Marton

This is a circular tour based on the village of Marton. I parked in the small car park of Marton Mission, but there is plenty of roadside car-parking.
The start of the tour is in the middle of the village opposite the end of Marton Road and clearly indicated by a signpost. When this footpath met a cultivated field we walked clockwise around the edge until we could find the gate into the next field.
Ordnance Survey shows the route goes diagonally across the next cultivated field – the aim is to reach the edge of a row of trees. The way is clearer here since it follows the edge of the row of trees.
Following the path around the trees, a wide gate is reached and here we lost our planned route. From our experience it seems best to walk on by the trees and when they turn left, go right for a gap in the corner of the hedge surrounding the field. A way was then clear to pick up the farm track leading to Highfield Farm.
The route stays on the east side of the farm and passes the pig pens before turning right through a wide gate, another field and a further gate. By this stage you are heading to White Thorn Farm. Here the route goes between the farm buildings and the farmhouse before crossing over a narrow back or drainage ditch.
Just past a house in the area of Rook Barugh there is a footpath sign leading you off to the left and through a gate on to fields. There is no visible footpath here, but it is going in a one o’clock direction.
You reach then the corner of a downward-sloping field. The trick here is to go diagonally across it and you will see a gate at the bottom of the field that leads to a farm track. In turn, this track takes you to the main road and back into Marton.
There are no hills to climb or descend on this tour and no views of interest. My main problem was just finding the paths we were meant to be on. Apparently, in the past they were used at times for transporting coffins to places where there were churches.