Ramblers, riders and cyclists gather at the at the south gate
After short addresses by the Chairman of Northamptonshire Area Ramblers and the Chairman of Higham Ferrers Footpath Group, followed by several press photos, the group set off to walk and ride each of the restored routes on the airfield.
Walking and riding the 10,000 foot former taxiway
They had no difficulty in doing this, because every bridleway and footpath across the old airfield is fenced on each side. At the entrance to the area bridle-gates and hand-gates have been newly erected at the points where each right of way enters.
The bridlegate on the Yelden side of the Chelveston - Yelden bridleway
The fences are steel mesh, 6 feet high. You can see through them but there is, nevertheless, a feeling of confinement. What should be a wonderful open area, with uninterrupted vistas over a wide lonely part of the countryside, is thus reduced.
Walking between the fences of the Caldecott - Yelden footpath. Hare Spinney, a survivor from pre-airfield days, is seen on the left. The WW2-vintage building at the back now serves as a cattle shed
You may wonder why the fences are there at all. It is because the new owner, a businessman, insisted on them. When he purchased the land from the MoD, who had acquired the area in 1940 for an airfield, he wanted all rights of way across the airfield to be extinguished. The County Councils tamely issued temporary closure orders. Eventually, they insisted on the paths re-opening but had to accept the fencing, at the owner’s expense.
Walking the Chelveston - Yelden bridleway. The wide sweep of the Nene Valley is seen in the background
Thanks are due to the staff responsible at Northants and Beds County Councils for their tenacity in achieving the re-opening of the paths. We also thank Defence Estates (MoD) for dedicating the airfield paths, and the Carr family (farmers) for dedicating paths to link the airfield with Chelveston-cum-Caldecott village.
Further along the Chelveston - Yelden bridleway. The building (background, right) is the former transmitter house which served the NATO wireless station
And so we walked, the wind whistling through the wires of the fences on a blustery sunny day in October.
The Raunds - Shelton footpath confined between fences
The Raunds - Yelden footpath at the Yelden side of the airfield. The foot-trod across the corn stubble was created by Rights of Way Officers erecting closure notices, and by ramblers inspecting progress. The Yelden Brook in the valley below drains into the Great Ouse: the airfield finds importance among map-readers as carrying the watershed of the Ouse - Nene drainages.
This is not the end of the story. There is now the threat of a wind farm as well as a biomass enterprise served by 40 lorries a day, with rumours of further industrialisation of the site. It is said that the owner will request closure or diversion of the newly restored routes.
Returning along the bridleway which runs north-east the length of the airfield
Ramblers will oppose any such applications strongly as will many local people:
Over 200 local residents gathered on Sunday 22nd October 2006 to protest at the fences and oppose industrialisation of the countryside