Page 79 - Phonebox Magazine March 2011

Rambling again: Sherington to Petsoe End Circular walk.
An interesting and easy walk, from Sherington sports ground to Petsoe End and back to Sherington via Alban Hill.
Duration: circa 5.0 miles about 2 1/4 hours, mostly flat, occasionally undulating with 5 stiles. This walk gives close views of the wind farm.
There are no refreshments en-route but there is a public house in Gun Lane Sherington.
Perry Lane is at the top of Croft End or to the right if entering the village from Bedford Road, park carefully in the village possibly in the Sports ground car park in Perry Lane (if it’s not being used).
Caution must be taken crossing the A509 at point 5 and 6 as this can be very busy.
1. Walk out of the village up Perry Lane and over the bridge across the bypass, continue along the lane and take the signed left hand fork before Gowle’s Farm into a field with the hedge on your right the path soon turns right, ignore the way mark showing left through a gate (we come back in through this later) and keep straight on initially with a hedge on your left and then through to the left into another field, now with the hedge on your right the path turns left around the field to a bridge across a ditch.
2. Cross the bridge and proceed across the field and through the gap in the hedge, turn left and walk round the perimeter of the field and follow the signs right towards Seven Acre Covert keeping this woodland on your left at the end of the woods turn left in to a field and keep the woods on your left. At the end of the wood the path bears slightly to the left and down a slope to a stile, cross the stile and a bridge and keep the hedge on your left to a signed left hand turn through a hedge over a bridge and a stile into a field that often has horses in.
3. Keep to the right hand edge of this field to a stile in the bottom right hand corner, this leads into a path that becomes a track into Petsoe End. Follow this lane to the left past various cottages until set in the wall on your left is a well and a seat, just past these on the left is a signed gap in the hedge to a stile (often very muddy once across) and into a curious piece of land with odd bump and undulations.
4. Keep to the right hand edge to a stile in the top corner, with the hedge on your right follow this field up towards Hollington Wood (this private woodland has permissive rights for walkers and has an excellent display of bluebells in spring, you can walk through this woodland and turn right at the road way that leads you out on to the A509 nearer to Alban Hill). But for this walk we turn right into a field keeping the woodland on our left at the end of the woodland we turn left across a bridge and then right in to a field and keep the hedge on our right through two fields to Prospect Place.
5. Once through the hedge you arrive into the closed off top end of the old Newport Road before the bypass was built. Turn left here and walk up to the A509. Caution here, cross the A509 and then walk left up the cycle redway/footpath, crossing the Filgrave road and up to the Sherington road at Alban Hill. Cross the road here and then walk down towards the A509 with the nursery on your right, at this point across the A509 is a slight footpath that goes up the bank with a sign through a gateway into a field, again caution crossing these roads. Once through the gate keep straight on for about thirty yards and then right and left in to another field keeping the hedge on your left.
6. Follow the perimeter of this field into a second field and round to the right eventually through a gate (this is the one mentioned in paragraph 1) turn right with the hedge on your right and on changing fields turn left with the hedge on your left until you join the lane from your left from Gowle’s Farm, you are now back at the top end of Perry Lane which will lead you back to your start in Sherington.
We hope that this walk has been of interest to you, it has some fine views particularly on a clear day with interesting perspectives of the wind farm as you move through the fields and lanes.
Please remember to close all gates after you and take any litter home.
It should be noted that in the field at point2 there is the possibility of horses, so dogs should be kept on a lead at this time.
Phonebox Magazine 79
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