🍻🚅🥾🍺🐴🏠FUN HIKE- Rolling hills of Ampthill Great Park & Houghton House -16k

Chill & Friendly hike to Ampthill Great Park & Houghton House

“In days of old here Ampthill’s towers were seen, The mournful refuge of an injured Queen; Here flowed her pure but unavailing tears, Here blinded zeal sustain’d her sinking years. Yet freedom hence her radiant banner wav’d, And love aveng’d a realm of priests enslav’d; From Catherine’s s wrongs a nation’s bliss was spread, And Luther’s light from Henry’s lawless bed.”

Inscription on Katherine's cross from 1773

Ampthill Great Park (at the site of former Ampthill castle) was landscaped by famous gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown in the eighteenth century, and is a former hunting ground of Henry VIII.Ampthill gained its charter for a weekly market as far back as 1219. Catherine of Aragon lived in a castle here during their divorce. However, most of the fine period buildings that surround the Market Place and line Church Street, in particular, date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Ampthill's location on a prominent greensand ridge made it a popular stop-off for travellers on coaching routes, while today it's more notable for an inordinate number of antique shops.

To the north, and just off the walk, is Houghton House, built in 1615 for the Countess of Pembroke and systematically dismantled and emptied 179 years later by the Duke of Bedford. The shell of what must have been a fine building is still worth inspecting, especially as the views across the county from its open hilltop location are first rate.

The John Bunyan Connection

Houghton House was supposedly the inspiration for 'House Beautiful', and a nearby stretch of Bedford Road the 'Hill Difficulty', in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. This famous work of spiritual allegory, an ostensibly simple tale of a pilgrim's daily encounters as he wanders through the local countryside, was first published in 1678, since when it has been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible

📆Date: Saturday 2nd November 2024

🕔Hike Start time: 10:09 am

🔎Hike Starting/Ending Point: Millbrook (Beds) Train station
🧗Ascent – 209 metres
👣Length – 16 kms Approx
⏳Time – 5-6 hours (Including all the breaks)
Grade – Easy/Moderate
NOTE: We are curious bunch of pretty relaxed walkers who like to know more about the history , flora and fauna etc . We will stop often , Read the plaques and nameplates. Take pub/tea stops etc. My walks are not suitable for fast paced walkers who take walking as a challenge. But We walk faster if there are no beginners. pace of the walk will be the pace of slowest walker in the group.

IMPORTANT - come only if you can commit to the full day . return time is not guaranteed and depends on the pace of the group.

How to get there: There are regular trains from Milton Keynes station to Millbrook(Beds) changing at Bletchley (BLY) station
🚆Train Schedule
Train Schedule – Take 09.35 (Destination: London Euston ) from Milton Keynes Central (MKC) and get down at Bletchley (BLY) station(09.39) and make your way to platform 5 and change to 09.45 from Bletchley ( Destination: Bedford ) to reach MillBrook(Beds) (MLB) at 10.09.

Also , It is possible to attend this hike from both Leighton Buzzard ( train from London ) & Luton ( train from Bedford ) .

🅿️Car Parking (If driving)

There is no parking at Millbrook(Beds) station. But There is a small car park nearby called "Car park Greensands Ridge Walk, Station Lane,MK45 2YU". Find it in Google maps.
Or you can park at Bletchley station or nearby and take the train to Millbrook.
NOTE - I will board the train only from Bletchely station. I won't be there in Milton Keynes Central .

🎟️Train Tickets

Take Off peak Day return (London NorthWestern only ) if you are on your own. You can take group save ticket if there are 3 or more people traveling from London.
You can use London NorthWestern mobile app.

WhatsApp Group
TBA
🥪🍻Lunch Pub - The George Inn, Maulden
My trips always has a pub lunch option - but you can always bring your own food and eat from the pub garden if they allow it.
What to bring: You must bring a backpack with Waterproof Jacket ( if rain is predicted), a picnic lunch, hiking foot wear and 1.5 L water.

⚠️Disclaimer⚠️

Please note that this a self guided gathering of like minded people. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.