Peterborough to Ramsey:

Yaxley to Sawtry

Three walks:

1 (5) Yaxley to Holme – being developed

2 (6) Holme to Sawtry – being developed

3 additional walk into the Great Fen – Whittlesey Mere and Holme Fen

Current partners helping to develop the Trail here are the Fenland Trust, the Great Fen, the Great Fen Heritage Group, Holme History.

For a key to the geology see the British Geological Survey map viewer.

The Great Fen Local Geological Site

The Great Fen: Holme Fen and Whittlesea Mere LGS was designated in February for its importance in telling the story of the geology and landscape of the Fens over the last ten thousand years. The site comprises the land in the northern part of the Great Fen that is owned by The Wildlife Trust BCN and Natural England. More details here.

The additional walk will take you into the LGS to see the area that was once Whittlesea Mere and the Holme Post, which shows how much the Peat has shrunk since drainage 150 years ago.

The first walk on this part of the Trail goes west from Yaxley with an option to visit the village of Stilton. It then crosses an interesting area where there is an ‘inlier’ of older rock that brings Jurassic limestone, similar to that underlying parts of Peterborough, to the surface, amidst the softer and younger Oxford Clay that forms most of the Fen Edge bedrock. Continuing on to the village of Holme, the ‘lowest’ pub in England is reached, the Admiral Wells, whose namesake played a major role in the draining of the area of Whittlesey Mere.

To the east of Holme is the northern part of the Great Fen, a major conservation initiative that aims to restore land for nature conservation. It includes Holme Fen, an National Nature Reserve (and SSSI), famous for the location of the Holme posts which record the dramatic amount of peat shrinkage that has occurred in the area. Walking access into the Great Fen is being developed in partnership with local landowners. At present, it is advisable to drive to one of the parking areas in the Great Fen from where you can walk a variety of way marked routes taking you through both the established nature reserves and the areas under restoration. The longest (6.5 miles) is the Last of the Meres Trail.

From the village of Holme, the Trail travels south to the village of Connington and then on to Sawtry.