Nene WayCogenhoe to Irthlingborough

22.3kms/13.8milesEarls Barton village extra 2.8kms/1.7miles

Walk distances in KmCogenhoe to Great Doddington 6.5 kmAlternatively: Cogenhoe to Earls Barton 4.7 kmEarls Barton to Great Doddington 4.7 kmGreat Doddington to Little Irchester, Wellingborough 3.5 kmLittle Irchester to Higham Ferrers 7.5 kmHigham Ferrers to Irthlingborough 3.3 km

All distances are approximate

Pub

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National CycleNetwork Route 6Chemist

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Nene Way

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Places ofHistorical Interest

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Parking ‘A’ Roads Regional Route 71A

Key of Services

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This Information can be provided in other languages and formats upon request, such as large Print, Braille and CD. Contact 01604 236236Transport & Highways, Northamptonshire County Council,Riverside House, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX.Telephone: 01604 236236.Email: rowip@northamptonshire.gov.uk

For more information on where to stay and sightseeing please visit www.letyourselfgrow.com

This leaflet was part funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, for more information please visit www.naturalengland.org.uk

Thanks to RNRP for use of photography www.riverneneregionalpark.org

All photographs copyright © of Northamptonshire County Council unless stated.

Published March 2010

Venture into the village of Cogenhoe, which is pronounced “Cook-noe” and is situated on

high ground overlooking the Nene Valley. While in Cogenhoe, make sure you make time to explore St Peter’s Church, where the majority of the structure has been standing for 700 years. The Church at Whiston has been called “A jewel on a hilltop.” Nearby lies the picturesque village of Castle Ashby which is also well worth a visit. For a place to stay, The Falcon Inn is a traditional 16th century country hotel with an emphasis on good food and quality service. This hotel is the perfect choice for those that wish to rest their legs and enjoy a relaxing evening in the beautifully decorated rooms, sampling the fine cuisine. Before rejoining the Nene Way, Castle Ashby rural shopping yard is only a short walk away and has a unique variety of shops such as Country House Fine Foods and The Emporium, where you will find special foods and gifts for any occasion.

Once you have picked up a range of Northamptonshire goodies, meet up with the Nene Way and continue your journey to Earls Barton an original Saxon village, recorded as Buartone in the Domesday Book. When entering the village, make sure you look out for the welcoming sign as their traditional recipe for the pork and leek pie is printed on the sign. To this day, local residents of the village are still known as “Barton Leeks”. Along the route, the Earls Barton bends is an ideal resting point

to enjoy a picnic of the locally produced foods you bought from the shopping yard. This area is also a canoe launch point giving access to the River Nene and the Nene Way footpath. Mill Barn Cottage in Earls Barton provides a self catering option for those walkers wanting to enjoy the secluded riverside garden and the converted traditional stone barn while on your travels.

Follow the route towards Great Doddington and pop into The Stags Head, which is well known for its interesting cellar bar and delicious Sunday lunches.

After your meal, follow the Nene Way signs until you reach a small bridge. This leads straight to Summer Leys Nature Reserve an old gravel pit transformed into a wetland haven for breeding and wading birds, such as teal, lapwing, ringed and golden plovers. Summer Leys is an example of how to create the right conditions for a variety of wildlife. This important wetland within the Upper Nene Valley is made up of flooded gravel pits, flood meadows, species-rich neutral grassland and mature hedges, managed by the Wildlife Trust www.wildlifebcnp.org

Continue the route towards Wellingborough, where on every last Thursday of the month, a farmers’ market is held in the market place. The footpath then continues through Irchester Country Park (01933 276866), formerly an ironstone quarry is now 200 acres of beautiful parkland with nature trails overlooking the Nene Valley and newly opened Jungle Parc. This is an ideal place to stop for a picnic or to take a relaxing break before setting off towards Irchester. Nearby is the small town of Rushden, where the world famous poet, HE Bates was born in 1905. His best-known works include The Darling Buds of May.

If you are feeling peckish, visit The Oliver Twist public house on the High Street in Irthlingborough and choose from a variety of their light lunches, which marks the end of section three. The Nene Way then leads you up to the village of Great Addington and the next section of the route.

East of Northampton, the river Nene has a very broad valley which seems out of keeping with the size of the present day river. This was caused by the enormous amount of water that was released by melting ice after the Ice Ages. Substantial deposits of gravel were laid down in the valley by the glacial river system. These have been exploited for aggregate and other uses for many years and the flooded former workings now provide important habitat for waterfowl and other animals and plants. Such restored sites include the Washlands, Billing Aquadrome and Summer Leys in section three en route.

Gravel extraction has allowed archaeologists to discover a rich history from vineyards at Wollaston to Anglo Saxon graves.

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