Tuesday wanders

Tuesday turned into a beautiful sunny day. We were up and out the door by 9:30, with a packed lunch ready, to find even a slight incline in this flat land that we live in.  The edge of the Fens is not noted for its hills!

Our route would take us out of Hemingford towards Hilton and then on to Elsworth, Conington, Fenstanton and home.  The majority of the walk was on public footpaths away from the roads which was great.  It’s surprising just how quiet the countryside is once you get away from the traffic.

Lots of daffodils along the farm tracks towards Hilton

By the time we reached the Hilton to Elsworth path the sun was fully out and we found our first incline, slight but enough the vary the terrain a bit. See the views from the top

Elsworth, a village we have driven through lots over the years but never walked through. I was surprised how nice it is

We found the path to Conington which was clearly marked and took us on a good wide field path.  A bit wet in places but otherwise ok. Here we met the first walker we had seen all day out with her dogs.

We stopped for lunch in the churchyard, sat in the sun up against the wall. Very pleasant. Lots of white violets studding the grass 

The walk from Conington to Fenstanton has changed with the introduction of the new A14, which cuts through the old public footpaths so to keep off the road you need to walk the field edge until you arrive at the new foot/cycle way which crosses the motorway. I guess I need to draw a line through the area on our map for the new road! Once over the bridge you have a choice as to which way you enter Fenstanton, either over or under the old A14. We chose under as it’s more the direction to home. From Fenstanton it’s about 3 miles to home, though we chose off road so it was possibly a bit more. By now I was starting to struggle.  My feet ached and my legs were tired. It can be hard on a long walk not to focus on these issues, but once back into the village outskirts I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other!

Home, shoes (our new Altra Lone Peak 5’s very comfortable and light) and socks off, cold floor enjoyment, a cup of tea and a piece of cake as a reward. 14.2 miles completed