At the end of CTC Northampton’s morning ride last Saturday, Iain Dawson and I continued back to The Windhover along the Brampton Valley Way (BVW) to see the improvements where the BVW goes under the Northampton-to-Rugby railway line.
This crossing has been notorious for many years – a complete mud-bath – and, let’s face it, a local disgrace since the BVW is part of the National Cycle Network Route 6. It’s been pretty much impassible in all but the driest weather and, even then, you’d want an off-road bike!
We were pleasantly surprised. Here’s the start of the underpass approached from the south:
Iain shows how it’s negotiated:
and how you emerge on the other side:
Once you’ve emerged, you can see why it used to flood so often – it’s where cycle path, railway line and river all merged:
This is the edge of Kingsthorpe Local Nature Reserve, which has splendid views:
The cycle path then swings up to run alongside the railway line:
and the view remains good:
All in all, a very welcome improvement!
And work looks well underway to complete a nice tarmac surface between here and the A5099 crossing, further north near The Windhover.
CTC Northampton 
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Commenting on old news here, but I’m really pleased to hear that the crossing has been improved. Trying to climb along the ledge at the side of the old ‘path’ was more than a bit difficult (I didn’t think my poor, unsuspecting town-and-trail bike would survive a trip through the bog!)
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