Leicestershire Round - Markfield to Newtown Lynford

Tuesday 13th May 2008
We did a LR round walk today in training for our sponsored walk for the Kent hospices on Sunday. It was sunny but with a cool breeze. We drove to Markfield and set off along Main street to reach a footpath which took us under the A50, the path then went through woodland parallel to the A50. It came out into a nice field that had been planted as National Forest in 2000 and gave good views of Bradgate park, where we were heading. We then crossed a large field towards a wood which was filled with bluebells -it was a lovely sea of blue. More National Forest and horse paddocks followed until we reached Newtown Lynford.


We stopped here for some lunch - we were a bit early but sat and waited for the pub to open. We had a nice break out of the sun and then set off again.

We followed the footpath towards the back of Bradgate park where there were lots of people flying kites. Unfortunately the path marked on the map turned out not to be a footpath so we had to alter our route and continue through the park and onto the road. The woods we had planned to walk through also had no public access so we had to walk along the road and find an alternative footpath. We eventually rejoined the LR where we saw a little yellow frog hopping through the grass. After a short stretch retracing our steps, we diverted off onto a different footpath to follow a different return route which brought us to Field Head where we crossed the A50 and returned to Markfield.

The terrain in the last sections of the LR has definitely been new woodland. Leicestershire used to be known as the greenest county in England but with the fewest trees and least access. This has definitely changed with the advent of the National Forest. This area would until recently been full of coal mines and quarries and it is now turning into lovely native woodland. We walked about 7.5 miles.

Leicestershire Round -Thornton to Markfield

10th May 2008

Hooray -my chemotherapy is finished and hopefully I can now get back to some decent walking.
We started off by doing a bit more of the Leicestershire Round.
We drove to Thornton, by an interesting route as John was not paying attention! We parked near the pub and set off along the LR and skirted across the top of Thornton reservoir, although the GPS said we were wading through the middle. We then walked through lots of National Forest plantations, mostly planted in 2000 so they were maturing nicely and a great improvement on the spoil tips and coal mines that would have been here before.



We arrived in Markfield and had a drink and bag of crisps at the Bulls Head, where the locals were playing dominos. We then left the LR and walked along lanes and overgrown footpaths towards Cliffe Quarry. We walked around the quarry but did not see any workings although an information board did explain all the geology of the area. There was a lot of gorse in flower on the hills and it was giving off a strong smell of coconut. We walked through Stanton under Bardon behind the houses and then crossed into a field with some cows who were interested but well behaved but a small yappy dog was among them and came charging at us barking furiously.
John eventually roared at it which sent it scarpering away.
We crossed into more National Forest plantations and walked parellel to the same field only to see at the top of the field an enormous bull surrounded by his ladies. I was glad I was now on the other side of the fence.


We continued walking through the plantation to the sound of cuckoos (nothing like yours Judith!!). We finally had to cross a very large field of oil seed rape. Luckily the farmer had cut a good footpath through the middle as it was about 1.5m tall, in full flower and very strongly smelling.

We finally got back to Thornton in time for a welcome drink at the Bricklayers Arms. The walk was only 6.5 miles but had felt much longer as it had been so hot.

Mini-walk

Saturday 19th April 2008

Just a short walk today as we had plumbers visiting this morning! We drove to Ingleby to the John Thompson Inn for lunch and then left the car in the carpark -with permission from the landlord and went for a short walk. We walked along the lane through Ingleby, past lots of lovely houses and cottages and then used the footpath to cross a field, going past sheep, donkeys and llamas. We then followed the path above the river Trent and through lots of coconut scented gorse. The views across the river were wonderful. We stood and watched a heron soaring around for a while and then climbed a very narrow path up over the cliffs and then back down to the river side. The cliffs were triassic conglomerate (sandstone with layers of large pebbles trapped in them). We walked to the caves which were very impressive -apparently a hermit lived in them, they were very large with big columns inside.

We retraced our steps to the pub. It was only about 4km but a pleasant and interesting walk.

