Distance: Approximately 15 miles or 23 km
Time: 5 hours (without stops)
Terrain: flat/slopes/steps/bridges/gravel paths/grass/road
Eat/Toilet Stop: Yes
General Information: This walk is a complete circular walk of the entire park and begins (and ends) at the Ferry Meadows Visitors Centre.
We follow the path alongside the Nene Valley railway until it joins the river at Lynch Wood and then we walk up to Alwalton and down to Alwalton Lock. The walk then cuts across lovely meadows where we rejoin the river and follow it up as far as the beautiful village of Water Newton. From there we visit the site of the Station Masters Garden and go across Roman sites until we reach Castor. We then climb Love Hill and re-enter the park via Lundy Walk and following the long river path up to Woodston Reach and Thorpe Meadows and return to follow Ferry Meadows Lakes via Orton Mere.
Look out for the red information along the route for places of interest and stops for refreshments.
- 1 Starting at the Visitor Centre (X) turn right, heading in the direction of the Caravan Park and Nene Valley railway station.
Overton Station is on the Nene Valley Railway Line:
Nene Valley Railway- 2 Just before you cross the road to the railway station, take a sharp right and follow the path alongside the track.
- 3 When you reach this signpost, turn left and walk over the railway bridge.
...joining the path to Alwalton which is just over 1 mile/3km long.
It has some long, gentle, upward slopes, but halfway along the path, these chairs provide a welcome rest and have some wonderful high views across the tree tops to the river and meadows beyond.
(If the river path is flooded, go left and follow the path until you reach the Marriott Hotel, then go right at the East of England Showground roundabout and go into Alwalton Village. You can then re-join this walk at the church)- 6 At the bottom of the steps, turn left..
...and follow the path along the river. It eventually bears left and goes up a very steep hill.
When you reach the road at the top of the hill, you're in the pretty village of Alwalton If you look to the left, you'll see Lynch Lodge.Lynch Lodge, Alwalton.
If you look to the right, you'll see Alwalton Church.- At this point, you can turn right to continue your walk * or turn left and stop at the village for refreshments at:
Alwalton Tea Room, Shop and Post Office
Alwalton Tea Room, Shop and Post Office
The Cuckoo, Alwalton.
The Cuckoo, Alwalton
Just outside the village, if you turn left onto Oundle Road, it's just a 5 minute walk to the East of England Arena and Marriott Hotel roundabout where you'll find:
Alwalton Harvestor
Alwalton Harvester
* Follow this road all the way down the very steep slope and walk through the gate at the bottom.
In front of you is a tiny bridge which stands on the site of the old Alwalton Mill.
- 7 Follow the narrow winding path until you reach Alwalton Lock. Walk through the Lock and when you reach the final gate, walk straight ahead through the meadow, heading towards the bridge and windmill (X)
- 8 Continue on past the windmill and go through the gate, following the path next to Castor Mill.
9. At this point, join the pathway.
- 10 When you reach this gate, cross over the stile and take a sharp left towards the (X)
- 11 At the bottom of the slope, cross over this little bridge and follow the pathway bearing left.
This meadow pathway is approx 1 mile/3 km long. The river comes into view on the left hand side, with the Nene Valley railway line on your right, and runs through stiles and bridges until you reach the quaint village of Water Newton (visible here to your left).
- 12 When you reach this point, you can either turn left and explore Water Newton (X) or turn right to follow the path across to the railway line.
Once you've crossed the railway line, the Station Masters Garden is on your right-hand side (X).
13. Turn right onto the Public footpath...
This is the site of the Roman Normangate Field.
...and follow the path until you reach the 'X'
14. Go through the gate at the end of the field and turn right.
15. When you reach this bridge, take a sharp left... .
...and then follow the path all the way into Castor.
16. At the end of the path, turn right....
...then follow the road until you reach the top of Love Hill.
17. Cross over the main road and then turn right here.
18. Follow the narrow road until you reach a Public footpath ( Lundy Walk).
Lundy Walk will take you all the way back down to the river at Ferry Meadows where you need to turn left.
From here, you need to follow the river path for about a mile and a half.
The path is easy to follow and takes you past Milton Ferry Bridge (don't cross over it)
and will then fork right onto the River Board Walk in Bluebell Wood. Eventually you'll come to the large green bridge and need to take this path arrowed:
You're now on the lovely river path between the Golf Course and the river.
Please beware of golf balls and keep to the path.
19. When you get to this bridge, cross over it and take a sharp right-hand turn.
20. At the lock, go straight over and head for the fly-over...
...then take the first right-hand path under the fly-over.
You are now in Thorpe Meadows.
There are two places to stop and eat at the far end of the rowing lake:
'Boat House'
'Dragonfly Hotel'
21. Follow the rowing lake all around and then go back under the flyover and cross over the weir lock bridge towards the railway line, cross it, and turn left...
...following the path beside Orton Mere Station.
'Orton Mere Station' is on the Nene Valley Railway Line.
- 22. At the end of the path, go straight ahead over the little bridge.
- 23 Take the left-hand path here...
...and follow the little winding path back to here, where you turn right back onto the path you came in on.
- 24 When you get back to Orton Mere station, turn left into the car park...
...and head for the gap at the far end.
Right in front of you is a path between the trees...
...follow this path until you get back to the road.
Then turn right back into Orton Mere.
- 25 Just before you reach the railway crossing, turn left and follow the long path until you reach the next junction. Then turn right and go back over the railway crossing.
26. Follow the path for a short time, then take a right turn here and walk straight ahead over the bridge. This path will take you along the river bank to Ham Mere and leads directly back into the park.
At the end of the path is Gunwade Lake, directly in front of you.
From here you can either go left back to the Visitors Centre, or go right over the bridge and
then left and follow the lake pathways up to the Watersport Centre, and then past Lynch Lake and on to Overton Lake, Visitors Centre.
That's the end of your walk!
