Where does that path go?

Monday 31st December 2018

Over the Christmas and New Year holidays at the end of last year I wanted to do a good, long walk even though the weather was generally rather grey and overcast. Eventually on New Year’s Eve I went to the Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire where I have walked many times before, but where there is a particular footpath that I have walked past many times though never investigated, so this was my opportunity. I parked in the village of Woodhouse Eaves and initially followed the route of my oft-walked Charnwood Forest Round in an anti-clockwise direction into the Outwoods. Beyond I entered the permissive path, courtesy of Nanpantan Home Farm, that is a delightful path that I love following especially in the spring when bluebells litter the woodland floor. There is a gloriously rocky ridge on the side of Buck Hill that is a delight to climb on a steep path that has rock underfoot, just below the surface, and is reminiscent of the Lake District. This is my favourite place in Leicestershire where the views from the top of the ridge stretch across the Wood Brook valley over The Home Farm and up the side of the hill beyond to Nanpantan Hall. I only wish the sun was shining for this walk.

I remember the first time I discovered this place I had blindly followed the path from the north gate of Beacon Hill Country Park just to see where the path went and I had no idea where it would lead me or how I would get back. I didn’t have a map and I could have got completely lost, but that actually contributed to the excitement. I have walked along this path at the bottom of the Wood Brook valley that links Beacon Hill with the Outwoods many times, but I have never taken the path that climbs north out of the valley, so on this occasion when I reached the junction I turned right climbing along the edge of a grassy field with woodland on the other side of a wall. The sensible walker would have come prepared with a map of the area so they could follow their progress and always know where they were and where they were going. However, when I first ventured into the Wood Brook valley I didn’t have a map and I had no idea where the path was going to lead me.

If I had been walking in the Highlands of Scotland, or I was in the Lake District or a lot of other places, this would have been a very foolish thing to do, but I was in Leicestershire and never far from civilisation. I was actually excited at the thought of breaking the rules by going walking without a map and almost deliberately getting lost. Our lives are so dictated by Health & Safety rules and regulations that it is thrilling to occasionally break those rules and do something completely reckless, even though when you actually analyse this walk it was not even slightly dangerous. I didn’t have a map with me this time so I was blindly following the markers that led me slowly up a hill with views behind me of Felicity’s Wood on the southern bank of the valley that rises all the way up to the peak at the top of Beacon Hill. So far the path was not particularly exciting and I reflected that I would have enjoyed the path more if it had been in the woodland to my right rather on the edge of the grassy field beside it.

I was reliant on the signs on each successive gate to lead me up the hill with no sign of a path underfoot until I reached a grassy lane at the top of the hill. This lane led me beside Roe’s Plantation towards a road, but before reaching the road a sign directed me into the wood, which was a brief moment of joy as the path climbs over the wooded rock-laden ridge of Roe’s Plantation. After the earlier grassy fields this was a welcome change, except that these woods seemed to be suffering from an invasion of holly and was woefully too small an area so soon I was passing through a couple of fields full of sheep before passing through another wooded ridge that brought me onto the Nanpantan Road. Of course I had no idea where I was or where to go next although a footpath on the other side of the road seemed like a good idea. It was depressing to see a lot of rubbish dumped at the start of this path that led me through young woodland until I came to a sudden stop at a tall fence that I now know was the edge of Charnwood Quarry. Turning to my left I followed the side of the fence onto a right-of-way that took me to Longcliffe Lodge Farm, not far from a bridge under the M1 motorway that had been making its noisy presence known for a while.

Passing underneath the motorway I found a path on the left that followed a very wet and muddy track and eventually brought me down to the stables and farm at Lubcloud. Technically I should now have been completely lost having blindly followed whatever paths I came across, but truthfully I had looked at a map the day before so I had an idea where I was. I was on the route of the Charnwood Forest Challenge Walk that I had done in 2007, and had inspired me to create my own Charnwood Forest Round. Since that walk was a long time ago, and I didn’t have a map, I was unsure where to go next so I took a guess and turned right to follow the road to a crossroads where I had my lunch. I thought there should be a path nearby to Blackbrook Reservoir, but I didn’t know where it was, so I just kept on walking along the road. This used to be a common strategy when walking, before the days of G.P.S., when I was unsure of my location I would just keep walking and hope I came across a landmark that would allow me to pinpoint my location on the map. My perseverance paid off and I found a footpath on the left that took me down to Blackbrook Reservoir, which I remembered passing a few years earlier while doing the Ivanhoe Way and having to wade through ankle-deep mud.

There was no such problem now with the ground still very dry thanks to the hot and dry summer so I was easily able to follow the path up to Mount St. Bernard Abbey. I didn’t stop to look around the monastery but followed the path until I reached a junction, where I remembered I should turn left, however taking the attitude “I wonder where that path goes?” I turned right. It soon became apparent that this path was not going in the direction I wanted to go so I turned back and followed the correct path onto Abbey Road. I was now on more familiar ground as I had done a walk in this area with a guy from work last summer, so abandoning the route of the Challenge Walk I entered Charnwood Lodge National Nature Reserve and followed the paths that lead all the way up to the cairn at the top of Timberwood Hill. From there I dropped steeply down, through Charley Woods Nature Reserve and onto a road under the M1 motorway. I knew exactly where I was going now and soon I reached the north gate of Beacon Hill Country Park, and after a satisfying climb up the Hill I finally returned to Woodhouse Eaves. I had hoped that the sun would come out on this walk and this sadly never happened, but it was still a fabulous walk that stretched my legs and enabled me to explore some paths that I had never walked before, and all without a map.