Leicestershire Round - Nailstone to Thornton

Thursday 3rd April 2008
We did a Leicestershire Round walk today. We had originally planned to walk to Thornton but following our colds and lack of walking we thought we might cut it short at Bagworth. We parked at Nailstone and followed the path to Bagworth. This had been coalmining country and our 25 year old guide book warned us about the spoil heaps and quarrying, but the pits had closed and the land is now reclaimed and planted with trees as part of the new National Forest. We arrived in Bagworth quite quickly but could not see anywhere to stop for lunch so decided to walk on to Thornton on our original planned route. We had lunch in the Bricklayers arms which we had visited a few weeks ago. The same group of old men were in there putting the world to rights and discussing the old railways through Bagworth and the history of the Swannington incline which was quite interesting. We walked on after lunch and lost our way a bit around the Thornton brick works but eventually found the route passing by some fishing lakes. We came out onto the road to Barleston and were stopped by a chap who asked us if we were heading onto the footpath across his land. He had had a run-in with gypsies that morning who had been stealing stuff from his stables. He had had stiches and was still bleeding from the assault. He said he had cameras filming so we might be filmed. He spoke to us for quite a while telling us tales of shooting arrows at night and jogging across his land naked carrying an axe to cut down a tree in the early morning and wondering why the birdwatcher ran off leaving all his equipment behind! We had quite a laugh, I think he was a still shaken from his experiences that morning and wanted someone to talk to. He said if we were back that way in the summer to call in for a glass of wine! We continued across the fields towards Barlestone and along a river bank and then set off on a footpath back to Nailstone.

We were stopped by another local who told us we had missed the footpath and pointed out the correct way. He stood chatting to us for about 15 minutes telling us about all the local walks. We finished off the walk and got back to Nailstone at about 5.30 after 16 km. So much for a shortened walk but it was nice having chatted to so many friendly locals.

Dover -14th March 2008

Friday 14th March 2008

We decided to celebrate Easter early before my fourth chemo session so travelled to Kent for the weekend to do family visits.

On Friday it was dry when we got up so despite the forecast rain we decided to go for a walk. Dad drove us to Dover and we parked by the NT visitor centre. We then walked along the cliffs to St Margaret's bay. It was quite slippery in places, dad slid down a bank at one time (luckily nowhere near the edge of the cliff) and we had to haul him up and find another route round.

The sun came out and it was lovely looking at the cliffs and the ferries arriving from France. The SeaFrance strike meant that several of the ferry bays were empty which was unusual but there were loads of lorries queued up waiting for crossings.

At St Margaret's we stopped at the Coastguard for a drink and then walked back along the same route. The gorse was in flower and there were lots of rabbits about.

At the South Foreland lighthouse there was a sign out showing it was open, for the first time this year, so we went in and had a quided tour. Several landmarks were pointed out from the top including the WWII radar staions (originally 4 now only 3), the house where Ian Fleming wrote the first 007 book -apparently the local bus number was 007! and finally the house overlooking the cliff owned by an American who insisted on flying the Stars and Stripes when in residense so that the first thing travellers saw when arriving at Dover was an American flag! The lighthouse was clockwork powered and we got to wind it up so that the top was turning -great fun. We continued the walk back to the visitor centre and had a cup of tea before driving home. A really nice day and our first real walk for ages! (10km walked).

Yorkshire

17th February - 24th February 2008

I am into the third week of my second chemotherapy treatment and as I am feeling fine we decided to take advantage and head off to Yorkshire for a few days. We took the caravan to Jervaulx Abbey caravan site which is a caravan club cl which holds 5 caravans and is very peaceful. We set the van up and headed off for a short stroll around the abbey.

18th February 2008

After a very cold night we discoverred that everything was frozen. We had no water so could not have a shower. It started to defrost by about 11 and we then found that the drains were frozen so nothing would drain away. We decided to move the caravan down the field where we weren't in the shadow of the wall and it got the sun earlier. We wound the legs up and John moved the caravan on the mover. I moved everything else. We then went for a walk. We crossed the road and then walked down to the river Ure. It was a lovely walk along the river bank which was covered in snowdrops. The sun was bright and warm. We arrived at the Cover bridge Inn where we stopped for lunch. We had a cold meat salad and a very nice glass of Old Peculiar. The pub was warm and cosy with a roaring log fire and it was an effort to move on but we eventually left and walked along the river Cover which was bubbling over limestone pavements and was lined with icicles along the bank. We crossed the bridge and walked down the other side of the river until we reached East Witton. We then crossed fields and returned to the Cover Bridge and followed the river back to the caravan. About 13 km.

19th February 2008

A very foggy and cold day today and the water pipes were still frozen so we set off to Richmond to order some new walking boots. They will be ready in May. We spent the rest of the day wandering around Richmond. The castle was closed so we couldn't go in but we walked round the walls and enjoyed the views -albeit through the fog!

