Leicestershire Round:Burbage to Dadlington

20th December 2007
It was cold, frosty and foggy but we decided on a LR walk. We drove to Burbage country park, although there was a bit of a problem as they have moved the A47! I directed us to the A47 which is now a bypass. We found the right road eventually. It was -2 as we got ready. We set off along the LR. It was all very crisp, and the trees were lovely.

It did not feel cold once we were walking. A heron and then a bullfinch and greenfinch flew across in front of us. We walked through Barwell which was a bit industrial and then along more lanes and fields. It was very foggy so there were no views. We crept across one field with cows in, hoping that they wouldn't see us in the fog, but they spotted us when we were about 100m from the stile and decided to investigate. I just about beat them to the stile. We saw a flock of goldfinches in the next field. We walked along a stream until we came to the road at Dadlington. We left the LR here and went to the Dog and Hedgehog for lunch. As we walked back it was a little warmer as all the frost had melted but we were walking into the wind so it felt colder. We also had to cross several planted fields which were very muddy and we ended up with very heavy boots. As we crossed one field we were approached by two friendly donkeys, and then by a third who rushed at us braying very loudly. They were very friendly - from the other side of the stile!

We got back to the car at about 4pm after 15 km walk.

Leicestershire Round:Aston Flamville to Burbage

11th December 2007
We decided on a walk as it was bright and clear but frosty. We drove to Aston Flamville to continue our LR. We drove round the village looking for somewhere to park but encountered a very abusive villager who threatened to scratch the car if we left it in the road opposite his house! We decided we couldn't cope with the hassle and so drove on and found somewhere to park in Burbage. We walked back to Aston to start the walk (about a km) and John could not remember locking the car so we had to walk back, check the car which was locked, and then back to the start again. We walked along the side of the M69 for a while and then cut across fields including one with 3 llamas, and then lots of bullocks. It was quite hard underfoot where it was frozen but very wet and muddy where it wasn't. We eventually got to Burbage woods where a heron flew across and then a bullfinch.
We crossed Burbage common to the road and then left the LR. We walked back across the golf course and followed the path back to Burbage. The walk was quite interesting as the council had been painting all the footpath signs so although they were all visible all the pointers had been removed so there were no direction arrows and you didn't know if it was a junction of 2 paths or not. We walked about 11 km.

Leicestershire Round:Sharnford to Aston Flamville

4th December 2007
We have had a bit of an enforced setback on the walking front but decided today to see how I would manage a short walk. We drove to Sharnford to do a shortened section of the LR. It was all across fields and just as we started a heron flew in front of us and landed in the next field. We then walked through a field with some very friendly horses, one of which stood in the gateway and wouldn't move, John spoke to it and it eventually let us pass. We went past Aston Flamville and up to the M69 where we passed a field of Alpacas.

We left the LR here having only walked about 2 mile and walked through the alpaca field and back to Aston Flamville. We had planned a diversion off the road but there were two very excitable rottweillers behind a gate but they had knocked down part of the fencing keeping them in and I thought they could get out if they really wanted and I was not prepared to give them reason to try so we kept to the road. We continued back to Sharnford where we went into the Countryman and had gammon steak for lunch a walk of about 6 km that showed I was ok for walking. Hopefully will get back to some longer ones soon.