Exploring Salcey Forest, Northamptonshire

Salcey Forest, you are beautiful!

It’s occurred to me recently that I don’t know much about what’s around Northamptonshire, the county I have been living in for the past 10 years.

I have never really ventured outside of my town and I’ve given myself the challenge to explore more of what’s actually in my home county.

As someone who is always wanderlusting, sometimes it’s hard to not think about buying that next plane ticket to go somewhere abroad that we forget that there are actually some beautiful places to explore right in our own countries!

Sunday (2nd July) we decided to take a road trip to Salcey Forest in Hartwell, Northamptonshire (near Quinton), a place I had never visited before and because it was a sunny day (a rare occasion at the moment) I decided to just go and see what I could find.

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I got there for around 2pm, parked up and headed straight for The Forest Cafe as I was pretty hungry for a late lunch at this point!

They had a vast range of specials on the board, plus lots of lunchtime options. I originally went for the Pulled Pork roll which they only do on weekends, but unfortunately, they had run out so I opted for the Chilli Nachos which were so filling, but fuelled me ready for my walk.

There were three options to which walk I could follow: The Elephant Walk (easy) which was only a 3/4 trail, The Church Path Trail (Moderate) for 1.5 miles and the Woodpecker Trail (Moderate) which circled the whole park which was 6 miles. We wanted to visit the Tree Top Way, which is a walk that is 15 metres above the woodland floor and offered stunning views across Salcey Forest and the adjoining woodlands of Yardley Chase.

I didn’t really follow a walk as such, but just carried on walking around to see what we could find. But obviously, I took advantage of the treetop way which was exactly what it said: high, beautiful and had some amazing views!

I was so impressed with the photos I took as I decided not to bring my DSLR camera with me and everything was taken on my iPhone 7.

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The weather was perfect for our day as it was scorching sunshine and made everything look even more beautiful and picturesque. I even managed to get some snaps on my Mini 8 Instax camera which turned out really well considering it was bright and sunny.

After my walk, I decided to go back to the cafe and get myself an ice cream from the Ice Cream Parlour. I went for the Cappuccino and Vanilla ice cream which was so tasty and cooled me off after walking in the sunshine for the last hour!

Salcey Forest is perfect if you’re looking for something to do within Northamptonshire, it’s dog friendly which means you can bring your dog if they fancy a walk around the park too (I spotted SO many dogs!), it’s got lots for young children to get involved in including Gruffalo walks and climbing frames and it’s got the Salcey Forest Cafe and ice cream parlour!

There is also a cycle trail and a horse trail for anyone who doesn’t fancy a walking trail. There is something for everyone.

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I am so happy I came here as I have always seen friends posting their photos of their day’s out here and this was my first time visiting Salcey Forest, so I felt like I had ticked off this off my list of things to do in Northamptonshire!

This is certainly the place to visit over the Summer if we are as lucky with the weather as I was yesterday!

Have you ever been to Salcey Forest?

 

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