Beyond the top left-hand corner of the alluring and perplexing grid of Milton Keynes, there lies a scattering of small villages, old coaching towns and farms surrounded by rolling fields. One of the real benefits of living near Milton Keynes, and the flip-side to the convenient transport and amenities, is its proximity to beautiful English countryside.

So it is that it only takes a few minutes’ walk – and, ideally, an OS map – to stumble off the grid, beyond the high street and into lush, green fields and a network of public footpaths both ancient and new.

Fields near Beachampton

An old grave stone at St Guthlac’s, Passenham

 

The pedestrian overpass near Deanshanger – a Milton Keynes public footpath

 

Blown-out skies over Calverton

 

Lisa navigating us home from Calverton