DIRECTIONS

Start at the churchyard (1) and follow the path past the church porch, then go through the kissing gate into the field. (2)

Pick your own path across the field to the wooden bridge (3), crossing the stream. The footpath then crosses the field diagonally (4); cross over the bridge through the hedge (5,6) and you pop out onto the East Farndon Road. Walk a few steps left up the road, then over the stile in the hedge (7), and follow the hedge line up the field.

Once out of the field, walk past the big new sheds and concrete pad (8) (home to Wild & Furrow oat milk production) and head for the big yellow-tipped post on the right (9) - the path splits into two here; keep right for now (10), and you’ll come onto the other path on the way back. The footpath continues along the hedge line, following the course of a stream across two fields. When you get to a green iron gate (11), turn left (don’t go through the gate onto the road; keep in the field) and follow the path by the side of the hedge. You are now on part of the Jurassic Way, a long-distance path linking Banbury to Stamford. The path takes you to a brambly patch in the corner of the field, through a kissing gate, into a grass field (cattle alert! from March/April to October/November). (12)

Walk straight across the field over a bridge (13) into the next grass field, then, keeping the hedge on your left, look out for a stepping stile into the adjacent field. (14)  (It’s about ¾ of the way along, and if you get to the gate, you have missed it, so turn around and it will be on your right.)

You are now heading back to Rectory Farm across two arable fields (15), though the hedge (16) and into the field with the new sheds. Badgers use this part of the foothpath too! (17) Join the original footpath you were on and make your way back, crossing the East Farndon Road, slight left, through the hedge and back towards the church. You are rewarded with a most lovely view of the church and are retracing the steps of generations of country dwellers who walked everywhere.