The National Forest Way, Stage Two

Saturday 12th July 2014

Bradgate Park to Thornton Reservoir

Around this time of the year I usually run out of walks that I have done recently that I can talk about in this blog, and usually start to describe walks that I did more than ten years ago. This year, however, I don’t need to go back that far as there is a series of walks that I completed over the space of ten months not too long ago that I haven’t put on this blog yet. In May 2014 a new long distance trail was opened through the fledgling National Forest, where an attempt has been made to correct the shortage of trees in the East Midlands of England by planting millions of new trees between the ancient woodlands of Charnwood and Needham. The scheme was started in 1995 and over the last twenty years the trees have gradually been planted in many places in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire. I have walked through many of these new plantations in Leicestershire before, but had not ventured any further into the National Forest to explore the wide variety of landscapes that are found in the area, so I was eager to start walking the way as soon as possible.

The National Forest Way starts, or ends, at the Beacon Hill Country Park in Leicestershire, and since that is my home county I thought I’d start from there. However the first stage, between Beacon Hill and Bradgate Park covers ground that I’ve walked hundreds of times before so I thought I’d skip that first stage and start with the second stage, which starts in the village of Newtown Linford, just outside the gates of Bradgate Park. Instead of parking at Bradgate Park where the parking fees are high I decided to park at the end of the second stage, in the village of Thornton. I had decided that the best way for me to cover the National Forest Way was for me to walk along each stage and then find my own, different way back to the start of that stage, or in the case of this stage, to walk to the start and then follow the National Forest Way back to my car. Therefore on this walk I didn’t start by walking along the National Forest Way, but along the Leicestershire Round.

I’ve never been interested in doing the whole of this one hundred mile walk before, but I have done this section between Thornton and Bradgate so I knew where I was going as I followed the path from the western end of Thornton Reservoir. After passing along the edge of Browns Wood, which is a National Forest Wood, I passed under the M1 motorway and entered the village of Markfield where I couldn’t resist a quick, sneaky visit to the delightful Hill Hole Quarry Nature Reserve. On the far side of the village I passed underneath the A50 dual carriageway and joined the route of my Charnwood Forest round that I seem to do every couple of months in order to keep up my hill walking fitness. This very familiar route, still on the Leicestershire Round, took me past John’s Lee Wood and through woods that have also been planted as part of the National Forest scheme. Soon I was in the tiny village of Newtown Linford and the start of this stage of the National Forest Way, but I wasn’t ready to start yet.

Instead I headed into Bradgate Park and climbed to the top of Old John, the highest point in the country park where extensive views can be seen across the City of Leicester. I was now actually on the route of the National Forest Way, towards the end of stage one, which ends by descending the bracken-covered slopes of the hill to the ruins of Bradgate House. This early brick-built house is famous for being the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey who was Queen of England for just nine days. I had never been around the ruins before and was surprised to discover that it was open and free for everyone to wander around. Since I had never been inside the ruins before I took full advantage even though there wasn’t really much to see. Bradgate Park is a very popular place with the majority of the crowds staying beside the tarmacked, unfenced road that goes past Bradgate House from Newtown Linford to the car park at Hallgates. I usually stay away from the road and on this warm Saturday in the summer I needed little convincing of the wisdom.

Turning right at Bradgate House I followed the stream of crowds along the road to the main gates that lead out of the park and into Newtown Linford. This marked the end of stage one and is also the point where I could finally start stage two of the National Forest Way. A footpath beside the village shop immediately brought me into what is uncharted territory for me, which is astounding considering the enormous amount of walking that I have done in the area. I was soon also taken aback by the sight of a gorgeous wildflower meadow that was covered in flowers of many different types and colours. At one time meadows such as this were a common sight but modern farming techniques have made them very rare so it was a delight to see this excellent example of a wildflower meadow at the peak of its display. I wish I could have lingered in the meadows but I had a lot of ground still to cover so I kept going, passing through Lady Hay Wood and after crossing the A50 again I skirted the edge of Groby entering Martinshaw Wood.

I had never been in this extensive wood before and I was astonished that I had missed out on a treat as the sight of many Bluebell seed heads indicated delights earlier in the year and had me making plans for the following spring to see this wood at its very best. After crossing the M1 again I passed through a smaller section of the wood before crossing the Markfield Road and entering Pear Tree Wood, which was an early planting in the National Forest. There is a clear difference between established woods like Martinshaw and the new plantations of Pear Tree Wood. The trees in these newer woods are noticeably smaller, more densely planted and with no woodland flowers underneath. This last characteristic is particularly disappointing for me and constantly had me longing for the ancient woodland of the Charnwood Forest. In the woods of Ratby Burroughs I became confused about my route as I was relying on the sketchy map and vague descriptions on the leaflet downloaded from the National Forest Way website.

I eventually went the wrong way in Burroughs Wood and ended up passing beside the Forest Hill Golf Club on a wide bridlepath instead of taking the narrower footpath out of the wood to the north of Old Hays Farm. By the time I was reunited with the National Forest Way I was becoming tired and the final section through several farmer’s fields that eventually brought me back to the village of Thornton did little to engage my enthusiasm. This was a poor end to what had been an enjoyable walk at the start of my attempt to complete the National Forest Way. The meadows that I encountered near the start of the stage were a delight and the woods in the middle of the stage had me clambering to return in the spring, but after Burroughs Wood the walk deteriorated as I lost my way and became tired. On subsequent stages I made sure that I had a copy of the Ordnance Survey map for the area as the maps provided with the directions were not very clear.