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Great Barford Walks

4.97 miles (8 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap This Bedfordshire based village has some delightful riverside walking trails. The historic settlement also includes an ancient bridge and a notable church with a 15th century tower.
This circular walk from the village follows the river path to the neighbouring village of Willington. It's a pretty area with locks, weirs and fine views of the surrounding countryside.
The route starts in the village and heads touh to reach the river where you'll find Barford Bridge and a weir. The 15th century arched bridge is one of the notable features of the area.
You then head south west along the river, passing Willington Lock before arriving at the noteworthy Willington Dovecote. The Tudor dovecote is maintained by the National Trust.
The route then retraces its steps before picking up the Bedford to Sandy Country Way. This shared cycling and walking path takes you along an old railway line before following a country lane to return to Barford Bridge. You then cross the bridge and return to the village.

Great Barford OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Great Barford Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

Continue east along the railway line and you could visit the RSPB's Sandy Warren. There's some lovely woodland trails here with lots of wildlife to see on the way.
For more walking ideas in the area see the Bedfordshire Walks page.

Photos

Post Office and High Street, Great Barford - geograph.org.uk - 449735

Post Office and High Street, Great Barford

Barford Bridge over the Great Ouse - geograph.org.uk - 390756

Barford Bridge over the Great Ouse

From the bridge at Great Barford - geograph.org.uk - 410736

From the bridge at Great Barford Looking at the river Ouse upstream

Lock near Willington - geograph.org.uk - 191381

Lock near Willington. As seen from a footpath (which is part of the national cycle network)

Tudor Dovecote, Willington - geograph.org.uk - 1663800

Tudor Dovecote, Willington. Built around 1543 as part of a range of buildings for the Manor farm in Willington.It has 1500 nest boxes and is maintained by the National Trust. Viewing is straight forward as it sits in an open site near Willington Church.

Manor farm stables, Willington - geograph.org.uk - 1825378

Manor farm stables, Willington. These stables were built around 1539 as part of what is left of the buildings of the Manor farm.

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Great Barford.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Great Barford.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)