Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, the Three Amigos enjoyed a 10-mile circular walk starting in the pretty village of Barnack and crossed lovely countryside to enter the beautiful and vibrant town of Stamford. Leaving Stamford we crossed the parkland of Burghley House to return to Barnack.

It was a hot and humid day as we set off from our parking spot adjacent to St John the Baptist Church in Barnack. Walking through the village I admired the thatched cottages.

Soon, we were walking in fields and then adjacent to a railway line where we experienced a grand parade of various trains using the line. That kept us amused.

We reached a level crossing with a beautiful traditional signal box and were surprised to see the signalman manually closing the gates. Clearly, the old traditions are hanging on in some places.

Continuing across a field we reached the river Welland – not that we could see water at this stage, just lots of weeds. We followed a track through a tunnel of trees, with the river to our right and the railway line to our left. We were on the Torpel Way- an 11.2 mile walking route from Peterborough to Stamford.

Eventually, we could see water in the river, which was a relief, because I had been wondering if it had dried out with the drought conditions we are currently experiencing. Our route took us across a bridge and then up a track to arrive in Stamford. Traffic was very busy and a complete contrast to the quiet of the start of the walk.

Stamford is a prosperous town with over 600 listed buildings, in and around, the town. It was made England’s first conservation area in 1967. Even the hospital looks grand! Sir Walter Scott claimed that Stamford was ‘the finest sight on the road between Edinburgh and London’.

We spotted a bench adjacent to a busy roundabout and decided to stop for a quick refreshment break anyway. Where was all the traffic coming from we asked?

We walked through the town, and the busy street market that was on.

We passed a tall tapering structure with a circular base in the sheep market. Turns out it is a modern memorial to Queen Eleanor and stands where it is believed the old Eleanor Cross stood.

The Eleanor crosses were twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments erected by King Edward 1 marking the stopping places where his wife’s body rested on its final journey to Westminster Abbey.

We all agreed that it was nice to see such a busy town, not at all rundown like many other towns. There were people everywhere – is this normal we wondered?

Leaving Stamford we took a path diversion around a new housing development, consisting of a couple of very grand houses and headed uphill through a field of sheep. Glancing back we had views across Stamford.

Before long we entered the grounds of Burghley Park Golf Club and walked beside the greens. The greens had been watered and were in pristine condition.

Next, we entered the grounds of Burghley House, although we somehow missed seeing the house (which would have been in the distance), and came across part of the course for the famous horse trials where we saw a few of the ‘jumps’.

Burghley House is a Tudor mansion built by William Cecil, secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth 1, and has been occupied by the same family for 16 generations.

The grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown. We noted the trees were nicely manicured.

We enjoyed walking through the parklands – not a soul around.

We were on the home stretch now, and after crossing some arable fields ,we arrived back at Barnack – water flasks depleted!

We all agreed that it had been a lovely walk – the nice weather definitely helped!

Happy Walking! 😊🚶