Cycling along the quiet lane from Clipston to Sibbertoft, I was drawn to a halt by my curiosity when I saw an information board, erected in a field just before Lowes Farm.

I was surprised to see that it had been erected by the Woodlands Trust; surprised because there is no woodland in the immediate area.

Nevertheless, The Woodlands Trust informed me that in the field beyond were the remains of a medieval settlement called Nobold (a name supposedly derived over time from New Build), remains which lie underground.

An agricultural community once scratched out a living here, before the place was abandoned in the 14th century.

It had already been abandoned 200 years previously when the Royalist Army commanded by Charles I and Prince Rupert tramped past here, on their way to meet their fate on the battlefield of nearby Naseby in 1645.

And it was after passing through Naseby that I cycle down the quiet, narrow and delightfully rural lane to Thornby, a village straddling the old turnpike connecting Leicester and Northampton.

Soon after crossing the main road, I pulled up at a T junction in the lanes, whilst riding towards Guilsborough. I noticed a grand looking house over the fields ahead. The Ordnance Survey map told me this was Thornby Grange, and post ride research revealed that King George VI, before becoming king and as the Duke of York, and his wife Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother) leased Thornby Grange for two hunting seasons in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

For I stood at the heart of fox hunting country, home to the Pytchley Hunt, across the rolling hills where Northamptonshire meets Leicestershire, a region of picturesque villages, undulating landscapes, and grand country houses, rather like Thornby Grange.

Written and read by John Dunn.

© John Dunn.

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