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The Marston Vale Timberland Trail |
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There are
many ways and places to start the trail. This describes a full
days walking, leaving the Forest Centre in the morning, heading
west towards Lidlington, and finally bringing you back around
Stewartby Lake as the sun sets.
 The
trail is clearly marked with waymarker discs. Waymark posts
with yellow discs show footpaths. Blue discs show bridleways.
In the country park, the surfaced paths are permissive paths
and the discs are green on white. Other parts of the trail are
public highways. You are allowed to be on every part of the
indicated route. Please stay to the paths and keep dogs under
close control. Crossing the flat, vale farmland can be hard
going in winter months when the heavy clay will stick to your
boots!
From the Timberland Trail map in
front of the Forest Centre, follow the waymarkers
onto the park trail. The waymarked trail will lead you
out of the park via the kissing gate at the Jubilee  Cottages
footpath entrance. Cross Station
Road and head towards Marston
Church. Before the bridge, turn left beside the brook,
to begin to cross the vale. Marston Church will now be to your
right and the Greensand Ridge
in front of you. The waymarked trail takes you diagonally across
five fields and, take care, the Bedford
to Bletchley railway before you enter Lidlington via
The Grove. (The train station is a short walk off the trail,
as are the shops, and the pubs.) Turn left into Lombard Street
and cross the High Street towards the Scout Hut and begin the
climb up Jackdaw Hill. This
part of the walk takes you around Millbrook
Proving Ground and onto Bedfordshire's premier route,
The Greensand Ridge Walk. The highest point of the trail is
on this section with stunning views across the vale.
From the Greensand Ridge car park,
turn right, up Station Lane, stay ahead to follow the trail
down Sandhill Close and right to join the footpath off Russell
Grove to Ampthill. With the Church
to  the
right, turn left at the top, pass Ossory
Farm, around the field edge, left at the footpath T junction,
then right and through the wood into Ampthill Park, past Katherine's
Cross, with more spectacular views across the vale. Continue
along the ridge of Ampthill park, follow the waymarked trail
down to Russett's Lodge, turn right, and follow the path through
the woods to Park Hill and on down the street, via Chapel
Lane, and left onto Woburn
Street. (Make time to browse the antique shops and exotic
restaurants.)
At the roundabouts, cross over the
old Market Place to Church Street. Stay ahead, turn left
up Rectory Close, passing Ampthill church. (A visit is recommended.)
Turn off right towards the cemetery, then left, keeping the
holly hedge on your right. Then, diagonally across the grass
field, over the bridge, continue the same diagonal line up and
over the rise to the field corner and left  onto
Gas House Lane. Cross the cattle grid. After 30m, head diagonally
right across the field, uphill, to the farm. From here, stay
ahead, with the farm on your left, towards, then beside, the
reservoir's big, grassy banks. At the concrete road, go left,
and almost immediately right again onto the track, towards Kings
Wood ahead. (You can detour to Houghton House.) Don't miss the
fabulous views of the Chilterns to the right, and across the
vale to the left.
We recommend taking the waymarked
permissive path through the ancient woodland, downhill to the
Glebe Meadow. Turn left along the bottom edge of the
wood, and into the meadow. (A diversion to the pretty village
of Houghton Conquest is an option from the Glebe Meadow, via
Rectory Lane. The village has pubs and accommodation with a
restaurant.) At the end of the meadow, the trail cuts across
the corner of Kings Wood. The waymarked trail now takes you
along field edges, with hedges first to the left, then to the
right, before turning right towards How
End, when you will see the chimneys ahead of you. Keep
ahead, through How End to the B530.
Turn right, keeping to the verge for about 100 metres, as far
as the first foothpath sign on the other side of the road. Cross
carefully.
Head across the field on the waymarked trail, to the hedge on
the far side and turn right, keeping the hedge on your left.
The trail continues towards the chimneys,
over two bridges, before taking you over The
Conveyor and through the tunnel, to turn immediately
right beside the railway to Stewartby
village. Take care when the footpath
meets Stewartby Way, directly onto the road. Stop, and cross
carefully.
Follow the trail left through Stewartby
village, purpose-built in the 1930s by Sir Malcolm Stewart's
London Brick Company, for its workers. Turn left past the Village
Hall along Green Lane. Just past the Stewartby
level crossing, enter the Marston
Vale Millennium Country Park. (The quickest way back
to the Centre is to turn left, past the back of the Sailing
Club, and follow the Forest Centre
signs.) The trail is waymarked to the right, down the
east side of Stewartby Lake, which affords, at the end of the
day, wonderful sunsets across the water. |
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It is a 6 hour, 21km /13 mile walk from
40ft above sea-level in the Vale, to 130 ft at the highest point
of the ridge. It will take most walkers all day. There are two
sets of steps: one over a railway and another over the Conveyor.
There is one tunnel, under a railway line. The
trail is not suitable for wheels! |
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Please note that the Forest Centre car park opens between 10am and 4pm, from October to March and between 10am and 6pm from April to September. |
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| Creating the forest of Marston Vale. To
join in, call us on 01234 762608 |
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