Leicestershire Round:Claybrook Parva to Shenton

Tuesday 6th November 2007

It was a nice day so we did part 11 of the LR. We drove to Claybrook Parva and parked. We went to look round the church but there was a playgroup in session, but we were impressed with a notice on the door that said that "walkers were invited to look round, eat their sandwiches in the porch and use the toilet". First time we've seen that! Our walk followed across fields to High Cross, where the Fosse Way meets Watling Street. We walked along the nice level Fosse Way Roman road for about 1.5 miles. We then diverted off to head across fields towards Sharnford. We went through a nice nature reserve called Fosse meadows with a secluded wildlife lake which was viewable from a hide which had been beautifully decorated by local junior school children. We stood and watched the birds for a while and then continued to Sharnford where we saw a woodpecker. We had a nice lunch at the Countryman (£3.95). The other pub in the village had been converted into a chinese restaurant, something we are seeing more often. After lunch we left the LR and headed back to Claybrook Parva. Our way crossed lots of fields and we saw 2 hares. In one the dairy cows decided it was milking time so followed us across the field in a line -we just about beat them to the gate. In another field we came across a dead cow. We saw some farmworkers and told them, but they knew and were actually removing a dead calf so it looks like it was a bad birth - very sad. After being chased down the drive by a Jack Russell-more bark than bite thankfully, we followed the road back to High Cross where we saw the remains of the cross that marked the crossing of the 2 Roman roads. We got back to the car at 4.30, just as it was getting dark. 17.7 km.

Leicestershire Round:Leire to Claybrook Parva

Monday 22nd October 2007
We drove to Leire to do part 10 of the LR. We walked along the footpath and diverted off to have another look for the cache but we still didn't find it. The LR went across fields, some ploughed, others pasture and then on the lane to Frolesworth, where we had planned to have lunch but the pub had disappeared under a housing development. We followed more fields including one that had signs up saying we were on the edge of the bluetongue protection zone. We eventually got to Claybrook Parva where we left the LR. We followed the road to Ullesthorpe where we had a late lunch and then walked past the windmill which is being renovated and across the golf course which ran beside the disused railway. The path eventually moved onto the railway and we followed the permissive path along the cutting back to Leire. Only a short walk today, 12.1 km.

Leicestershire Round:Willoughby Waterleys to Leire

Friday 19th October 2007
The one where John becomes a cowboy.....
It was a lovely day so we decided to do part 8 of the LR walk starting at Willoughby Waterleys. The route is getting ever closer to home as we went even less distance round the ring road. We set off across fields, the first of which had curious bullocks in who decised to follow us, but they stopped when John turned round and stared at them. As we crossed the field we met a girl with two dogs who was a bit wary of how the cows might react to her dogs (hopefully she got through them OK). We walked across lots of fields and beside a very nice fishing lake until eventually we had to cross the M1, another sign we are getting closer to home and moving round the county. After this it was across more fields and past a lake and mill house to Leire. We stopped for lunch here, a bit expensive and not wonderfully cooked. We then diverted from the walk to find a geocache. This involved a walk along a disused railway which has been changed into a nature trail. Some rangers were working there killing some tree stumps to provide more light for wild flowers. We had quite a chat as he told us about the railway and the drainage problems they were having. We found the place for the cache but could not find it although there were signs of damage to the wall where people had been hunting - a shame as the hider had said there was no need to remove stones. So after 10 minutes hunting we gave up and continued our walk. We walked along a path to a stables where an old man hobbling about with a walking stick was trying to persuade a very large horse to go into his stable. We helped direct the horse to the door but he would then just walk past. The horse had escaped the night before and had damaged its leg so was bandaged up. We tried enticing him in with hay and apples but he wasn't interested. Eventually John managed to get his halter on, albeit upside down, and the horse was led back to the stable. The old man was very grateful. We then continued our walk across fields and back across the M1 to rejoin a short section of the LR back to the car. All the bullocks in the first field had gone which was a relief. It was later than we expected (5.30) due to the delay with William the horse and was dusky (17km).

Leicestershire Round:Shearsby to Willoughby Waterleys

Saturday 6th October 2007

We drove to Shearsby today. There were no apples today which was a shame. An old man chatted to us and told us about the church and the village. He said the roof was replaced but was too heavy for the walls so they had to be replaced too. His wifes bequest paid for 4 lead urns to be placed at the corner of the tower to act as lightning conductors. The church was still locked so we looked round the churchyard and then continued our walk.

We walked across fields towards Bruntingthorpe and then towards Peatling Magna. There were lots of cows but they were mainly black and white dairy cows so were well behaved. There was also one field with big cows and a huge bull but they were quite good and the bull ignored us!

