Stunning dog-friendly walk that passes by watermill and old railway track

The walk is two-miles long

Summer is over and autumn feels well and truly here. As the weather gets colder and the hours of darkness get longer, the motivation to get some exercise and daily vitamin D intake can be much less.

However, one beautiful picturesque walk in Cambridgeshire may do just the trick to reel you into a brisk, autumnal walk. The National Trust’s Lode dog-walking train from Anglesey Abbey is two-miles long.

The walk takes you through gorgeous sights such as Lode Mill, a disused railway line followed by an ancient watercourse and typical, pretty village cottages. It takes between 45-minutes and an hour to complete and has been rated as “easy” to complete by National Trust.

The walk is dog-friendly although National Trust warns that dogs should be kept on leads for the village part of the route. Beginning at the Anglesey Abbey car park, the route takes you down to Lode Mill; a watermill that was rescued and restored as a flour mill, and then past a T junction towards the former Cambridge to Mildenhall railway line.

The single track line opened from Cambridge to Fordham in June 1884 and then to Mildenhall in April 1885. By July 1958, Rail Buses operated on the route before the line closed to passengers in June 1962 followed by its closure to goods in July 1964.

This was apart from the section from Fordham to Burwell which permanently closed a year later in 1965. After delving into the history of the former line, continue the route before reaching Lode village.

There, trekkers will feel stunned by the streets lined with fen edge cottages, making for a true English village feel. The route takes you back towards Anglesey Abbey and by its visitor centre.

By your return, you may find you have worked up an appetite. Therefore, it would make for a good trip extension and reward to treat yourself at Anglesey Abbey’s Redwoods Restaurant to grab a bite to eat.

If you wish to visit the country house, there is an admission fee including options with or without gift aid as well as a family deal. To view the step by step route for the two-mile walk, visit here for more details.