Walcote circular, via Gilmorton and Kimcote

Mon, 9 Sep 2013 10:19 British Summer Time

Led by Barry, with me and Gordon. Pretty flat, good underfoot - mix of arable and cattle country. 7.5 miles. No rain while we were out. At least 26 stiles. 

We had a last minute change of plan when we discovered the A43 was closed and that side of Corby was as near gridlocked as I have ever seen it.  So we headed back across Corby and past Market Harborough.  Thanks to Barry for a last minute alternative to my walk.

I've driven past Walcote countless times on my way to the M1 when heading north, but had never stopped.  As so often there is more to these villages than meets the eye of the passing motorist-in-a-rush. 

We find a place to park, and set off north along Brook Street, taking a footpath west, to the left just before the road divides. The path soon turns north once more,  along the field edge and over a few fields before turning north west and passing the corner of Winterfield Spinney. 

 The path zigzags a bit through fields north then west, but when two paths meet between Oback and Thornborough Farms we turn right in a northeasterly direction.  In the third field we take the left hand option when the path divides. This takes us to the left hand corner of the field, across another one, then along the edge of a third, very smelly today, as it's recently been manured.  Good job we don't intend to eat in any posh pub.

We turn left and walk uphill for a few hundred yards along the Lutterworth Road, which is busier than we expected.  
The footpath goes off to the right,  and heads north north east to Gilmorton. We pass the old motte in a field near the church - no public right of way, so we sneak a peek through the gate.

Our path goes through the churchyard, where we take a break. 

Gilmorton Church

An unusual memorial bench.

The church porch was built to celebrate Victoria's diamond jubilee - the stained glass is clearly Victorian, and we think the carved head above looks like the lady herself.

We leave the church behind us and walk through the village.

Grey skies today!

We turn right along the road to Kimcote, and when the road bends to the right we take a path straight ahead. It looks as though there was once a village or similar here - lots of lumps and bumps in the ground, but nothing on the map.

This runs parallel with the road just south of Bruntingthorpe airfield/ proving ground.

We follow the path to the north of The Lodge, and then turn south towards Kimcote, over more fields.

Kimcote church

  We walk past the church and cross the road to Poultney Lane, through the village and farms.  The road turns into a footpath past sewage works, and then gradually leads southwest towards Walcote. 

Globe artichokes - yum!

The not-so-swfit River Swift.

We meet the road, cross the mighty Swift, and at Woodside Farm, we turn left on a footpath which takes us back to the village.

Wildlife note:  There are still a few swallows feeding up on the plethora of insects - mainly daddy-long-legs - before they leave for the sunny south.

Map and details

Peatling Parva Circular

Mon, 2013 May 13 9:51 AM Western European Time

Led by Barry. With me and Gordon. Fine, with a few showers. 11.6 miles. 433 feet of ascent. A small LR section.

We parked in Peatling Parva, which is actually quite big.  

The seat looks inviting, but we've only been walking two minutes!

Our route is out of the village on the road towards Ashby Magna for almost a mile. Then we turn left on a track to Gilmorton.  

These are less intrusive than the motorway noise.

This is the second track on the left.  We follow it due south for about a mile, before turning right, then left then curving round south west into Gilmorton , an attractive village. We walk through an alleyway and on to Turville Rd, turning left at Ashby Rd, across Main Street.

Gilmorton

 Soon we turn right along Church Lane.

The path turns right just after a house called Moatfield. In the field is - a moat.

The remains of the moated area.

We wander round it before following the path behind the big house and garden, through some trees to a corner of the Ullesthorpe Rd. Our route lies straight ahead, diagonally over a field, then turning right to folllow the hedge, past some farm buildings and into an open field.

Here we have some debate about the route. The paths haven't been remade, but with a little map and grid ref work we have a plan.  We turn left and follow the edge of the field and turn right at the end to join the proper route.

We are now on a bridle way leading almost due west as far as Cotes-de-val.   We ponder the meaning of the name - slopes of the valley/ sides of the valley -  both sound a bit contrived. It turns out that the place was once lived in by a Cotes family. By 1279 it was referred to as Cotes Deyvill.  It was depopulated between the Black Death (1348) and the early 1500s.

We don't detour to look at the moat marked on the map, as our route turns right here and north to the Gilmorton Road.

We turn left, and then right  and walk along the field boundary- but miss our turning to the right. Ok, it's nestled in the hedge, and not immediately obvious. The long and short of it is we notice that we're getting too close to the motorway, and have to retrace our steps, promising ourselves that we'll take a break as soon as we're back on track. We soon find a sheltered and sunny spot.

The path is clear now and we soon arrive at Ashby Magna.

Another timbered building

A post-break break

We go down to Gilmorton Road, turn right then left on Peveril Road, and then left along Old Forge Road. Our path is between Ashby House and the old Forge, and heads north along a track for half a mile or so.  When we meet the waymarker for the Leicestershire Round we turn right to go north east. 

We cross a field with horses in it, then go over a stile into Holly Farm Fishery. A man catches a two-pound carp which he returns to the water.

Not quite so colourful as last October

Another stile, another field and we arrive at the road. We turn left and walk for a few yards to the junction. Our path goes to the right of the hedge.  It's clearly marked and easy to follow, although there are cows there.  They think we want to herd them into the next field, but go peacefully enough.
We follow our route into Willoughby Waterleys along an alley with pansies and dustbins.

We go past the General Elliott of Gibraltar renown.

Our path goes past the church and old rectory.

We walk eastwards, slightly uphill over fields towards Peatling Magna. In a field ahead we think we spy a scarecrow -

but it's moving, and very deliberately. Light dawns - it's a metal detective.

We leave the Leicestershire Round briefly and detour to look at Peatling Magna church.

We take a footpath across the fields to rejoin the Round at the crossroads, and follow it again for a mile. We leave it for good today, by turning right across the stream, below Grange Farm. Almost immediately we turn left and follow the footpath through several fields and then behind Peatling Hall with its fine gardens.

Peatling Hall

the gardens

When we reach the road we turn left and downhill to return to the car.

Map and details