Leics Round 4: Sharnford to Barwell

Tue, 2013 Mar 5 10:03 AM Western European Time 

With Marta. Sunny day, started chill, but warmed up. Very little wind. We took our time. Way clear, mud near gates, otherwise good underfoot. Very flat. 7 miles.

A magical misty drive over to Barwell - if a little longer than I expected.  The day turned into the most glorious warm spring-like day so far this year.

Our starting point in Sharnford

We set off from our parking spot on the back lane behind the garage, turn left along the main road, then cross over and walk past the 'no entry' sign. When we reach Aston Lane, we turn left after Ivy House, and follow the Leics Round markers across fields to a track and a gate on the corner of Lychgate Lane. We divert into Aston Flamville , which is a small picturesque village with manor house, a 1715 dovecote and St Peter’s Church.

We took the footpath on the left just after these gates, on Aston Lane

This is where we left the Leicestershire Round for a visit to Aston Flamville.

Aston Flamville's restored dovecot, originally built in 1715

 

The sunny sheltered side of the church at Aston F.  We had a short break on the sunny bench.

This world's a City full of crooked Streets,
Death is the Market-place where all men meet
If Life was Merchandise that men could buy
the rich would only live, the poor might die

A sign of spring

We go back along Lychgate Lane, and cross the M69 via a bridge. Today it's quiet - there's been an accident just up the road. Later I find out that two people have been injured, but their injuries are not life-threatening. I think the helicopter we saw a little earlier must have been the air ambulance.

Some of the Aston Alpacas we saw just before the bridge over the M69

Once over the bridge our path is alongside the motorway for a couple of hundred yards, before heading off across country once more. We meet a lone walker heading in the opposite direction.

The signs are clear, and the yellow marker posts have recently been repainted. Our only slight wander off track is at one point, just over three miles in, on my garmin map, where we can see a yellow post a couple of fields away and head straight for it, only to discover we can't get through the hedge. It's easy , if slightly irritating, to find the correct path.
From here it's straightforward to the edge of Burbage. We decide not to visit today, but walk left along Sherborne Road, turn right along Salisbury Road, then right along Winchester Drive, and cross the Sapcote Road to pick up the public footpath.
The sign tells us the path goes to Burbage Woods and Common and this is easy to follow. With the Woods on our right we make our way to the railway bridge.

It's a little tricky here - which yellow marker do we follow? To make things more complicated the golf course appears to be using yellow topped posts to mark out fairways - I think. We keep to the side of Sheepy Wood, then head across the Common, or a bit of the golf course.  We're trying to make for the visitor centre, and with the help of the map and a bit of luck we are not challenged until we are within a couple of yards of a LR sign.  The path takes us to the main road, and we turn right to walk along the pavement for a couple of hundred yards, as far as the visitor centre. Today it's closed, and there's a truck cleaning out what smells like a septic tank. We don't hang around for too long.

Back to cross the busyish road, and we have no problems following the markers to Barwell Lane, round the right hand side of a house, then left along the lane. We could miss the turn to the right, but today we have most of our wits about us, and arrive at Barwell with no problems, other than the muddy gateway that's saved itself for our last treat of the day, just before we emerge into Barwell itself.

Finally we make our way through the village, pausing to grab a sandwich at the Red Lion, and then it's back to the car and we have a bit more of the Round under our - in my case, slightly over-dressed today - belts.

Map and details

Leics Round 3 - turns into Frolesworth circular

Fri, 2013 Mar 1 9:30 AM Western European Time 

With Marta. Section 3 Leics Round + a bit. Pleasant weather not warm, not sunny, not cold, not muddy. 9.3 miles, including detour for pub lunch at Claybrooke Magna.

Another grey day, slightly damp to start with.  I drive over to Sharnford, and manage to squeeze my car into a parking space, then hop into Marta’s car and make for Frolesworth.

We find the sign for the Leicestershire Round and walk along the track, then miss the next sign completely.  OK, we haven’t seen each other for three months and there’s a lot to catch up on, but we really ought to keep our eyes open.

The long and short of it is that we miss the clearly marked route, and head off west rather than south.  It doesn’t even register when we reach Fosse Meadows Park, which I know is near Sharnford.   We think we’re doing fine when we see Leicestershire Round signs, and follow them happily – emerging in Sharnford.  We’ve walked two miles or so. 

Good job we decided to do a short walk today. No problem – we’ll retrace our steps and pick up the route in the opposite direction from the one we first thought of.

Fosse Meadows has a car park and picnic tables, and is a popular dog-walkers’ venue.  By the time we get back there we declare coffee time.  It doesn’t take long to chill today, so we walk out to the road which is unsuitable for motors – this is the old Fosse Way and takes us right up to High Cross – the point where the Fosse Way and Watling Street (the A5) meet.  It’s also supposed to be the Centre of England. Interesting article on the link - 

There's a fair amount of info on here.  

This monument was erected in 1712 by the Denbigh Family "in grateful as well as perpetual rememberance of peace, at length restored by Her Majesty Queen Anne 1712" It is Grade II listed and was struck by lightning in 1791.

The Latin inscription translates as 'If Traveller, you seek for the footsteps of the ancient Romans, here you may behold them, for here their most celebrated ways, crossing each other, extend to the utmost bourne'

We’re still following the LR markers without any problems until we reach a footbridge over a stream. The marker is there, and there’s a well trodden path across the field leading slightly to the right. We follow – who wouldn’t?  The next marker has no LR symbol, but instead says “Parish Walks”. Suspicious. Hmm Sherlock, what d’you reckon?  It’s as well we know other people have got lost around here.  Serious discussion, consulting of maps, working out that the A5 looks altogether too close.  We hesitate – go forwards, back, turn left? After a couple of false starts we turn left along the field edge, and eventually find another LR sign, near a house called Midsummer Barn.  From here the markers are clear – all the way to Claybrooke Parva school.   We rescue a football, which the kids have ejected from the playground.   An eight or nine-year-old asks us “Are you explorers?”  “Sure thing” I reply. 

Then a right turn along the road, past a twisted tree in a field and we pick up the path again. 

 At Claybrooke Magna we detour for a few hundred yards to the  Pig in Muck pub. We leave our mucky boots outside.   The pub does a decent baguette with salad and chips, plus tea or coffee for around £7. There are plenty of customers today.

We make our way back to the route. It is beautifully marked, and takes us past Hill Farm. There is a row of freshly painted yellow posts here.  The man who's just painted them shouts to warn us of wet paint!  There's no way we can go  wrong here.  Magic!  It continues like this all the way to Frolesworth, and we can’t understand how we missed seeing the markers this morning!  We look back and the route is really clear.

Map and details of the walk