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Sunday 17 November 2013

A Countryside Ramble.

The Greensand Ridge is a barely noticeable geographical feature in the neighbouring county of Bedfordshire. When the chalks and clays of East Anglia were being laid down in shallow seas there were also deposits of sandstone being formed among them. One of the sandstones was the greensand - it's not really very green, more rusty brown with a greenish tinge. As it's harder than other rocks in the area it stands proud of them in a long, low, broken ridge. Someone had the bright idea of making a walking route along it, mostly along already existing rights of way. Here are some photos along the stretch from Sandy to Gamlingay that I walked today.



Just out of the small town of Sandy and up on to "Caesar's Camp",
a hill with evidence of a Roman Fort for those with time to look.
There are definitely some humps and bumps on it!



Even a bit of road walking can be attractive on a day like today.



Down a farm track called Hasell Hedge,
but it's actually the course of a Roman road too.



A working farm - Waterloo Farm, you can probably guess its era.



A field path leads up onto the ridge - such as it is.



Views opening up behind despite the modest elevation.



The church at Everton is made of locally-quarried greensand.
Some of the stone shows a slight greenish hue.



On past an estate farm. 
Long-time Stargoosers might recognise a dovecot in the corner of the yard.



Through parkland with magnificent trees.



And a fine old hall overlooking its grounds.



The ridge walk ends near the village of Gamlingay.
I walked back by a different route.



A different route but equally lovely Autumn scenery.

Take care.

12 comments:


  1. Hi John, the windy road downhill with still some autumn colour present makes a beautiful photo; looks like you had a good day for your walk. It really interesting how you have access to walking tracks between properties, convenient to get places. The hall setting is grand and nicely framed by the wide branches in the foreground...and ended with more beautiful Autumn leaves hanging on. You made hay while the sun shone John; cheers.

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  2. The colours are so clear & bright and the landscape so green and restful - I bet you were just loving that walk!! And while my tastes naturally gravitate to RED, the greensand is particularly attractive!!!

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  3. Looks like you've been having better weather than us. Good to see they make the most of the "hills" round there!

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  4. I so envy your walking trails open to everyone. There are very few here in the US. A beautiful collection of photos--I wish I could step right into the 3rd one and keep on going.

    It fascinates me that you have the Roman ruins through the country side.

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  5. Interesting that your "modest elevation" wouldn't even be noticed here in my territory. Looks like a lovely place for a walkabout nonetheless.

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  6. Looks like a lovely walk, especially on a day like that when the colours look so good. It has been damp and misty all day further north!

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  7. Lovely scenery. I think I can detect a slight greenish hue on some of the greensand blocks...but it's very slight. It reminds me of roses that some breeders insist are "blue." ;))

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  8. You show a variety of passages today, from roads, to farm tracks, to grass paths. A fine hike today.

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  9. Wow, what a marvelous day, gloriously bright, colorful too!

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  10. John, how long a walk was this? Such a variety of things to see along the way. The view of the road looked so much like here. And the church--I will never get enough of looking at stonework. Thanks for the ramble!

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  11. Many thanks to everyone for their comments. The weather - I don't often get time to finish writing these posts on the day that I do the walk so there's often a time-lag during which time the weather (this being England) changes. Footpaths - this walk is nothing exceptional there are similar paths all over the country. As for distance, Sue, I guess around seven miles, but then I had the stupid idea of walking back to the start when I could have caught a bus!

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Thanks for taking the time to comment. I'll try to answer any questions via a comment or e-mail within the next day or two (no hard questions, please!).