Kemamp two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Kemamp here.

This is mostly the route I actually walked while trying to follow KemAmp one from Kempston to Ampthill. I did make a couple of minor changes before uploading the route, so this is not exactly what I walked. The main reason I can't go higher than three stars is the road walking on Woburn Road parallel to the A421 - for an unclassified road this is surprisingly fast and busy, popular with lorries, and although it is a wide road with verges, the verges are too overgrown to be easily walkable. There are good parts - the route out of Kempston is mostly off-road and easy, and Ampthill Park is pleasant. The route passes is a Co-Op in Stewartby.

From. the war memorial in Bromham, we cross the High Street on a zebra crossing then follow St Johns Street, then take a well used surfaced path right. Apart from one short pavement section, this path takes us past Kempston Academy, beyond which we turn right to reach Wilkinson Road. Another surfaced track takes us under The Branston Way and through an industrial estate into an area of parkland. We take the left path (which has a rougher surface) and continue south of the lake/gravel pit, going straight on to reach the A421 bridge, which we cross using the ramped access paths.

So far so good, but here we join the busy Woburn Road. There is no point crossing here, as the cycle track almost immediately turns left towards Kempston Hardwick station. We have to follow the busy road, which does have a wide verge but it is too overgrown to walk on comfortably. There is a pavement/cycle track on the east side of the roundabout, but the pavement ends where the field path starts. Another short section of verge/busy road takes us to the road to Stewartby, which is a little quieter and the traffic here is slower, so this was less unpleasant and safer.

Eventually we reach the roundabout by the Stewartby Co-Op, and from here there are pavements. We continue to the centre of the village, then follow Green Lane just beyond the footpath sign. Beyond the stream/drainage ditch, a permissive path left takes us into the trees, and we soon join a much wider path. We only get occasional glimpses of the gravel pit, and we take a signposted track right which leads us to the bridge under the Midland Main Line railway. Beyond there is a short section which is overgrown and potentially very muddy, then we cross fields on fairly well marked paths to reach the B530 (I changed the route here to use the more direct path).

The B530 is fairly busy, but has verges you can step into. Beyond the pub, we take a well marked field path right that heads towards, then right of Ampthill Park House. We follow tracks round to and along the edge of a field, then take the well marked field path across the arable field towards the hill. The right of way path is less distinct than most of the crossing paths, but one way or another it is easy enough to find a way up the steepening hill to the popular path along the top of the escarpment. From here we head for the Lodge House, passing left of it onto a well used path that takes us to Park Hill, from where the Ampthill meeting point is a short walk on quiet roads and pavements.

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