Badby Woods and Fawsley

This is Northamptonshire at its most hilly, and also at its most beautiful. The 12.9 km circuit from the stone-and-thatch village of Badby climbs through the Knightley Way arch into ancient beech and oak woodland before dropping to the Fawsley Estate — an isolated church, quiet lakes, and long views back towards Daventry across privately managed parkland. The return climbs through open fields to the village, making this a proper physical commitment by the county's gentle standards.

Badby Wood is one of the finest bluebell sites in the county, spectacular in late April and early May when the ground turns violet-blue and the woodland air carries something close to overwhelming floral scent. Dogs can be off-lead across most of the woodland and parkland sections. The terrain mixes woodland earth paths, grass fields, and genuinely steep grassy climbs — expect mud in the lower sections through winter. The Maltsters pub in Badby welcomes dogs and is the natural start and finish.