Puddington before dinner

A quick stroll after work and before dinner to celebrate the warmer weather, though it is still a little crisp.

We parked the motor out of the way at the side of the road in the dip as you approach Puddington from Burton. The footpath sign is hidden behind a home watch sign, but the sandstone steps are a bit of a give away and most people seem to use the cattle grid anyway. A wide and surfaced path follows the brick wall boundaries on one side, a ploughed field on the other. This is Neston FP67 for a few yards, before turning into Puddington FP7 - probably at the substantial kissing gate - 2 of these - good! This path crosses a working farm yard so take care. Puddington is a well healed and well looked after cluster of buildings, many are converted from their previous use into dwellings, there is an old hall marked on the footpath map and it certainly feels a bit conservative. Wikipedia has little to say....

Cross the lane at the end of this path and there is another path at the side of the house - a nice little path with a green field on one side and fibre glass sheep on the other - really. It curves around and soon ends back on the road. That's 3 paths in 5 minutes.

Turn left and follow the road and you soon happen upon a classic cast iron finger post sign in faded and rusted black and white paint. Follow this finger and you are on Puddington FP1 (Pipers Lane) - we passed sheep lambing and continued on up the lane - for this is a farm road, wide and metalled for a good while, passing through a number of little metal swinging gates that I don't recall ever seeing before. The gates around here are mounted on some fairly light rails - I should measure one I suppose - light standard gauge I think rather than narrow gauge. From farm into stud farm - a modern mansion of a place on the left with grand brick gates and new brick buildings - then suddenly we are back in the fields, following an ancient ditch with a hedge either side.

Into a stand of trees and there seems to be a choice. Checking the map, the footpath continues over the stile on the right and across a field towards the farm. The worn path seems to go left through the trees, but is just a locally used path to the fields beyond via a small wilderness of downed trees, stagnant waters and bluebells. However there are rooks, tits, a woodpecker, finches and goodness knows what else in this stand alone.

We turned back here and were rewarded with an apricot hued sunset, an owl being mobbed by every crow for miles around - it flew off and was passed between the crows as it went, each one
having a pop before backing off. Rabbits everywhere and a vast quantity of holes in the ground that looked big enough to be badgers.

There is a block of old modern houses at the start of this path, all empty bar one - another development in waiting?