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 for me 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 my views on 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 the muddy field I followed the road onto Gallows Lane instead to reach the other side of the path and continue 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 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 I 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 to the 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 I would hopefully find 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 I turned right into Willesley Lane and 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 now struggled 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. After 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 since I’d walked section three while on the National Forest Way, and I’d walked it in the other direction in May last year, 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 for 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 while 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 then followed the route that I should have taken several years ago through a field overgrown with thistles that led me back into the village of Packington. With the sun shining this was a lovely end to an otherwise uneventful walk.

The Ivanhoe Way, section one

Saturday 6th August 2016

At this time of the year I don’t have any walking holidays to describe so I have to go back and look at the day-walks that I did last year in or near Leicestershire, my home county. I was gradually working my way around the long distance trail of the Ivanhoe Way and on the previous section I had reached the village of Shackerstone, which is the official start of the trail. I had actually started my circuit in Dimminsdale Nature Reserve at the start of section four, so I was now more than half way around the trail. After parking in the car park for the Battlefield Line Railway I set off through the village of Shackerstone and onto the towpath that runs beside the Ashby de la Zouch Canal. There was a dense covering of trees on this section of the canal that made it feel rather dark and brooding, but I didn’t stay long on the canal as I came off at Hill’s Bridge and after passing through the overgrown remains of a disused railway line I came onto a quiet country lane. I was accompanied on this lane with the purple flowers of willowherb that are a sure sign of summer, and a ubiquitous flower at that time of the year.

Just after passing Shackerstone Fields Farm I left the road and crossed a dew-soaked, grassy field that prompted me to put on my waterproof socks before continuing beside wheat fields, through Green Lane Coverts and into the village of Snarestone. Ragwort and rosebay willowherb decorated the edges of these fields while a dense plague of flies harassed me near Beanfield Farm until I could reach the safety of the trees in Green Land Coverts. These treats and irritations were a distant memory once I reached Snarestone as beyond this village the Ivanhoe Way follows the edge of a busy road until I eventually came off and started to follow a track that goes around a brick works. On one side of the path is the brick works with a tall, ugly wire fence separating them, while on the other is a narrow woodland screen that has been allowed to go wild resulting in a lovely display of plants that made for an enjoyable walk despite half of the view being industrial. All too soon I was in the village of Measham where a short walk through a housing estate brought me to the former Measham railway station that is now Measham Museum.

This is the end of section one of the Ivanhoe Way, which hadn’t really taken me very long, and since the museum was closed for lunch I turned around and headed back towards Shackerstone along the course of the old railway line. This soon became very overgrown with lovely, dense vegetation covered with loads of summer flowers that made for an attractive area for me to walk and brought me back towards the brick works. There was a loud buzzing of insects in this tall vegetation that shows the benefit of not being so meticulous about cutting back overgrown plants. Insects will love you for leaving weeds to grow tall in the height of summer and I loved walking through these dense plants to the accompanying buzz. The course of the old railway line disappears into the brick works so I was forced to retrace my steps of an hour earlier around the edge, but this time I was trying to find a path off the Ivanhoe Way that couldn’t be seen. The map indicates several paths that veer off the Ivanhoe Way, but despite going up and down the path several times I couldn’t find any way off the main path through the tangled screen of bramble.

In the end I came off the path near the south-eastern corner of the brick works on a short track that took me back onto the road that I had walked beside earlier in the day. A short walk north along this road brought me to the point where the path that I had been looking for crosses the road and turning right I followed the path east. On the other side of a field I came upon an area warning of military vehicles and where red flags were flying despite there being no sign of a military zone on my map. A sign revealed that this is not real, but something called Tank Mania for gullible tourists. I had no interest is this mania and I followed the path on an interesting route along the length of a wide hedge that eventually brought me to a delightful hay meadow that was full of many wonderful wild flowers. This could simply be an abandoned field, but that didn’t spoil my enthusiasm for a field that was filled with dock and ragwort and where a clear path takes a meandering course through the field. I was deeply enamoured with this field and felt disappointed when I came to the end at a road.

On the other side of Gilwiskaw Brook I found a sign marking a construction site for the Ashby Canal. Since there is a footpath marked on my map at this point, and it wasn’t too difficult for me to go around the gate, even though there wasn’t any sign of a right-of-way, I headed along the course of the old canal up a stony track. I think the footpath that I had been trying to follow since leaving Measham is on the course of the old canal and there is a plan to restore it following the mine collapses that had closed it many years ago. The restoration works soon emerged and I had the weird experience of walking along the bed of a dry canal until I came to the mound of earth that blocks the current northern end of the canal. From there I walked along the towpath on this newly restored section of the canal until the surroundings finally merged into the long established canal. For the rest of the walk I simply followed the canal all the way back to Shackerstone enjoying the wonderfully warm and sunny weather. The Ivanhoe Way was very boring mainly because it passes through fields which I don’t think it is particularly fun to walk through, but the return was more interesting as I tried to trace the route of the old Ashby Canal and then I had a very relaxing stroll along the easy canal towpath.

The return trip was soon blocked, however, by the 249 yard Snarestone Tunnel where there is no path for me to follow so I had to climb up to the village and find my way back down onto the canal, which wasn’t immediately obvious. Eventually I found the route through the beer garden for the Globe Inn that led me back down to the canal. When I eventually reached Shackerstone I took a trip along the preserved railway than runs along the old line to Shenton right next to Bosworth Battlefield. Rather than being pulled by a steam train on this day the service was being run by an old D.M.U. that reminded me of my childhood just as a steam train would remind my father of his childhood. The main benefit of this walk was the weather, which was pleasantly warm and sunny with good views, even over the flat Leicestershire countryside, and made for an uplifting walk.