Burghley House, Stamford. Torpel Way

 

Burghley House, Stamford and back via Torpel Way and Pilsgate footpath

With Marta. Not quite 6 miles.  Cool wind, grey day. No rain until we finished the walk. 

Coffee called before we set off. The Orangery was open, though the Garden Cafe was not. Suitably fortified, we attacked the walk. From Burghley House we walked down the path towards Water Lane, crossing the railway and then the River Welland. The River looks winter-full and muddy.

We walked past the Wharfe Street car park and turned right, following the road out as far as St Leonard's Priory, to the A1175.

Soon after the roundabout there is a small road leading downhill to the right. This takes you to the Mill and the Torpel Way.

Just after the Mill take the footbridge over the river, go through the gate and cross another bridge. 

The next obstacle is the railway, which has an unmanned crossing here. We didn't cross, but followed the Torpel Way to our left, keeping the railway alongside for almost two miles. We saw two trains in all.

There were views of the Welland to our left, as it meanders through meadows of grazing sheep.
We had hoped to cross the railway on the first path to our right, but this has been closed, so we walked another half-mile or so. The bridge over the river and the road came into sight. However we turned right before the road, soon after we had walked on a raised grassy bank. We made our way over the field and found the path through some trees, then over another field to the railway crossing. 
From there we followed the path, diverting to go round a large field. 
When we met the road we crossed over to the new footpath separated from the road by a hedge. This led us back to the entrance to the Burghley Estate.