FOOD WALK: THE HOLE IN THE WALL, CAMBRIDGESHIRE

I don't need no hamburgers

No take-away...

No bacon steak, no strawberry milkshake...

I'm sick of seeing signs to eat walking down these city streets -

Wild, go wild, go wild in the country

Where snakes in the grass are absolutely free

(Bow Wow Wow and Malcolm Mclaren)

Now that The Hole on the Wall has reopened, headed up by Masterchef finalist Alex Rushmer, there is even more reason to do this pretty circular walk from the village of Fulbourn.  The 10km can be strolled in two to two-and-a-half hours, but it takes us about six, with a very leisurely lunch thrown in half way round.You can find directions at the go4awalk website here.

It is a fairly gentle ramble, with clear pathways leading through some picturesque Cambridgeshire landscape.  The leafy outskirts of Fulbourn soon give way to broad fields and huge skies, which you follow through to the village of Little Wilbraham - and the pub.

The Hole in the Wall aspires to something finer than pub grub and, now open for a month or so, is beginning to hit its stride. Of our starters, the Mushrooms on Sourdough Toast is especially good; some of the other dishes lack a little finesse as yet.

The meal ends well: three of us share an exceptional desert, Victoria Plum Clafoutis with Strawberry Ice-cream, which is light, sweet with just the right tang of fruit.  With coffee come freshly made petit fours in an old cigarette tin; the marshmallow is almost impossibly delicate.

After lunch, the walk leads through a pleasing combination of wide open spaces, villages of thatched houses and cricket pitches, and wooded, sheltered lanes. There is also the chance to walk up onto Fleam Dyke, the Anglo Saxon earthwork barrier, to enjoy the view.

We return to Fulborn through the nature reserve.  And yes, we did see a snake in the grass....