Huntingdonshire

Walk Details:
Date: 12/2/2005
Total ascent: 11m/ 36ft
Total distance walked: 0.72 miles
Walk difficulty: 0.5/10
Enjoyment rating: 1.5/10
Best bits:
Worst bits:
Walkers: Anth, Jim
Car Parking: We parked near the church in Covington at TL 055 728

Top details:
Name: Boring Field
County top number: 44 of 207
Grid reference: TL 04931 71254 MAP
Height above sea level: 39m/ 128ft
How nice was the top? 1.5/10
Views: 2.5/10
Description/Notes:

The Walk

We were cold, we were tired, we had driven hundreds of miles already today. This was a top that other baggers had made disparaging marks about. To be quite frank, we weren't especially looking forward to it. Jim seemed, for him, unusually hacked off - I think it was a combination of him having slept little and driven far.

We parked outside Covington's pretty church, which like most we had seen was very picturesque. We were reminded that, in addition to providing parking spaces for baggers, churches are some of the most beautiful buildings in the land. It seems such a shame that so many are being transformed into houses; however carefully the conversions are done, the loss of the peaceful graveyard strips these landmarks of their dignity (and is incredibly disrespectful to the dead).

It was still cold as we left the car, but at least the drizzle of our last top had ceased. There was a good solid track up the gentle slope to the county top and we were able to tramp up at some speed. The "official" county top of Huntingdonshire was across a field on the boundary of the former county at grid reference TL 04720 71050, and had been named "Boring Field". It certainly lived up to its name, although it was no less exciting than the other East Anglian tops today and had marginally better views than most.

However, we discovered a higher point just a couple of hundred metres away (grid reference above). The track we had initially followed on the way up bore off to the right to service a house. Near the turn, it appeared that someone had once started to build a ramp up to something (whatever it had been, or was planned to have been, it wasn't there any more. The ramp was now a bit overgrown, and an avenue of low trees planted either side had bent over to create a secret and rather attractive tunnel roofed with branches running up the slope. We declared the end of the ramp to be our highest point in Huntingdonshire.

Returning to the car for tea and hot cross buns that Jim had thoughtfully packed, we decided this would be our last top. It was a little disappointing - I had hoped to get as far as Peterborough and maybe even Holland, but it was now 4.30pm, the driving had been further and taken longer than expected, and we decided that it wasn't really worth the extra drive. We would leave them for another day.

On the way back to the A1, we passed through a village - I think it was Kimbolton - which had a school with one of the most impressive building frontages I've seen - well worth a look if you're in the area!

ADDENDUM
We subsequently discovered that this hill was also the highest point of the historic county of Huntingdonshire & Peterborough. To visit the report click here.