Gumley, Foxton Locks - Laughton

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 10:00 GMT

Led by Tommy. With Gordon, Maureen and me. 6.5 miles. Fields quite soggy.

Lovely day, but hard walking through soggy fields. Tommy diverted the route since some fields were waterlogged even on high ground.
We walked up Main St and took the path to the left of the church, then across the field to Debdale Lane.

The path by Gumley church

On the other side we continued over three fields before turning sharply to the right, and following field edges east, then south, then east to cross Gumley Rd ( which is the continuation of Debdale Lane). 

An unusual style of stile

The path headed south east, then south, and crossed the canal via a footbridge.

Over the canal

We followed the canal as far as Foxton Locks.

By Foxton Locks

At the bottom lock we turned right, leaving the canal, over fields, then across Foxton Rad and Bunkers Hill.

Enjoying the sunshine

We walked along the road heading toward Laughton, and took a break a short distance before the village.

A sheltered spot for a break

Then we crossed the road for a few more fields - mostly downhill, about a mile into Gumley

More animals enjoying the sun

And back to the Bell for lunch

Map and details

Gumley and Laughton

Mon, 2014 Sep 29 9:48 AM BST

Led by Tommy, with Gordon, Eddie,Maureen and me. Just over 5 miles. Not very hilly, dry underfoot. Lunch at The Bell.

Just over 5 miles, through good scenery, decent paths and dry underfoot.

We start from the Bell in Gumley, ordering lunch before we left.  We walk a short way up the main street and turn off between houses to our right. The path takes us downhill, turning east (to our right) , through a couple of fields. We reach the Grand Union Canal and cross over the footbridge.

We turn right and walk the short distance to bridge 61 at Foxton Locks, cross over and pass the pub of the same name and Bottom Lock. Our path leaves the canal to the right just after the bridge at Bottom Lock and we head west, following the path over two minor roads and continuing for  almost a mile to where the path crosses the drive to Gumley Lodge. We're advised to keep to the footpath here rather than using the private drive. 

We turn left to cross the drive and take the path more or less southwest, which climbs gradually and meets Laughton Road close to a T junction. Our path goes off to the right just before the junction, going north west, climbing slightly until we reach Laughton itself.

Hens and horse riders mark the entrance to the village from this field. We have a break on the convenient seat opposite the green.  Then we carry on and take the road on the right. We go past 

What I am told is Laughton village hall - extended! Our path goes to the right at a bend in the road, and makes its way gradually down northeastwards towards Gumley Lodge again. We pass our route on the way out, but keep to our left and carry on in a more northerly direction. All is pleasant and not at all strenuous until we meet the final short steep pull up into Gumley.

Only five of us!  What happened to the others? Thanks for a lovely short walk today, Tommy!

Map and details

Gumley circular

Led by Barry - with Gordon, Maureen and me. Fine and sunny, very wet underfoot in places. Very rolling - great views. 7.6 miles.  

Covering some of the ground of this walk on 21 Nov 2011, but this time we could see the views.
Some overlap with this walk on 8 October 2012   as well.

We set off from Gumley, and took the footpath opposite the telephone box.  This path heads south-west.  Just before Gumley Lodge we turned  west crossing several fields before arriving at a small road close to Laughton.  We crossed the road and followed the footpath into the village.  A token sit on the bench - to check the map - and then through the village and past the church.

Laughton church and 'cob'  wall

Crook House (cruck house?)

We followed the path to the west after the church, downhill towards Mowsley, over a brook, and up hill, across a lane and into the village by the church and the old school.

Mowsley church

At a bend in the road we took a path between buildings, and when it reached a field we took the right hand footpath. This led downhill, crossed another field and a stream.  and headed north along field boundaries, clearly marked.  We found a sheltered spot, with trees,  where the ground was not too boggy and had our first break of the day. 

The track led more or less north until we reached a junction near Saddington Lodge Farm.  Here we turned right and headed north east towards Saddington village.

They took the longer route - I went direct. Luckily the boots proved fairly watertight.

In Saddington we went past the church, the riding school and the pub.

