The Ivanhoe Way, section two

Saturday 24th September 2016

At the crack of dawn, just as the sun was rising above the horizon, I was parking in the tiny village of Packington for the second section of the Ivanhoe Way. I had walked through this pretty village a couple of years before while on the National Forest Way and it was good to have an excuse to return. I set off along the Measham Road out of the village before taking a footpath that passes through a small, young wood with dew-soaked ground underfoot that quickly saturated my shoes as I passed new plantings of young trees for the National Forest in this picturesque location. After passing through several small fields I passed through a large field at the top of a low hill that gave me extensive views, particularly towards the rising sun in the east. Unfortunately I didn’t see the sun again for the rest of the morning as cloud soon enveloped the skies creating a hazy light that spoilt the views that I would have during this walk, even though it was still pleasantly warm.

The path beyond the lane to Champneys Springs passed through a freshly ploughed field and rather than attempting to walk across this muddy field I followed the road onto Gallows Lane to reach the other side of the path that continues on its course towards Measham. These fields were unimproved, which means that they were filled with lots of wild plants that provided me with a bit of interest before reaching Measham. After negotiating the highways and byways of this large village I eventually reached the Measham Museum where I had left the Ivanhoe Way previously, at the end of section one. Resuming my circuit of the Ivanhoe Way I set off along the course of the old Ashby & Nuneaton Railway that is now marked as being the Ashby Heritage Trail. This was a relaxing part of the walk with no-brainer navigation as the old railway follows a gentle curve through the gently undulating Leicestershire countryside. I had walked along part of this old railway line a couple of years ago while on the National Forest Way, and was now overlapping that walk slightly though in the opposite direction.

This time I came off the course of the railway just after passing through Donisthorpe Woodland Park, site of the former quarry, onto a lovely, little footpath that was tightly enclosed by hawthorn hedges and brought me to the Ashby Canal. On the previous section of this trail I had followed the course of this canal where it has been filled in following mine collapses, but this section of the canal has now been restored even though it lies in isolation, with just one and a half miles ending at the Conkers Waterside Centre. On this canal is the Moira Furnace, which is a remarkably preserved industrial monument, and now a museum, but since it was still too early in the morning and not open yet I had to walk past it and cross the canal to take a path onto a road. Beyond, a gently rising path on a small embankment took me up to a small wood that seemed like it would be worth exploring in the spring when there would hopefully be woodland flowers at their most spectacular. A sign revealed that this was the site of the Newfield Colliery, which just shows how quickly nature can transform a previously heavily industrial landscape into one of beauty and tranquillity.

I passed through this wood far too quickly and came upon the Ashby Road that I had to follow, underneath the Ivanhoe railway line and for some distance, until turning right into Willesley Lane I eventually reached a nature conservation area that has no public access except for a single footpath through the middle. The Ivanhoe Way follows this path and I had been on this path before on the aforementioned walk while doing the National Forest Way. I think it may even have been at this point while following this part of the Ivanhoe Way that I had the idea of doing the entire circuit. After passing through the open-access Chestnut Wood, typical of the National Forest, I passed Shellbrook Farm through a large freshly ploughed field. I couldn’t help thinking of the small field near Measham that I had bypassed earlier because it had been freshly ploughed while I was now struggling across this huge field. On the far side of the field I saw an invitingly wide, grassy lane that I recognized from my previous visit and took me onto the Moira Road.

When I got there I checked my map and realised that the Ivanhoe Way doesn’t join the road at that point, so I headed back to the ploughed field to try and find the correct path and missed the turning again, until I eventually reached the correct path that lay through another freshly ploughed field. Passing some horses and through a new housing development I eventually came back onto the Moira Road, which I followed all the way into Ashby-de-la-Zouch. You could say that this ends my circuit of the Ivanhoe Way even though technically I have a section left to complete as I’d started on section four, however I’d walked section three while on the National Forest Way, and I’d walked it in the other direction in May last year, so I didn’t feel as though I needed to do that section again. From Ashby I followed the route of the National Forest Way south across the A42 dual-carriageway back to the village of Packington. This walk only took me four hours and the sun didn’t come out until near the end, around midday, which was rather frustrating even though I did have plans for the afternoon.

Reflecting on the whole of the Ivanhoe Way I must say that I wasn’t impressed as far too much of it passes through farmer’s fields even though that is going to be inevitable for a walk in Leicestershire. No walk in this county can possibly compete with one in Scotland or the Lake District, but since Leicestershire is my home county this is what I have to make do with unless I want to travel several hours at the start and end of every walk. Rather than stopping at my car I passed through the village of Packington and had a wander around the fields to the south where I had made a mistake several years ago coming into the village on the National Forest Way. I retraced my steps of that walk to the Gilwiskaw Brook and through Plummer’s Wood up through a pretty avenue of young trees to reach the National Forest Way and followed the route that I should have taken several years ago through a field overgrown with thistles back into the village of Packington. With the sun shining this was a lovely end to an otherwise uneventful walk.