Whaddon to Lord's Bridge - Cambridgeshire 18 April 2021

Whaddon to Lord's Bridge and return
Cambridgeshire
Distance 30km Climb 200m
Sunday 18 April 2021

The last time I had walked this way was in November when I had walked to the Cambridge American Cemetery. Today would be an opportunity to see the changes of the seasons. I was walking with my friend Billy and we were looking for an old disused railway line leading to radio telescopes. 

This was so different to the last time I had walked along here. When it was very misty.

At the junction we followed the road left onto Church Street. Passing the village sign with it's dinosaur. I have since found out the dinosaur represents extracted coprolite used for fertiliser. Coprolite is fossilised dung but they are not sure what creature the dung was from but they were around at the time of the dinosaur.    

After a few hundred meters we crossed the recreation ground towards St Mary's, Whaddon's Parish Church. 

Passing through the Churchyard, we could see work was being done on St Mary's Church. Church Street bends towards the east and passes in front of the Church. We re-joined Church Street and turned right.

Last time I had walked along Church Street there was a lovely scented smell coming from the house on my right. Today as we crossed the road there was a lovely smell of bacon being cooked, yum yum. 

Reaching the corner where the road bends to the right we took the footpath that turns to the left towards Orwell.

After a couple of hundred meters our footpath turns right off the track and heads north east, between a ditch on the right and an open field on the left. It was so different today from my last walk along here, the sky was clear and blue and the fields had been tended. The ground was dry and the footpath was so clear and easy to identify where it ran.

Continuing north east a short rise took the path over a ditch. After a few meters the footpath crosses over an open field.

Over the field and the path drops a little into a small wood. Where the path narrows as it leads towards King's Bridge. 

King's Bridge crosses the River Cam or Rhee. Over the bridge the footpath travels between electrified fences.  It was so different from the last time I had walked here. Today the ground was solid and dry.  

On my previous visit I saw a buzzard sitting in a tree until it flew away. Today I thought I saw it again and I got what I thought was a good photo. Until I looked at it on the computer and could really zoom in. Now it looks like I have taken a photo of a dead crow hanging from some string. I am not sure if it is but I have not included the photo here. 

Today there were young lambs lying in the sunshine on our right.

Young bulls lay about the field to our left.

After a few meters I followed Billy up the bank to the right where we saw a lake with a small wooden pier. Returning to the track at the top of the hedge line, we continued walking by the great big white slug. 

The path follows to the right of a ditch the length of the field before turning right where it follows along the side of a hedge for a few meters. Then it turns left through a gap in the hedge. Ahead there is a small hill.

Today the hedges were full of lovely small white flowers which I believe are hawthorns. 

Continuing up the hill. At the top of the hill there is a seat with a view over Orwell.

From the seat the path starts to drop slightly towards a footpath junction, where we turned right, north east and followed the path down the hill into Orwell onto Leaden Hill. This is a new road, which was a dirt track on my last walk. We had just passed a new house which was just being building site on my last visit.  

Billy spotted the three ducks in a garden. They stood very still just waiting to be photographed.

Leaden Hill becomes Town Green Road, there are some interesting houses in Orwell and at the top is the Church of St Andrews. 

We turned right onto the High Street, crossed the road and took the footpath up the stones steps beside the church. We were now also on a part of the Greenwich Meridian Trail. Through the kissing gate at the top before continuing to climb up Toot Hill.

Far to our left Billy spotted the Wimpole Hall Folly standing above the trees.

At the top we passed through another kissing gate that took us into the area of The Clunch Pit. A notice board advises The Clunch Pit is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest for it's chalk grassland flora. 

We headed for the footpath on the west side of The Clunch Pit, heading north. Continuing along The GMT.

The footpath heads down the hill and travels beneath some trees before it reaches Hillside, on the busy A603 Roman Road.

We crossed the A603 and turned right, passing the front of a few houses. After a few meters we reached our next footpath which turned left, heading for The Eversdens.

This was Rectory Farm Lane, a sign shows we were now on The National Trust, Wimpole Estate. Continuing along here for another 500m, then our route was now following a footpath sign right.

Heading north east, by the side of a large hedge we started to climb, my map shows this as Thorn Hill. At the top we left The Wimpole Estate, parallel footpaths led north west for a short distance along The Mare Way.

After a few hundred meters we turned right and headed down the hill, north east. Heading for a small rectangular shaped wood. 

At the bottom of the hill the path levels off before entering the rectangular wood. There were a number of fenced off areas within the wood which look like private paddocks to me. Coming out the wood on Pound Drift, we turned right and followed the footpath north east towards Little Eversden.

I have walked here a few times now, this was the first time I spotted the village sign as the path joins Harlton Road. The sign has a notice regarding Doomsday I have since found out the wild boar represents that the name Eversdona which means hill of the wild boar. 

Walking right along Harlton Road for about 400 meters we then turned left onto High Street.

There are lots of interesting buildings on High Street.

It was good walking with Billy, he spotted loads of things I missed including a Geocache I had missed on a previous walk that was along Church Lane near St Helen's Church.

After collecting the Geocache we returned to High Street and turned right continuing roughly north eastwardly.

High Street continues on and becomes Lowfields, then turns into a footpath that runs beside a large hedge.

 

Walking beside the edge of the field we could see the three large radio telescopes pointing skywards across the fields to our right. 