View of Saddington Reservoir from the pub

A little further along we turned right along the Leicestershire Round path - 1 and 3/4 miles to Gumley. Through the long thin field where there is usually one horse, then over the three bridges and up the hill where cows were grazing today.

At the top the views of the reservoir were excellent with no crops to block them.

Saddington Reservoir

Not the memorial seat . . .

The flat high level path is one of my favourites in the area.  We continued to the memorial seat to Mary Hodgkin -the  ideal spot for a second break.

Views to the north east - maybe Church Langton? And Charnwood hills in the distance.

From the seat at the high point of the path we carried on along the Leicestershire Round path, across Debdale Lane and into Gumley past the church. 
A shortish walk, but quite hard going - hills and mud underfoot.


Map and details

Foxton - Gumley - Saddington - Laughton - Foxton

Led by me, with Barry and Gordon. Weather dry but grey - some mud underfoot. Views a bit hazy. 8.7 miles.

We parked at Foxton Locks long-stay car park, and began our walk by following the path to the Locks, this time visiting the inclined plane on the way down.

The grey shape is a heron making its getaway.

Info about the boat lift

 "An effective means of transport from all centres to the sea" Richard Baldwin

Grid reference SP 896693

Height above sea-level 125m/410ft

Figures below place names indicate number of locks 

on route and travelling time by boat.

The inclined plane

CAUTION - do not climb on this boat.

"I can remember the big wheels with wires around them, and the big chimney with smoke coming out of the top.  I thought that when we went down the tank would tip and the water splash out. I  think mother was afraid too, but we went gently down, the other tank passing us halfway; it took just over five minutes."

Mrs Daisy Dainty talking about when she went on the Inclined Plane Boat Lift in 1909.

From the bottom lock we crossed over Bridge 62, and walked along the tow-path as far as the footbridge. We turned east towards Gumley and followed the same route as here, all the way to Saddington.

There were wide, though hazy views today - hence no landscape photos.  When we reached Saddington, we turned left along Main Street past the pub, and turned left into the Riding School, just before the church.  

We joined a track/driveway and followed this as far as the Mowsley Road.  We crossed and took the footpath opposite.  The hedgerow was well-supplied with blackberries.  Our path headed south and took us into the valley where we crossed Saddington Brook via a footbridge, and then walked with Mowsley Brook on our right.
A couple of hundred yards or so along, we took a clearly marked footpath uphill to our left, and used a redundant stile as a seat for our snack break, before walking the few extra yards to the Mowsley Road which goes along the top of the ridge.  A right turn and a short distance took us to a bridleway on the left of the road.
The path turned almost due south and was clearly way-marked most of the way, though we strayed slightly joining a track which took us up hill to the village of Laughton (pronounced Lawton). 

The view from the bench

Time to move, guys!

We continued a short distance along the road, and found the turning on the left.  Our path veered off to the left from the track, through a stile in a hedge, and past a pond near the Mill Mound.  We had no problem following the route as it took us to the highest point of the walk, at 168 m (562 ft) just by a T junction.  We crossed the road and took a footpath which heads north east, quite steeply downhill before swinging a little more to the east and quite steeply downhill towards Gumley Lodge.  Just past the house we turned right, hugging the hedgerow, then up gently to meet a small road towards Theddingworth.  We turned left for a few yards, then took a footpath which cuts off the corner and took us to the Foxton Road. We turned right and followed this for another half mile or so back to the car park. 



Map and details

Laughton - Gumley - S. Westerby -Saddington - Mowsley - Laughton

Barry led. With Gordon, Maureen, Eddie.  9.4 miles.  Misty, not too cold. 49 stiles.

A pause while we regroup, just after Debdale Grange . . .

The Grand Union Canal

you can just make out Saddington Reservoir from the churchyard.

Eddie breaks the 'world record' as he climbs the 30th stile of the walk.

Applause as a new record is set - it now stands at 49! 

We can climb stiles as well.

the sun almost came out.


There are not many recognisable views here. The mist lifted a bit as we left Laughton. 


Map and details