Marston Trussell, Sibbertoft, Clipston and back - minor roads.

Thu, 2014 Mar 6 9:31 AM GMT

Led by me with Gordon and Maureen. Almost 9 miles on minor roads - a little hard on the feet and legs! 483 ft of climbing. it was raining when we set off by car, but not a drop fell on us once we were walking.

Just to prove that the sun almost shone

From the church in Marston Trussell, we take the road through the village. When it bends to the right, we carry straight on past Marston Trussell Hall. We follow this road for a good mile to a T-junction.
We turn left almost opposite Hothorpe Hall, towards Sibbertoft. We follow this road for about a mile and a half, up a steep hill to a T-junction.  Here we turn right into the village of Sibbertoft, walking past the church and the war memorial and straight on until we reach a sign to Clipston (single track road).

Sibbertoft church

We walk along the road to Clipston. Part way along, there is a Battle of Naseby information board at the Moot Hill viewpoint .
The battle, on 14th June 1645, was a decisive moment in the English Civil War, when Charles I's army was defeated by Cromwell's New Model Army.  

After about a mile and a half a road to the left shows a signpost to Marston Trussell( 2 1/2 miles). We went on a little further into Clipston to find a place to sit for a break.

There's a rather fine chapel.

Near the chapel is a gravestone to Thomas Jarman, composer of hymns. There's some interesting information about him, in particular his quarrel with the local Church of England vicar here. After coffee and a scone, we retraced our steps to the signpost to Marston Trussell.

The road climbs up,and we can see the Royal Observer Corps look out with its flagpole. From here you have a great view of the site of the Battle of Naseby, though we're saving it for next time.

Later, we pass the entrance to the oddly named Twantry Farm. Our road goes downhill past some woodland, and at the bottom is crossed by the Jurassic Way. On the map this part of the road is labelled Dick's Hill. It must refer to the bit we've passed already, since it's flat from now on. The whole length of the road is about two miles. We reach a junction, and the drive to Marston Lodge Farm, with a pond.

Dick's Hill

At the junction we turn right towards Marston Trussell.  Walk about half a mile.This is the only part of the walk where we meet more than a couple of cars.

At the next junction, we take the left-hand fork. There is a fine view of Marston Trussell Hall from the Lake to our left.

At the T-junction, we turn right and back to the church.

Map and details