Banbra three

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Banbra here.

I completed this walk yesterday travelling east from Banbury. It only misses out on five stars due to a small amount of road walking, but I really enjoyed it. There are great views over the undulating countryside, and varied interest along the way. The Fox pub at the approximate mid-point at Farthinghoe is a good spot for a break.

When researching the walk I sought to understand why Banbra two had been created as an alternative to Banbra one. Banbra one was not walked at all, so clues could only be found in the two reviews of Banbra two. It seems the second route was created to take in the village of Middleton Cheney for a good place to rest, as well as Thenford House and Gardens. I wasn't so interested in visiting the additional village for a rest, particularly as I could see Banbra one held the pit-stop opportunity of The Fox at Farthinghoe.

What swung my choice to attempt the original route was a useful review by KB on Banbra two which only gave the route three stars due to waterlogging and a huge amount of road walking on that route. After checking KB's analysis, I could see the second route does hold more road walking than the original route. Despite KB's positive review of Banbra two going past Thenford House, I decided that less road walking was more favourable than visiting Thenford House so felt a pioneered review of Banbra one was warranted.

The route leaves Banbury behind fairly quickly, transitioning from the town centre through residential and then finally to industrial units. My companion who was more interested in Formula 1 than myself commented on how a couple of the companies we walked past were of interest to those interested in motorsport. As you approach the roundabouts on the way out of the town (photo 1), stick to the left hand side due to a lack of pavements on the right.

Shortly after crossing the M40 you leave the road and onto the first footpath. The first hedge boundary (which also marks the county boundaries between Oxon and Northants) was a little overgrown but passable (photo 2). It was the only overgrown issue of the whole walk, however if it's not maintained later in the year it might be more of an issue. You then make the climb towards the lovely hamlet of Overthorpe. Only a small amount of road walking here until you reach the footpath which takes you to the rear of properties and out of the village (photo 3).

From Overthorpe the walk opens up to give great views and is really pleasant. When you reach the Astrop Road, the first difference to Banbra one appears as you should turn left and then right to walk along the top of the embankment next to the A422 to reach the footpath (photo 5) and around Middleton Lodge Farm. More pleasant walking as you cross the old dismantled railway. We took the right hand footbridge (photo 6) when you get the choice on the way towards Little Purston.

When you get to the farm at Little Purston, the footpath is between the first and second farm buildings on the left (photo 7). This differs to the OS map and the route in Banbra one and was initially missed by us, hence the correction here. You then have to navigate around the Manor House at Great Purston and a small climb up into the village of Farthinghoe where refreshments await at the pub.

Leaving Farthinghoe behind, there is a small amount of road walking (with verges) to get to the mast at Stony Brake (photo 8). Just as you pass Stony Brake here the route takes advantage of a footpath to the left (photo 9) to leave the road behind. The footpath takes you through the past the collapsed London Barn (photo 10) which is an interest of itself and has some rusting old machinery in the grounds.

The Green Lane is initially a muddy track (photo 11) and when you do get to the crossroads, turns into a metalled gated road which doesn't look like it's used frequently at all (photo 12) and takes you into the pretty village of Hinton-in-the Hedges. A small amount of quiet road walking (with verges) then takes you to a footpath past Manor Farm and towards the A422 (photo 13).

Crossing the A422 requires care, more because of the speed of vehicles along there, but on the other side you then pass through a new development (photo 14) and then across the dismantled railway again which has steps on either side of the embankment (photo 15). The end point in Brackley is then just a shortish walk away.

The route contains a more than average number of stiles, plenty of gates, a number of footbridges and some steps. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a nice country walk. The number 500 bus serves the two communities well, and in fact was standing room only when I used it to get to Banbury.

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