Whitwell - Exton - Empingham - Whitwell

Led by Mel. With Norma, Eddie, Shirley, Chris, Barry, Gordon and me. Beautiful weather, sunny, cool breeze. Not muddy. 9 miles.

We did this walk in reverse  , with one minor variation, on June 20th 2011.

It's beginning to look like autumn - Fort Henry Lake

From Whitwell car park, we walked through part of the village and crossed the A 606 to the Noel Arms.  The path goes through the outdoor seating and climbs up and through fields. It is clearly marked.  It descends slightly to the Exton Road. 

From the fields to the road into Exton.

We followed Stamford Road into the village, then Top Street. We  carried on until we met Pudding Bag Lane, where we turned right into West End and past the farm buildings of the Exton Estate.  The road then becomes private for traffic, and we walked along the main track, past the private cemetery, where various Earls of Gainsborough, members of the Noel family, and owners of the Exton Estate,  are buried. This includes the most recent death at the end of 2009.  The track bends left and later right following the edge of Tunneley Wood.  After a mile and a half or so we reached the lakes and Fort Henry at the bottom of the dip. 

It was warm enough for a pleasant snack break at this point.  

Then we headed off to the right beyond Lower Lake, in a southerly direction.  Again the path is clearly marked and easy to follow. It goes over fields, crosses a bridge, and goes through more fields, before coming out near the trout hatchery at Horn Mill.

We crossed the road here, into a field - there's a stile with steps, but the gate was usable today.   The path goes over to the corner - more stiles, through a spinney and along a field edge, then across a couple more fields - clearly waymarked all along.  Finally it runs along to the left of Warren Spinney, then meets the road into Empingham.  At this point there is a convenient bench.

The road runs downhill to the main street of Empingham,  meeting it just opposite Church Street.  We turned right and walked past the White Horse before crossing the A 606 into the Nook.  

We followed the path along a grassy track between houses, then over fields and through another wooded area.   Then it was uphill to the dam, along through the Sykes Lane parking area, and round the reservoir track to Whitwell.

Map and details