Ivanhoe Way blocked south of Ashby

I live in Ashby and it's been very difficult watching North West Leics council grant permission for one major development after another to be built on the green land around the town.

I could have a real rant, but local democracy [or rather, lack of] aside, there are implications for our paths. Today was the first time that I tried to use the Ivanhoe Way path leaving Ashby to the south-west since work started there. From the Moira Road you used to head across fields at around SK346166. Here's what that field looks like now:

There are new houses standing on the spot that you used to enter the field. It would be fab to discover that you have the right to walk through one or more of those houses in muddy boots but I expect Leicestershire County have done the necessary legal stuff with the path.

I don't know whether it'll eventually be possible to get through this development and join the Ivanhoe Way just beyond - as I write this on 1 Jan 2015, half of this site is still a building site and therefore fenced off with no signs giving information or a detour. So the IW is blocked.

There's nothing on LCC's Ivanhoe Way page, I've written to them asking about this and will post the reply here.

[edit 2 Jan] Leics council are visiting the site, I'm very pleased, having been expecting just a quick answer.

In the mean time, I suggest continuing out of town on the Moira road and picking up the footpath that heads off at Shellbrook and joins the Ivanhoe Way.

It's gutting to see so much green land being built on, especially when the local people are strongly opposed to it. It's also a shame that it further spoils this long distance walk. There are already too many housing estates to walk through on this route and there will be more; there's another one imminent on the other side of Ashby (the 'Money Hill' site).

Ivanhoe Way (over two days)

Distance: 19 miles
Walked: Saturday 10 August 2013
Total miles walked this year: 195
Route: Anticlockwise from Stanton under Bardon to Ashby

Distance: 18 miles

Walked: Sunday 11 August 2013

Total miles walked this year: 214

Route: Anticlockwise from Ashby to Stanton under Bardon

As a training walk for doing the whole lot in one go, I walked the route over two days. I'm aiming for 12 hours this year and my speed here was certainly up to it - average more than 3mph each day.

It was a little bit sad to see signs of autumn, but then again, my first blackberries of the year were delicious:

 One of the first signs of leaves turning, the black spots that appear on sycamore. Supposedly a sign of good air quality.

 Paths were still passable despite some crops being head-height

 Conkers, anyone?

 Not very filling but it's great to find wild raspberries:

 Some curious fellas:

Reward

Sunday's walk was cold and muddy but I felt really privileged to see these sweeties with their proud mums. Very appropriate for Mothers' Day

Either a very good or very tolerant mum, keeping baby cosy on top of her fleece:

More pictures from today on Flickr

Don't go this way...

Or 'I don't like mud, get me out of here'. Or 'Mud, glorious mud'. I've well and truly christened the new Alt-bergs

I was wishing I'd bothered to put gaiters on but when you sink to your fetlocks into liquid mud I'm not sure how helpful they are. This is the Ivanhoe Way. I hope it dries up a little before I attempt the whole route again later in the year.

But going out today has it had its rewards.

More pictures from today on Flickr

Ashby Woulds walk, August 2012

Now that the colours are turning autumnal, I've been looking back through some photos from earlier in the year.

On a lovely day in August I walked my 11m Ashby Woulds walk, starting at Shellbrook, to Moira Furnace (ice-cream, coffee, loos and other walking essentials available) to Donisthorpe woods and towards Measham. That part of the walk follows the Ivanhoe Way. Then leaving the IW at Oakthorpe and through a potentially beautiful new part of National Forest to Willesley to loop back to Shelbrook.

More details about the route are here

And this photoset can be viewed at Flickr

Ivanhoe Way

Walked: Sunday 24 August
Distance: officially 36m (I've not checked this yet) plus a couple of miles for one deliberate detour and going 'off track' a couple of times.
Weather: To start with, it was misty and drizzly at best and raining at worst. It brightened up during the morning and the rest of the day was warm and pleasant.


I've had my heart set for three years on walking the whole Ivanhoe Way in a day. I had big ideas about planning where I'd be at what time, and inviting friends to join in for parts. However, with the day length closing in, and a reasonably fine bank holiday forecast, I decided almost on the spur of the moment just to go for it.

The route almost passes my house, and so the obvious plan would be to start and finish from home. Instead, my more cunning plan was to drive to the other side, so that half way round I'd arrive at my house to top up on food and water, meaning I wouldn't have to carry all of the provisions I'd need for the day. Therefore I parked at Billa Barra car park, which is between Stanton-under-Bardon and Bardon Hill. I walked the route anti-clockwise, though I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it.

For once I remembered to set the time on my camera, so I know where I was when.

