22nd October 2022 Cople 7.5 Miles

This walk had 5 walkers
After two days of rain, thunder and lightening I expected plenty of muddy fields but the sun shone and the ploughed fields, which I thought would be dreadful, were not too bad after all.
Our walk started at All Saints Church in Cople, which dates back to 1450.
Eileen, Graeme, Tony Roberts, Tony Price and myself set off in sunshine along Northill Road passing the site of The Old Manor House.
Passing beautiful cottages along Water End Lane before turning off into the country across our first ploughed field, which really wasn’t as bad as I had expected. 

Tony P, Tony R, Sue, Eileen & Graeme

We found a perfect tree trunk for our coffee stop overlooking the vale to Cardington Hangers.

Three wise men & two lovely ladies

Tony P & Graeme looking at the dome, actually a reservoir cover

Following our tree lined path until we turned right onto Northill Road past Sheerhatch Wood then stopping to take in the views across the vale.
We came to a dome on Northill Road protected by cameras and well fenced off. Ideas please! Observation Dome. Satellite observatory. I found it clearly on Google maps.
At Oak farm we turned off onto a tree lined bridleway for nearly a mile. Crunching over the autumn leaves and stopping to sit on a tree trunk to take in the views.

Crunching through the leaves through the bridleway

Tony R and Graeme taking in the world, in the sunshine, under a beautiful tree.

Eventually walking over ploughed fields we found two large concrete blocks where we sat in the sunshine having our lunch. 
Walking on through an avenue of trees where we saw several bird boxes and newly planted trees leading onto a gated meadow, either side of which the autumn colour of leaves on the trees and bushes was beautiful. The meadow is full of cowslips in spring. Passing through a gate to find the pond to our left was looking so much better after all the rain compared to when we did our reccy.
Passing Wood End Farm, dating back 1850s, set in beautiful grounds with a moat and fantastic views. We then came through a gate onto Water End Lane, with hedges either side back into Cople. - Sue

Track of walk, walked in clockwise direction.