Leics Round 11 - Launde to Hallaton via Belton in Rutland and Allexton

Wed, 2013 Jul 10 9:36 AM  British Summer Time

With Marta. Fine, cloudy, pleasant. Dry underfoot. A couple of dry ploughed fields - hard work. Rolling. 663 ft of climbing. just over 8 miles.

We walk briefly along the Withcote Road from Launde Abbey, before taking the signposted footpath off to the right, behind the chapel and the gardens.  It leads uphill, through fields with sheep, to the corner of Launde Park Wood.  Here the path should cut downhill diagonally across a field, but the way is impassable, so we stick to the field edges.

Some rapeseed or similar is still blooming here - at least it brightens the grey day

 When we reach the far corner we find a gate whose fastening is impossible to open, and have to climb over it. Grid ref - SK 809045 (I think).

The path continues east,  crossing the river Chater, and turning into a wider track, and heads south to a ridge with a fine view.

 We are overtaken by a horse-rider up here. The map shows a trig point just off to our right (west), but we can't find it. Instead we take an early break and admire the view over to Eyebrook reservoir in the distance.

We follow the hedge for a while then the path goes towards the bottom left corner of the field. We keep the hedge on our left until we reach the road near Brickle Farm.  A lot of free range hens are in a field nearby.  The road takes us into Belton.

We walk through the village and down to the A47, which we cross to reach the Allexton Road.  We cross the bridge over the Eye Brook, and follow the Main Street, past the church, which is now redundant and looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust.  

It's open and worth looking inside.

We carry on along the No Through Road, to the footpath past Manor Farm. This leads behind Allexton Hall, which lies to our right.  we can't easily follow the line of the path here, and again walk up beside a hedge until we meet the waymarker. The fields here have been ploughed, and are very dry. It's almost like walking on concrete chunks. 

Not my favourite walking surface.

Then it's alongside a small wood, and turn left to go past Alexton Lodge.  Here we turn right once more and along a field edge.  We're at the edge of the ridge here, and there's a memorial seat looking southwest towards Fearn Farm.  Beautifully placed.
We walk down then up to Fearn Farm with its Zollgrenze sign - Leics-Rutland border??

We turn left to pass the farm, and then right on to the footpath

 - it's marked clearly from here to the dismantled railway - we cross by the overgown bridge and then follow the good clear path through the fields. We come out at the junction of Allexton Road and East Norton Road and walk into Hallaton past the Fox pub and duck pond.

Map and details

Hallaton-Allexton-East Norton-Hallaton

Led by Barry, with Maureen and Gordon. Fine, chilly wind, muddy underfoot, some ice. Just over 10 miles in all.

Such a beautiful morning as I drive past the Welland Lake on my way to Hallaton.  I haven't seen the valley so flooded for a long time, but with the sun sparkling on the water, I could live with it. 

The roads are clear of snow, but some glisten with hoar frost, especially the higher roads near Eyebrook reservoir, and through Horninghold towards Hallaton.  I shall probably keep regretting that I didn't stop to take photographs. 

I meet the gang in Hallaton, and we brave the cold wind and set off along the Horninghold Road. We turn left along a footpath which runs across fields, almost parallel to the road. When we reach Horninghold village we turn right and then left just before the Hall, which looks as though it has converted its stables into rather exclusive apartments.

The route takes us northeast as far as Muckelburgh Farm,  where we turn to the left and head due north until we meet Allexton Lane, which is more like a mud-track.  We discover a body behind a hedge - his legs are plastic pipes, and his body is just old clothes - a scarecrow taking five?  

 At the Hallaton road we turn right towards Allexton.  Belton is clearly visible behind Allexton.  Before reaching the village we take a bridleway to the left, due west,  more or less parallel to the A47.  It crosses the stream and arrives at the main road at a lay-by.  We cross the road and find the footpath a little way to the left.

We take  shelter behind a hedge and indulge in a snack break.  We plod on and are faced with four yellow posts to show the way.  A quick look at the map and we make our choice. All is well, apart from the mud-hopping we need to do each time we meet a gate.
When we reach a road into East Norton we walk down it - past this rather strange character in a window

a novelty hatstand

and an irresistible bench.

Taking a breather at East Norton

We have to cross the A47 again,  taking the old road to cut a corner, then along the road towards Hallaton for a short distance. 
Decisions!  Do we continue for two miles along the road, or do we turn east along a wide track which follows the ridge?  We take the consensus, and the track wins. At this stage the wind is getting stronger and there's rain in the air.  But we carry on boldly going. There's a junction - a surfaced road leads down to a farm, but our route goes ahead - across more mud.  We arrive at a farm, labelled as Fearn Farm on the map. It has an obviously non-functional sign saying "Teas" and a sign declaring in German that it's a Zollgrenze or customs frontier. No one inspects our luggage or passports, so we carry on our merry muddy way.
We're following the route of the Leicestershire Round and the Macmillan Way here, but these fields are the muddiest yet, and sticky to boot. We have another snack break on the bridge over the dismantled railway, before tackling the last field, and joining the road near Hallaton Recreation Ground, walking past the duckpond and the Fox pub and we've done about 10 miles.

They didn't leak when I walked through puddles hoping to clean them!

Map and details of the route.