Mardes two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Mardes here.

This route reflects my experience of trying to follow the badly plotted MARDES one from Market Harborough to Desborough - the basic route is the same but I have attempted to show the walkable line more clearly and reflect some of the waymarked gates and stiles that are not exactly on the right of way line. The shortcut through Braybrooke does not exist! I was tempted to change the route south of Braybrooke but decided not to plot a route I had not tested on the ground.

My first problem in following MARDES one was interpreting the straight line out of Market Harborough, and I decided following the main streets was easiest - there is light assistance at the two main road crossings. There is a way out to the Brampton Valley railway path through a car park before Scotland Street, but since Scotland Street is easiest to cross at the road junction this is not really worth using.

We follow the good path/cycletrack out of the town and across the border into Northamptonshire. Watch out for the path left - it crosses the old railway using a few steps but could easily be missed. The line across the first field to the footbridge is obvious, but beyond the bridge the right of way line crosses a huge field - fairly recently ploughed and sown with something grassy - I suspect the farmer would like us to follow the edge round, but I saw enough bootmarks to establish that the direct line is still used. Eventually we reach the far side and Oxendon Road, which we follow into Braybrooke. There is a bench at the junction with Griffin Road, which we follow right up the hill, passing a pub. An alleyway path takes us right to Green Lane, where we go right on an unsurfaced lane then left using a signposted footpath through a rough pasture.

Approaching the stream I found the first problem with the right of way line - the map suggests crossing by the little pool, but the waymarked crossing is further up at the far end of the field. After the second field on the far side the right of way is the wrong side of the hedge - there are waymarks but these can easily be missed. We then cross a little further left, then return to the right of way line to go through another gate. At the far side of the next field I couldn't see a waymark and opted to climb a locked gate left of where the right of way line should be, We then follow a dog legged field round to the left, and cross into an area of light woodland. The route across the farm lane is not marked but involves climbing over a low fence. Beyond that there are stiles, and one bridge across a stream that was very overgrown with bramble shoots that could be impenetrable in summer. Finally the exit into Arthingworth Road has a stile, but no footpath sign and the stile has a single line of barbed wire in front of it (picture 11).

Overall this path may be more trouble than it is worth, though it does offer good views - the alternative is just to walk up Griffin Road and turn left at the T junction, but locals may have better ideas - another option looks to be to use the Macmillan Way and approach Desborough from the north.

Once off this path the rest of the route is easy - first a downhill walk on a quiet lane, then a well used path takes us to the A6 Desborough bypass - we have to descend steps, and the road crossing has good sight lines, but no central refuge, so take care and be patient.

The only issue with the final field path is that it has been diverted along the field edge. Beyond this field a simple pavement walk takes us into Desborough, and another excellent meeting point with several benches and a Coop, and a bus stop opposite that has an hourly bus service to Market Harborough and more frequent buses to Kettering.

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