Distance 3.1 miles (5km)
Classification Easy
Duration 1 hour 15 minutes
Begins Wimpole stable block
OS grid reference TL336509
Walk in a nutshell
This route begins at Wimpole Hall, then passes Home Farm (a separate attraction, which you can enter with a ticket), before continuing through arable fields and pasture used for rare-breed livestock, and then strolling off into the beautiful landscaped woods. The route is well marked out, with a few slopes, but the woodland section can get muddy when wet.
Why it's special
The working farms around the Wimpole estate are the perfect destination for curious young visitors. You may spot working shire horses grazing in the fields, or rare-breed sheep, pigs and cattle. And there's the Halo chicken unit at Cobb's Wood Farm, where hens range freely, laying eggs that are available to buy in the stable block shop.
Keep your eyes peeled for
Cobb's Wood itself, on your right as you reach the farm, which is an ancient forest. Incredibly, there is even a lost village now buried beneath the trees in there. The woodland belts, meanwhile, were laid out by Capability Brown as a frame for the gardens, and are home to a wide variety of wildlife, including eight different species of bat.
Recover afterwards
You are well catered for on the Wimpole estate. There's the farm kitchen and the stable kitchen, which both sell light meals and drinks, or there's the Old Rectory restaurant, which does proper lunches and teas.
If it's tipping down
Cambridge is just 8 miles away, and overflowing with family activities. Try the University Zoology Museum , or an array of fossils (including dinosaurs) at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences .
How to get there
Take the Whippet 75 bus from Cambridge, alighting at Arrington, from where it is a mile walk to Home Farm. Return from Orwell, a 2-mile walk east of the farm. The nearest rail station is 5 miles away at Shepreth.
Step by step
1 Starting in the car park, walk away from the stable block towards the other side of the visitor car park. You will see a black gate. Go through this into the field opposite.
2 Cross the field in a diagonal line to another black gate on the far left-hand fence. The field you're currently walking through is used to graze livestock for Wimpole's Home Farm.
3 Once through the gate you'll be in one of the farm's paddocks. Cross over this paddock to the gate opposite. Exit near the phone box and cross the road – be careful, this road can get quite busy. Turn left and then right into the road with the wooden gates.
4 Continue along this road, look to your left as you walk and notice the gothic tower. Go over the bridge and pass Cobb's Wood Farm.
5 Keep going straight along the path and then up the hill. When you reach the trees, take the first left.
6 Keep walking along the forest belt path and you'll come to a crossing. If you'd like to see the viewpoint, keep going and take the next left, then return the way you came, down the hill towards the farm buildings (you'll be back at Cobb's Wood).
7 At the end of the path, turn right and go back the way you started, towards the car park.
