Our final pub stroll will take you along a two-mile stretch of the River Cam into Cambridge, via Baits Bite Lock. It is the third walk that we've featured from the book, 'Pub Strolls in Cambridgeshire' by Ady Collier.

Directions to start:
Turn off the A14 at the junction with the B1047, then head south to Fen Ditton. The Ancient Shepherds is located just off the B1047 on the High Street. Parking is available in the pub's car park.

Off we go!
1. From the pub turn left and follow the High Street to the war memorial by the King's Head public house. Turn right at the war memorial and follow Church Street, which becomes Green End at a left-hand bend in the road. Continue to follow Green End, round a right-hand bend, past/via the Plough public house, to the junction at the end of the metalled road.

At the junction follow the public footpath/Fen Rivers Way sign straight on to a kissing gate and follow the public footpath along a grass/dirt track to Baits Bite Lock. The track runs roughly parallel with the River Cam and passes through several kissing gates, under a bridge (a fly-over section of the A14) and lastly through a riverside copse of trees (the copse can become very overgrown during the warmer months, so think twice about wearing shorts). If all else fails, just follow the route of the Cam and/or the Fens Rivers Way waymark arrows to the lock.

Baits Bite Lock

At Baits Bite Lock cross over the two footbridges, then once on the opposite bank of the river turn immediately left and follow the dirt track along the riverside for about 1 3/4 miles to the Pike and Eel public house.

From the pub turn left and follow Water Street to the Green Dragon public house. Cross over the footbridge directly opposite the Green Dragon and carry straight on to a junction between two metalled footpaths. Turn left at this junction and continue on.

2. Turn left and follow the straight dirt track to a railway footbridge. Cross over this footbridge and continue on, almost immediately crossing over a further, small footbridge. On the other side of the small footbridge, follow the grass track to the left; heading in the direction of the two houses in the middle distance on the opposite bank of the Cam (one white house, one pink house at the time of writing). The grass track leads to a wooden footbridge. Cross over this footbridge and follow the grass track, as it runs parallel with the route of the Cam, towards Fen Ditton.

3. Pass through the kissing-gate and follow the dirt track round to the left, for approximately 20 yards, to a junction. At the junction bear right and follow the dirt track (which soon becomes metalled) onto the High Street, then follow the High Street back to the Ancient Shepherds.

Well done. You've done the walk, now you can drink the beer!

This walk features as Walk 21 in the Pub Strolls in Cambridgeshire book by Ady Collier. Photographs and information reproduced with kind permission of Countryside Books.

Back to more great pub strolls around Cambridgeshire