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How to get there

Click here for details about how to get to the Forest Centre

Start/finish points

The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine, MK43 0PR

Explorer Maps 192, 193 & 207

Length

9.5 miles

Accessibility

No steps recorded.

Surface types – Ranging from hard and firm without stones to uneven cultivated ground.

Linear gradient – Steepest linear gradient is 1:6

Barriers – At Hill Farm there is a restricted width of max 900mm, and there are also stiles and kissing gates.

Cross falls - Between 1:10 and 1:15.

Route description

1 - From the Forest Centre follow the brick paved path towards the car park to the kissing gate & horse stile opposite the roundabout. From the kissing gate turn left onto the surfaced track to the zebra crossing & continue ahead following the perimeter path to Millbrook Station.  Take the train from Millbrook Station to Ridgmont Station. Cyclists are permitted to use the train or you can cycle to Ridgmont Station via Lidlington & Brogborough. 

2 - On leaving Ridgmont Station, turn left along Station Road towards the Fruit Farm. Immediately before the roundabout, take the bridleway (BW) on the left & follow the path to Brogborough Middle Farm. Past the farm the track crosses a bridge over the Bletchley Railway Line. Immediately after the bridge, through concrete blocks, turn off the main track to the right & bear slightly left, away from the railway line. Turn left into a clump of trees. Go through the trees then ascend gently towards the ruins of the Round House & a WMP.  The path passes among old farm buildings & the Round House ruins then, just beyond the larger two-story building, take the left hand fork. The path skirts the edge of a small wood of mainly mature poplar trees. When the track turns sharply to the right, take the smaller path that goes straight on & cross over a partly obscured metal bridge. The path descends through trees to the old A421 road. 

3 - Cross the A421 with care, then go over the bridge that spans the new dual-carriageway. Continue straight along this road, passing a row of white painted cottages. Where the road bends right, go straight on past a metal gate & on to a farm track. Shortly after passing a small copse on your left the path turns sharp right & then left just as you reach a wood. Continue, with the wood on your right. After roughly 500m, the field boundary curves round to the left. Go through a gap in the hedge here & straight on past a wooden bench. The path goes through some trees, then into a small meadow & through a gap into the next field. Again, follow the field boundary with the hedgerow on your right. Cranfield Airport can be seen ahead & Central Milton Keynes way off to the left. The path forks right going through a gap & on to an open path between two fields. A prominent mobile phone mast & farm lie ahead. The path goes left of the farm buildings, then through a wooden gate by Wood End Farm. Continue along Wood End Road & into Cranfield village.

4 - Continue along Wood End Road & after passing industrial units on the right, take the signed BW off to the right which passes between some buildings, then bear slightly right along the road. After 50m, where the road bends right, take the BW that heads straight on. Pass by a metal gate & straight across the field towards some trees & past a WMP.  The path soon emerges from the trees & passes by a metal gate & on to a side road. At the main Bedford Road turn right & continue for 500m to the junction with Crane Way.

5 - Cyclists should turn left along Crane Way, then right onto Bourne End Road. Follow this road for 1.5km.  At the T-junction turn right towards Bourne End, then shortly take the first right going past a row of houses & a small red post-box. Carry on to the end of this road past College Farm to a BW.  Pedestrians should cross Crane Way to opposite a BW between houses & cross Partridge Piece & continue along BW & through Moat Farm. Continue along BW & at next junction turn left along the field edge path with a fence on your right.  Through a gate, over bridge & turn right following the field edge path to a gap in the hedge & a WMP.  At the next BW junction turn left heading towards College Farm, now following a Public Footpath to a gate & then down an alleyway path between a stable & hedge to a lane. Turn right down the lane to a BW at a sharp right hand bend. Pedestrians & cyclists now use the same route. Follow the BW between trees for roughly 100m to a field & follow the field edge path with the hedgerow on your right passing through a gap in the hedge, following the left hand boundary of the next field. Shortly, by a WMP where the hedgerow turns left, take the path that leads straight on, across the field towards an overhead power line. The path goes directly below a pylon. The path soon reaches a hedgerow end on. 

Continue to the right of the hedgerow to a gap in hedge then zig zag through hedge & continue along field edge & after 1km you will reach Hay Lane. Turn right here then almost immediately left to a BW & continue on towards Astey  Wood ahead. The path goes to the right of the wood & continues along its edge. At the end of the wood, cross Spring Lane to BW. Following the right hand field boundary, go through a metal gate alongside a golf course.  At the end of the golf course the path turns right into Hanger Wood. Follow the path through the wood & then alongside the woodland edge. The path leaves the wood & continues between wire fences, eventually passing through a wooden gate & descending to the busy A428.

6 - Cross the A428 with care to the opposite BW between houses past some cottages to Thistley Lane. The track emerges at Stagsden Road in Bromham with a supermarket on the opposite side of the road. Turn right on to Stagsden Road & follow it all the way through Bromham village for nearly 1km until you reach  Bromham Mill and your destination. To return to the Millennium Country Park by train you can either catch the 40 or 41 bus to Bedford Train Station (bus stop outside Swan Pub) or walk to the station by crossing Bromham Bridge & following the footway along Bromham Road (A428) into Bedford. On entering Bedford & once over railway bridge, turn right down Ashburnham Road to access Bedford Train Station & the Bletchley Line back to Millbrook Station & the Country Park.  

Pit stops/points of interest

There are toilets and benches at the Forest Centre.

The Forest Centre

Ridgmont Station Tea Room and Heritage Centre

The Swan

The Prince of Wales

Bromham Mill

Acknowledgments

Forest Volunteers

Central Bedfordshire Council

Bedford Borough Council

The British Horse Society

Funded by Natural England as part of the Paths for Communities Project