Wednesday 20th February 2008
Freezing fog today, it looked beautiful out - sunny but so frosty it looked like snow. We drove to Thornton Steward Reservoir along lovely frost covered lanes. We walked along the side of the reservoir and then onto the bridleway. We found a geocache near the end of the reservoir. The frost was falling off the trees as we passed. We followed the bridleway to Finghall where we were met by a large barking doberman, but luckily he just walked past us. We had a nice lunch at the Queens Head and then walked down the lane and across fields beside a stream and across the Wensleydale railway. It was lovely and sunny. We found Drews mistle -our second cache which had a travel bug and a useful shoehorn! We passed the 12th century St Andrews church and walked through a large caravan park, across the golfcourse and back across the railway. The footpaths were not well marked here and it was difficult to work out where we were going and ended up the wrong side of a spinney and farm house but we found the path at the top and managed to cross the fence! We then followed the path round fields and through small woods where we saw several hares running across the fields. We passed a large group of boys who were out for a walk and then emerged near Aysgarth school which was a very posh looking school, complete with castleated tower. We followed the track, picking up another geocache on the way, hidden in a tree stump and picked up a geocoin and 2 dvds. At the end of the track we walked along roads for a while and then back onto a footpath where they were renovating two cottages. They had completely blocked the footpath and we had to find our way into the wood and follow the gps through as there was no obvious path. We emerged at the footpath sign so must have followed the right route. The rest of the walk was across fields and muddy tracks (where Yorkshire water were laying new mains water pipelines) and the road back to the car. 15 km. We got back to the caravan to find everything melted and working. We had tea and a welcome shower. We watched Notorious - -a Hitchcock dvd that we had picked up in Nook and Cranny geocache. Lets say they don't make them like that anymore! It will be recycled in the next geocache we find.

Thursday 21st February 2008
Whoopee, no frost today, it has been replaced by rain and strong winds! We pottered all morning and then drove towards Masham along very scenic windy roads - meaning narrow and steep. We went to a forest area and visited The Druids Circle - another place we wouldn't have found if I hadn't searched for geocaches in the area. The circle was fascinating, based on Stonehenge but built by the Victorians to provide work for local men. We followed the gps into the forest and found the geocache. It had been unvisited since october but was still dry. John took an interesting "american free iraq" coin. It was very cold and windy so we retraced our steps to the car. We drove into Masham and parked and then strolled to the market place. We bought some boar sausages for tea. We then had a wander round the town solving the clues for Masham march (another geocache). We went into the church which had lovely stain glass windows and a painting attributed to Joshua Reynolds. We had tea and baguette at "Mad Hatters tea shop" and then did a little shopping. Just a couple of short strolls today!

Friday 22nd February

After a very noisy and windy night it was slightly calmer today. We weren't sure what to do but in the end drove back to Richmond for another look round and to finish the geocaches. We walked to the top of the town and had views across to the castle then walked along the river to solve the last clue. The waterfalls were very dramatic. We then did another cache which was on the other side of the river. Finally we went for a drive along a lane for about 2 miles to the Richmond beacon. It was pouring with rain and blowing a gale. During a break in the rain we set off up the hill to the beacon. Halfway there the rain started again, it was freezing. We were both frozen and soaked when we got back to the car.

Saturday 23rd February

It was a bit dismal today but Emily and Mike were coming to visit but they didn't arrive until 1.30 because they got caught in the Middleham diversion. We went straight out to the Coverbridge Inn for lunch which turned out to be enormous. We had ham and eggs which must have been about a 16oz gammon. We got back to the caravan at about 3 and had a cup of tea. Then went for a short walk round the Abbey. It started to rain so we went back for another tea and they left at 6.30.

Swarkestone Bridge

Saturday 16th February 2008

Just a short walk today so we decided to go geocaching. We drove over Swarkestone Bridge and parked down a lane next to Swarkestone lock. Although we have driven this way many times we didn't realise the lock and canal were here!

Swarkestone Bridge is the furthest South that the Jacobites came in the cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie. They didn't conquer the bridge (although they could have) and retreated at this point.

We followed the canal towards Barrow on Trent, solving the clues for the cache on the way. The canal was lovely with lots of barges, we then left the canal -looked round Barrow churchyard (the church was locked) and then followed the River Trent back towards Swarkestone. A nice lunch was had at the Crewe and Harper Arms and then we continued the walk through along the river and back to the car. Only 6 km but a very nice walk in the sunshine.