Take a walk round Helmdon, a small village set in open country in the south of Northamptonshire, England.
Its people love Helmdon, though no great event or historical person has made it famous. It is a vibrant community with a tale worth telling.
Helmdon has a population of around 900 and used to be a farming community, catering mostly for its own needs. From the early 18th century there was also a thriving lace industry. Today people go to work chiefly in the towns around, such as Banbury and Northampton, and even to London. It has a nine-member parish council.
Stop 1: Welsh Lane
Your route starts from the Welsh Lane.
The Welsh Lane, an old drovers’ route, now called the B4525, runs across the south of the village, and other roads come from Sulgrave, Weston, and Wappenham.
You will start your journey by passing through the Jubilee Wall, which was built to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee of 2012.
Stop 2: Great Central Railway
Go down Station Road and cross the bridge over a deep cutting which is the abandoned route of the old Great Central Railway which opened for freight in 1898 and for passengers in 1899. Helmdon station closed in 1963, and the whole route was abandoned in 1966.
There are fields on your right, usually filled with sheep.