Leader: Sara Waldron

What a great day. After 15 of us had parked all over Bedford we met at the Bedford Swan Hotel on the banks of the R Great Ouse at 8.30 am for the minibus ride to Sandy, where we started the 16.5 mile part 4 of the NBHT back to Bedford.

We left Sandy just after 9am and headed south, crossing over a couple of rivers heading for Beeston, through Beeston and through some lovely countryside and into Northill. Then south out of Northill to Ickwell Green with its maypole where we had our early T break.

Then on to skirt the Shuttleworth Aerodrome (Old Warden) where the Shuttleworth Collection is stored. Still heading south we turned right to head NW and into Warden Warren wood to reach our first lunch stop of the day at Old Warden church. Sara our leader gave us 20 mins, then on through Palmers Wood and out the other side. Over open countryside, we then turned right to arrive at our second lunch stop of the day at the Cow Shed Cafe where some had coffee and cake, we got another 20 mins there.

Then we headed north skirting Sheerhatch Wood. then left to cross the top of the wood and back out into the open countryside to arrive at our 4th stop at Willington Dovecote, where the awarding of certificates for those who had done all 4 sections of the NBHT was held.

From there we headed west over the A421 and into the Priory Country Park for the final fling back into Bedford. At the Priory Country Park we said a tearful farewell to Graham and a few others who had parked their cars at the Priory Country Park, so had done the walk from there to the meeting place in the morning. The rest of us did the final 1.5 miles back to the Swan Hotel on the banks of the R Great Ouse, and with a final farewell and photos it was all over. For those who had done all the sections they had a great time.

Great walk Sara and thanks for the 4 breaks.

All my photos of part 4 are on my web site….www.steveceegalleries.smugmug.com

Steve Clark