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Village takes steps towards safer walking trail

Martin Heath
BBC News, Northamptonshire
MALC MCDONALD/GEOGRAPH Rural bridge, showing road with stone wall where the bridge passes over the river and trees surrounding the road. A brown sign with white lettering to the left says "River Jordan" and a sign to the right indicates that we are Desborough Road. There is a stone-built house to the left.MALC MCDONALD/GEOGRAPH
The River Jordan flows through Braybrooke, where the trail will start

A village is preparing to open a £100,000 trail that will connect it to "one of the area's most scenic walking and cycling routes".

The Griffin Trail around Braybrooke, Northamptonshire, will replace a route that involves negotiating unsafe roads.

It will join up with the Brampton Valley Way - a 14-mile (23km) walk along a disused railway.

Braybrooke Parish Council said the trail was a "critical step toward building a broader network of safe walking and cycling routes".

In research for the project, 41% of locals were recorded as wanting better footpaths and cycle routes to Market Harborough, which is three miles (5km) away.

Braybrooke Parish Council said the route of the Griffin Trail was "designed with a gentle gradient and an all-weather surface", so it would be usable throughout the year.

By diverting an existing footpath, known as GC13, along the edge of a field, a direct connection between the trail and the Brampton Valley Way has been established.

The Brampton Valley Way, described by the council as "one of the area's most scenic routes", follows the line of the old Northampton to Market Harborough railway for 14 miles (23km).

It includes the Kelmarsh Tunnel - a 480m (1575ft) unlit structure - and the 414m (1,358ft) Oxendon Tunnel.

MAT FASCIONE/GEOGRAPH Entrance to tunnel at which iron gates are just visible. There is a grey stone archway over the entrance. There is a steep grass slope to the left and a steep mud slope to the right. A sign to the left has instructions for walkers and cyclists.MAT FASCIONE/GEOGRAPH
The Griffin Trail connects with the Brampton Valley Way, which includes the Kelmarsh Tunnel

The trail will become part of the North Northamptonshire Greenway Project - a network of rural routes, which are mostly free from traffic.

It was developed by the parish council and the Braybrooke Beer Company, which received funding from North Northamptonshire Council as well as the National Lottery, Northamptonshire Community Foundation and other trusts and businesses.

Braybrooke Parish Council said: "Once completed, the trail will serve as a model for further collaboration with local landowners and a foundation for future expansion of the Greenway project, potentially extending the route south toward Desborough."

The trail's official opening is due to take place on 28 February.

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