside, open fields and, unusually for Northamptonshire, a little bit of gradient.

Statistics

Start: Castle Ashby Rural Shopping Yard

Maps: OS Explorer OL207: Newport Pagnell and Northampton South

Parking: At the shopping yard

Distance: 9.9km (about 6.2 miles)

Refreshments: The Falcon Hotel at Castle Ashby or coffee at the shopping yard.

The Walk

If you've parked at the shopping yard, walk down the track you drove in on and turn left when you reach the road. There's about a kilometre of road walking now although there is a pavement on the right hand side of the road. Pass the left hand junction and when you get to the next junction, take the road to the right and follow the track. You'll pass some houses on your left and the track veers to the right and past some farm buildings on your right. The footpath turns left here and descends before going back uphill through fields towards a small clump of trees. Walk through these and into a field where you continue on the path downwards, through a metal gate and onto a minor road. The path continues almost directly opposite and again you head down the slope towards more trees. Follow the path through these and over a small stream and then along the field boundary down towards another road. This is Whiston Road and the village of Cogenhoe is to your left.

Cross this road and the path should be obvious in the field opposite, heading slightly uphill and then bearing right before it joins Mill Lane. You'll eventually reach the River Nene but take the path to your right before crossing the river. You now need to keep the river to your left. There are a number of caravans on the opposite bank but these eventually give way to trees. Carry on along the riverside path until you get to Whiston Lock. You need to make a right here and walk along the track with the quarries on either side. The track leads to Whiston Road (which you crossed earlier) and you walk along the road directly opposite, into the small village of Whiston itself. The main road heads right but you need to bear left past some stone cottages and farm buildings until you see a footpath straight in front of you with a sign indicating the way to St Mary the Virgin Church. Head up this path and through the church yard and back onto the footpath. This brings you out to a road where you need to turn left. You can either walk down the road of along the fields either side of the roads where the stiles indicate there is a public right of way. Heading slightly uphill brings you to Castle Ashby and the Falcon Hotel on your left. Take the road to the right and after about 200 metres you will find the entrance to the shopping yard on your left.

Notes and musings

Castle Ashby House is one of the two seats of the Marquess of Northampton, the other being Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire. A Grade 1 listed building, the present house was started in 1574 but has had numerous extensions and refits since then. Much of the garden area was designed by Capability Brown in 1760. It is believed that Jane Austen's Northamptonshire set novel, Mansfield Park, was based on Castle Ashby house.

Cogenhoe has the reputation of being one of the most mis-pronounced places in the country. The general agreement is that it is pronounced either Kuk-no or Kuk-na - but certainly not Kog-an-hoe! The village's other claim to fame is once being the home of former Blue Peter presenter, Peter Purvis, who lived for a number of years at the Old Rectory.