Pete's Walks- Kensworth Quarry path (page 1 of 2)
Kensworth quarry, from near the path junction for Dunstable Downs
The Quarry Path, now heading east towards the drive to the quarry
After over a mile of following the quarry path, I reached the tarmac drive to Kensworth Quarry, where I turned right for about a hundred yards. The quarry path then went left, with a tree belt on the left and Isle Of Wight Lane across the field on my right. At the end of the field the path turned left through the tree belt, turning right on the far side. After a while the path started to curve left and descend into a valley (the one I'd crossed earlier while following Hollicks Lane) - I met a party of walkers here, coming the other way.
The Quarry path across the drive, running beside a tree belt
Taken from where the quarry poath emerges from the tree belt, looking across the quarry and over the valley beyond to Blows Downs
The quarry path continuing eastwards
The path curving to go north across this end of the valley (the one north of Kensworth, again)
The path followed a track across the valley bottom, then turned right through a small wood. A steep flight of steps started the climb up the opposite slope, beside an old part of the quarry on the right. At the top of the hill, the path went through a metal kissing-gate and turned right. After passing another small wood on my right, I finally left the quarry path and turned right on a path alongside another edge of the same wood.
The quarry path in the small wood
From another path junction, looking towards Kensworth - I could have taken this path to emerge by the industrial estate on Common Road, Kensworth
The steep steps on this section of the quarry path
The path continuing eastwards
The path continuing eastwards
The path turned left in the next field corner, then turned right on the far side of a hedge that came in from that side. Almost immediately the path went through a gap in a crossing hedgerow, turning left and following the hedge all the way back to Hollicks Lane. Here I turned right, and retraced my earlier steps back to my starting point.
Having left the quarry path, this path is taking me towards Church End again
The path continuing back to Hollicks Lane
The path beside Hollicks Lane again
The path beside Hollicks Lane again
The walk took me about an hour and forty minutes, and was a very pleasant shorter walk for a Sunday afternoon. Apart from the party of walkers I met, I saw several other people along the quarry path, so it is obviously a popular local amenity for the people of Kensworth and Dunstable.