Banbury Fringe Circular Walk

Step by step

1. 1
   

   Step 1: Spiceball Park to Bodicote along the canal

   From the Riverside car park, head towards the play area and the Spiceball Park sign, and bear left to the Oxford Canal towpath. Turn left and follow the towpath south past Banbury Museum and Castle Quay. Stay on this side at the bridge by Tooley's Boatyard, go down the ramp by the Mill Arts Centre, and keep to the towpath under the numbered bridges, from 165 up to 172.

   At bridge 172, Nadkey Bridge, about 3.2km from the start, leave the canal up a short steep bank, cross the bridge and go through the gate. Climb with the trees on your left to a second gate, then follow the track straight on through the Longford Park estate, past gates, to the Oxford Road. Cross at the light-controlled crossing on your left.

   • Steep section
   • Muddy in winter
2. 2
   

   Step 2: Bodicote and the Salt Way

   Go straight on along Broad Gap into Bodicote, across Chapel Lane and along the narrow pavement by the stone wall. At the end turn right along High Street, which becomes White Post Road, past the playing field and Bodicote House, the council's offices. Where the road bends away, keep to the pavement by the hedge, cross at the zebra crossing and turn right onto the Salt Way.

   Follow the Salt Way west for about a mile, a green lane between hedges. Cross the Bloxham Road at the pedestrian lights on your left and pick the Salt Way up again on the far side. It passes below Crouch Hill on your right, where a gate opposite a paved path gives a detour to the top, then bends right to the Broughton Road. Cross with great care: the council's guide warns that the traffic is fast.

   • Muddy in winter
3. 3
   

   Step 3: Giant's Cave and the woods to Drayton

   Go up two steps and down eleven into Giant's Cave park, where the path is permissive. Cross the bridge, turn right and follow the signed route through the trees and up the steps, then along the field edge and up a steep field with the trees on your left.

   Near the field corner the path drops steeply through trees. Turn right downhill along the open field, then right again at the bottom onto a public footpath that climbs through woodland for about 400m. The council's guide warns that this stretch can be wet and muddy, and the path hard to follow: keep straight on. At the top, turn left through a short strip of wood and follow the farm tracks north towards Drayton, with paddocks on your left, onto a fenced, surfaced track and a farm road to the A422.

   • Steep section
   • Muddy in winter
4. 4
   

   Step 4: Bretch Hill and the Mineral Railway Path

   Turn right along the pavement of the A422, cross Bretch Hill with care, and carry on past North Oxfordshire Academy, where there is no pavement across the entrance. At the big junction, turn left up Warwick Road, cross Ludlow Drive, then cross Warwick Road at the light-controlled crossing and turn left. Turn right at the roundabout and follow the paths through the estate down to the Mineral Railway Path.

   Follow the old railway line east through the trees, past a rock face, to the Ironstones road. Cross, follow the pavement left and almost at once bear right onto a grass track. Go through the tunnel under Highlands, or cross the road above it, and keep right where the path forks, past a play area and along the top of an embankment. At its end the path zigzags steeply down to a stream.

   • Steep section
5. 5
   

   Step 5: Southam Road and back along the canal

   Follow the stream path, cross a service road and go down the steps on the far side. At the Southam Road, turn right along the pavement. There is no controlled crossing: cross opposite the canal bridge, waiting for a long gap in the traffic. Go down the ramp, follow the fenced walkway left to the towpath at bridge 161, and turn left. Follow the towpath south for about 1.5km, under the A422, back to Spiceball Park and the start.