We had ham rolls at the Cock Inn and then walked to Willouby Waterleys where we left the Leicestershire Round and diverted off our planned route to find a geocache. It was nicely hidden under a rotten stump by an oak tree. On the computer it showed that it had last been found in late August but the logbook showed that someone had been there that morning. Its amazing to think that these boxes are hidden all over the place and you don't realise wh else might be hunting for them. We found a travel bug in the box which belonged to a young girl in Holland and so we took that to move onto another nice cache so she can follow its travels. We followed the road to Peatling Parva where we looked round the church (most of the churches have been locked along this part of the route) and then went through new woodland, farms and a newly ploughed field back to Shearsby where we saw a hot air balloon hovering over the trees.

Leicestershire Round: Foxton Lock to Shearsby

Thursday 4th October 2007

We drove to Foxton Locks and parked in the carpark. We discovered that John had put the wrong walk into the GPS but luckily we had the guide book and maps with us. We walked along the locks and the canal and found that my camera wouldn't work. The batteries were flat and it took 3 attempts to find a working set. We eventually got moving at about 12. We walked along the canal and then headed off across fields to Gumley and then towards Saddington where we stopped for lunch at the Queens head, which we thought we had been in before but couldn't remember when - obviously on a previous walk. After lunch we walked towards Shearsby. We got a little lost as the LR signposts petered out and had to check the map and compas to find out which way to go. At Shearsby we saw two buzzards flying overhead. It was a pretty village with thatched cottages and a nice church where we looked for a geocache which we found easily behind a gravestone at the corner of the church. Geocaching is a new hobby that we have found which involves using the GPS to find treasure hidden in various locations around the country. We thought that it would add extra interest to our walks. A house at the edge of the village had a bucket full of free apples so we took 2 for the chutney that I planned to make. We left the LR here and walked along the A50 for a km and then headed off across fields to Mosley and Laughton through fields of sweetcorn and back to Foxton locks. We had several horrid encounters with bullocks and bulls in fields, they all wanted to chase us. The fields all seemed very big and interconnecting so we did not have good escape routes.

Leicestershire Round:Thorpe Langton to Foxton

29th September 2007

The forecast was not good today but we decided to walk anyway and take an assortment of waterproofs, hats etc. We drove to Thorpe Langton by a different route, M1, A563 south and A6 which shows we are working round the circle. We walked to East Langton through a field with cows and a big bull but he ignored us. The land was different today, much flatter but still across ploughed fields. The route in the guide book went through Bowden Inn Farm which had now disappeared, probably under the A6 roundabout. We arrived in Foxton to find that the pub had changed into a Chinese restaurant so walked on to the Black Horse where we had lunch. We then walked along the Grand Union canal to Foxton Locks, a flight of 10 locks which lifts the water up 75 ft. We sat and watched barges moving around for a bit and then left the LR to return. We walked along the towpath for about a mile, watching the ducks . We then had a boring walk which took us along the A6 for another mile but passing lots of rabbits who didn't seem to mind us, one even jumped under my boot, until we left and walked back to East Langton past a big lake with more ducks. We got back to Thorpe Langton by crossing the field with the cows and bull who still ignored us (17km). The weather had been warm and sunny and we had no need of the waterproofs or fleeces!

Leicestershire Round Hallaton to Thorpe Langton

27th September 2007
We drove to Hallaton and parked and walked past the church and into the fields. The forecast was for sun but it was overcast with a bitter North wind. Fleece hats were worn for the first time for ages! The terrain is very hilly, not steep but with lots of small up and downs - not rolling like the Downs but very lumpy! We walked across lots of fields which had been seeded (possibly barley) and some which already had new seedlings emerging (oil seed rape). We walked by Cranoe and through Glooston which had a nice pub but we were too early for lunch. The church was locked so we couldn't look round which was a shame as there were some very nice finials on the outside. We walked to Stonton Wyville where we looked round the 13th century church, it was very dark with a dark wood roof and few windows. It had a marble effigy in the corner. It looked like it was quite historical but there were no leaflets around.

We followed on towards Long Langton and had to pass through a field full of cows clustered round the stile, but they were well behaved. We arrived at the pub only to find it doesn't open during the week. We left the LR here and walked along the road (where we passed a very large fungus growing on the side of the road) to Welham where the "Olde Red Lion" was open.



We had very nice gammon steaks with chips peas and salad (2 for £6!)- very good value. We walked across the fields to reach the road to Slawston where we crossed the course of a roman road although there was nothing to see. We then joined the last footpath to return to Hallaton. All the fields had cows in and the last field had some boisterous ones who decided to try and cut us off from the stile. They got very frisky, jumping and running at us. I am definitely going off cows.