Coronavirus walk no. 187, Ampthill, 16th December 2023
Distance
13.6 miles (total on foot)
I wanted to go somewhere special today, and it was a toss-up between Cheddington—where I have never been before—and revisiting Ampthill. Ampthill won out, in part because I decided I would save Cheddington for better weather.
I had trouble with the colour balance with these photos.
Walking to the station. Even in the December gloom there is still some lingering greenery.
Skipping ahead a bit. Ampthill no longer has a railway station, so you have to alight at Flitwick and walk to Ampthill. It’s not especially far and it’s a nice walk. No photos of this today.
This little fellow was affixed to the back of a road sign in Ampthill … The cloud knows what you’re up to!A peculiar-looking postboxJust a road … However, through SnakesInBowties on Imgur I realised that I was leaving out all the photos of towns, and by including these I am able to offer a little bit more balance in my portrayal.One of those “tidy and proper” houses that SnakesInBowties was talking about …
No map at all today: simply exploring without any particular plan. I already went to Ampthill last November, although I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. The weather this time was marginally better, but not every walk day is a bright summer’s day!
I saw no T-road sign but the road nonetheless came to a dead end. For motorists that is; on foot you could keep going. Funny-shaped houseContinuing onwardsHere we find another dead end!Bushes are good, both literal and metaphorical …
During a previous walk in Flitwick I came across Katherine’s Walk. Strangely enough, there is another one in the neighbouring town of Ampthill.
The sign pointed back the way I had come!Skipping a bit, we come to Station Road; the station sadly is long gone. Ahead, we have a nice place that I explored on my only previous visit to Ampthill in November last year. Funny how I end up in the same place at a similar time of year, as this place would be amazing in the springtime.Katherine’s Walk continues this-a-way, but first a quick detour …… since the pylons are over here.Sadly this is as close as we’ll get, although I crossed under the power line last time, as I explored further.The sun has started to show itself.Some more housesLooking through the gap between the houses in the previous photoImagine getting to live there
Now we are back to where we took the detour.
Following Katherine’s Walk againEntering a bit of woodlandSeeing where this goesAlthough it’s winter, this place still holds upNot going this wayLooking out across the meadow; there’s that 400 kV L2 line againA marker post for Katherine’s Walk
Skipping a bit again, having reached the edge of the park and crossed over Woburn Road. Katherine’s Walk continued on the far side of the main road and, while I was intending to head back through the town centre at this point, I decided to cross over and explore a bit further.
Another signpost. Note the mysterious cross on the sign …… and here it is
May as well head for the cross now.
Trees capturing the fleeting sunlightClose-up on a sunlit L2 angle towerEven in wintertime, the natural world can still shineI never explored this park last time, taking a different route, but I am glad I kept going and didn’t turn back.Tree-lined pathway“Lake view” according to the sign …… and here it is. Imagine this view in springtime.Close-up on some magnificent buildings. Somewhere in the distance is Stewartby.The Millbrook Power Plant is to be constructed here.MmmI lied. There are actually two crosses. The one we saw earlier, I realised (after looking at a sign showing a map) is the Duke of Bedford’s Cross, seen on the right here. On the left is Katherine’s Cross.The cross relates to Catherine of Aragon (first wife of King Henry VIII), even spelt “Catherine” on the plaque in front of it, but “Katherine” in the name of the walk!Katherine’s CrossSomeone’s dog photobombing the second crossThe Duke of Bedford’s Cross
I figured I had four hours in total at Flitwick and Ampthill, and at this point I was getting close to only an hour left. This was too not serious as I always walk back a lot faster.
Heading back nowLooking back at a funny old buildingNewly planted trees. No idea what’s with the white balance on this camera … it doesn’t like clouds. I’ve tried to correct it, but I never was good at that.Back into woodland! Note that, having never been here before, I was simply taking guesses as to where I was in relation to the road and which direction I was heading!Feeling fairly confident that this was the right way …Exiting the woodland pathCharming houses
Turns out I had gone too far; I took a guess here that turning right would take me to the town centre, and it did.
Last leg of the journeyApproaching the town centreQuaint old housesHills are great …… unless it snows, of course. Snow is evil.Town centreInteresting buildingPossibly the nicest-looking town I know, even in the fading light of short winter daysI didn’t check what this place wasAlways the rough edgesMethodist churchHere we have the second GR post box of the day, a nice wall box (the first was on the walk to the station).Does this road go as far as 221B?Another pink house; we previously saw one in walk no. 185Terraced housesThis one dates to 1852; not sure if it was the oldest date I saw on a building (lots were early 1900s, but was that Flitwick?)Somewhere to explore another time perhaps; not going this way today“Sandhurst Villas 1899” according to the inscriptionHeading back down the road to FlitwickIn effect, this bridge marks the boundary between Flitwick and Ampthill.Strange little riverAli Barber, Flitwick
Entering on platform 4, I need platform 1Looking down from the footbridge Looking out across the junction; note that the near signals are both red, followed by green, which puzzled me. And yes, another L2 line tower in the distance, under a strange purple sky!Ah. Note that the left signal has changed to yellow (caution) with a number 4 junction indicator (“feather”, the five white lights): the train was subject to approach control, to bring its speed down ready to turn out at the junction, crossing from the Down Fast to Down Slow.