The footpath at the top of the field was flooded the last time I walked here. There had been a wide detour around the flooded area, we could still see today the places where people had walked.

Continuing on our walk the footpath drops onto a narrow track, something to do with telescopes or an old railway line. This was what we had come to discover. Our plan had been to look left then right along the track clearly shown on the map.

Turning left we continued along the old track. A railway bridge crosses Bourn Brook and a number of old concrete fence posts lay by what would have been the track.

Continuing west the track became a little more overgrown and as it opened out a little we reached a large concrete base. It was turning into a very warm day, lovely clear blue skies.

I could hardly see over the top but Billy could see ok and told me what was there. Nothing, but a possible hole or mark in the middle. The base was triangular and at each point there was a metal frame where I guess the radio telescope would have been bolted. 

After a packet of crisps and a drink of hot chocolate we turned and returned along the old track. 

We were walking eastwards now, passing under the Comberton Road Bridge. After a few hundred meters Billy spotted the base of another Radio Telescope. This one was at ground level.   

Rabbits bounded around the area, and thin thorns grew amongst the cracks in the broken concrete path. Three buzzards flew in large lazy circles over the fields to our left. Yellow butterflies flited and flew along our path, lovely.

At the end of the track we crossed a fence that showed we had been walking on a private path. We had reached the A603. Over the A603 we could see a large fence blocked any further investigation of the old line.

So we turned left along the A603.  

Passed a sign for the Lord's Bridge Station House. Looking down the turning we could see large railway gates, today they were closed.

We had a short stop on Lord's Bridge, a short snack and a map check, followed by a discussion as to what and where to go next.

Decision made we crossed back over the road, Lord's Bridge also crosses the Bourn Brook.  

We followed the footpath sign that took us along the northern side of the Brook. As the footpath climbed a little we could see the large radio telescope now to our south.

A little further along the footpath, looking north west over fields that may be ripe seed, stood the tower of St Mary's Church Comberton. 

We then took a footpath left heading directly west.

After a few meters of shade we were back into the wide open countryside.

At the road we turned left onto Comberton Road.

A few hundred meters passed Fox's Bridge we turned down to the right onto a footpath, through a gap in the hedge. This was a little before where the road starts to rise to cross the bridge. The bridge we had walked under a little earlier in the day, when we were following the possible old railway line, telescope line, linking radio telescopes. 

The footpath follows the edge of the field, turning right then after a few meters drops left down onto the telescope path. Where we had walked earlier.

Across the path we stepped up, back onto the footpath that we had used walking from Little Eversden. Reaching Little Eversden, along Lowfields then onto High Street passed the VR post box. There is a short footpath on the right that led us to Harlton Road, just before the bus stop.

On Harlton Road we turned right and headed towards Great Eversden. After a few hundred meters we passed the entrance to the footpath we had walked out on. Now we continued north westerly onto Church Street. Passing the Greenwich Meridian Marker. 

As we approached St Mary's Church we turned left on to the footpath, to the east of the Church. 

The footpath led us around the south side of the Church then south westerly. At a track junction the map shows a footpath continues south westerly but it was unclear if there was a path. However we followed another footpath sign which led us right. After a few hundred meters we reached Wimpole Road and turned left.    

Leaving the houses behind, Wimpole Road becomes a farm track and heads up hill slightly. Near the top Billy spotted that we had missed a Geocache so we retraced our steps a little. 

Once the Geocache was collected we continued to the top. Where we turned off the Wimpole Road to collect another Geocache. I think Billy is hooked?

Returning to the junction at the top we crossed a large log near the big seat. We had a short rest sitting on the log, we were unable to use the seat as other people were there.

After our break we headed south down the Harcamlow Way. Following the path as it drops down hill. Some children had spotted some frog spawn or was it toad spawn? Turning south west the path led us to The Woodyard.  

We continued along the Harcamlow Way straight into The Wimpole Park and up to the Stables.

There were quite a lot of people about, I don't think I saw anyone here on my last walk. At a small kiosk Billy bought me a refreshing ice lolly and it was very welcome. Following the path we walked to the front of Wimpole Hall.

Where we looked south and could see the length of the drive and the wide Wimpole Avenue beyond.

We walked down the drive then onto the wide Wimpole Avenue. After nearly 2km, we crossed the A603, Roman Road. 

A further 500m or so and we crossed the bridge over the River Cam or Rhee. I had crossed this bridge on my first walk to Cambridge and to Potton Wood. I showed Billy the large lake covered in tall grasses. When I have passed here before it has usually been full of birds singing and tweeting. Today they were quite, perhaps they have moved on.

We passed where the footpath junction where the Harcamlow Way turns left towards Whaddon and we continued south along The Avenue.

It was Billy who had told me about this memorial amongst the trees at the end of Wimpole Avenue. I had passed this on my previous walk.

Last time I turned towards the open space on the left and ended up struggling through the trees. Today we took the footpath up to the right onto the A1198 Ermine Street Roman Road.

Over the road we turned left and walked beside the busy A1198.

It had been a great day walking with my friend Billy. I had showed Billy the joy of Geocaching and I think he may be hooked? We had walked further but I have only shown the walk from Whaddon. A distance of 30km with a 200m climb. 

As I said it had been a great day, thanks Billy.

More to follow

Boz North

Details correct at time of walking.

If you have enjoyed reading my walk or found it useful you may also like to read other walks I have done in Cambridgeshire or other areas. Please check out the links on the right hand side.