Pete's Walks - Caddington 'figure-of-eight' walk (page 2 of 3)
I then re-crossed the Relief Road and followed a path through an area of scrubland at the foot of the downs. I then turned right, following a bridleway very gradually uphill - this bridleway seemed shorter and less steep than I remembered. I turned left onto a path that soon entered Round Wood, where there was an abundance of Bluebells.
Path back across on the Blows Downs side of the Luton-Dunstable Relief Road
Near the start of the bridleway to Round Wood
The bridleway to Round Wood
Path beside Round Wood
Round Wood
Bluebells in Round Wood
It's splashes of colour like this that making walk especially pleasurable at this time of year - Bluebells, Greater Stitchwort and Yellow Archangel on the edge of Round Wood
On the edge of the wood I turned right, following a path beside what was now Badgerdell Wood, with the rest of the route back to Caddington clearly in view ahead. Beyond the wood I crossed a green field of young corn, then followed a hedgeline that took me to the churchyard around Caddington church. As I passed my parked car, I noticed that the walk had taken just over two hours so far, a little quicker than I remembered it to be last time.
The path beside Badgerdell Wood
The path beside Badgerdell Wood - you can see the path continuing across the next green field
The path approaching Caddington
Caddington church
I followed the side road away from the church, and took a footpath that started beside some garages. This crossed a road and continued past a school on my left to reach a field of yellow oil-seed rape. A path crossed a section of the field, continuing on beside a right-hand hedge to eventually reach a road in Woodside, opposite The Harrow pub. A path continued opposite, leading to Slip End - as I followed a hedgerow through a large meadow I saw my first Red Admiral butterfly of the year.
Near the start of the path to Woodside
The path to Woodside
The path between Woodside and Slip End