I intended to start at 6am, as it was getting light. It was around 6:15 when I arrived at Billa Barra, and I waited for a bit because it was raining. I started walking at 6:30am

6:45 am. This first picture shows Bardon Hill. Or at least the camera is pointing towards Bardon Hill. It's somewhere in that mist.


7:11 am. I'd usually enjoy a coffee and enjoy the view from the top of Bardon Hill - said to be the highest point in Leicestershire (which isn't saying much). You can see this radio mast from the A511.


This is usually a great view of Leicestershire and I've taken this picture before on sunny days. not very exciting today! There was little point hanging around.


There are then a couple of housing estates to walk through. I took a wrong turn in Bardon (Didn't look at the map, thought I knew my way through. One street in a housing estate looks much like another!) That added a mile. There's another council estate to get through at Whitwick, but no problems there. (Give me fields and hedges anytime!)

8:18 am. My photo isn't very good, but the arrow disc says 'Ivanhoe Way' in it. Leicestershire County Council are brilliant when it comes to waymarking. There are plenty of these yellow posts, or the green fingerposts; usually the next one is in sight of the previous one. However, you can't rely on them, the OS map is essential.



9:00 am. This is the first time I stopped for coffee and cake. I crouched under a tree, the driest spot I could find, but it still wasn't very nice. Before I moved on, though, I realised it was getting brighter and saw the first glimpse of blue sky.


9:18 am. Swannington has an old inclined railway (trains were winched up a steep bit of track) which is still there as a museum piece. The Ivanhoe Way just misses it though. I don't know what this metal structure is, but it looks like it was something to do with mining.


10:39 am. This is my first view of Breedon church. Between Worthington and Staunton Harold was field after field of maize, with unpleasantly unkempt paths. This very long grass was still saturated from the rain.


12:09 pm. This is one of my favourite South Derbyshire photo opportunities (we're right on the border of Leicestershire and Derbyshire). I've taken lots of photos from The bottom end of Staunton Harold Reservoir, and it always looks slightly different. The water's still covered with algae, and there's a good reflection today.


3:22 pm. Half-way through now. If I cheated slightly, it was stopping at my house to freshen up a bit and have a hot dinner. (I resisted the temptation to have a shower!) However, I did take a bit of a detour around Ashby to do it, which added a mile or two to my journey. Just south of Ashby here, I like this view. My house is on the horizon, left of centre. We're in the National Forest here, and typically, the trees are still only head-high.


3:51 pm. This picture sums up the season. Blackberries and elderberries together. I stopped many times to pick the former to eat on the spot, and will be back for a bucketful of the latter to make this year's elderberry wine!


3:55 pm. Ashby to Measham is one of my favourite parts of the Ivanhoe Way. This is Moira Furnace, it is a fascinating building with a fascinating history. Unfortunately, I've just missed the furnace itself off this photo.


4:13 pm. After a lovely walk along canal and through woods, this is Donisthorpe church. It has some fascinating recent stained glass representing the mining heritage and new forestry and tourism industries. from here to Measham is cycle path, so easy walking and pleasant views.


6:32 pm. 12 hours' walking! Stops for drink and food seem to be getting more frequent, although things seem to hurt more when you re-start after resting for a while! After a stop for something to eat and drink in Snarestone, there's a little bit of surprisingly beautiful road here in Shackerstone. The Ivanhoe Way just goes off the bottom of Explorer 245 at this point, and so when walking here previously I've always taken a bit of a detour in order to stay on the map. I decided to try sticking to the Ivanhoe Way today, relying on the fingerposts, a strategy which very nearly worked.


7:44 pm. Almost to Odstone. It was still bright, but check out those long shadows - the sun is really low now. At this point I was still optimistic that I'd finish before it was completely dark.


8:10 pm. Just before Nailstone was this beautiful sunset.


The beautiful Nailstone church nestles among 20th century council houses!



At this point it got too dark to take any more pictures, and with quite a few miles to go, I panicked a little about what to do. When I came to Bagworth it was completely dark (stars but no moon) and with a few fields and woods to cross, I very nearly called a taxi.

The remaining paths go in very straight lines, and although it's obviously difficult or impossible to see the waymarkers, I could see my map and compass by torchlight, and pick out hedges and field boundaries and so very tentatively decided to carry on. Each stile or waymarker that I came to was a mini-triumph, and with a new determination dulling the pain a little, and a real peaceful atmosphere and even more of a sense of solitude than usual, I enjoyed walking in the darkness very much.

I arrived back at my car at 10:30pm - stung, sunburned, bitten, mud and blackberry-stained, sweaty, but very happy - 16 hours after setting off.

Spring is springing

Distance: 11m
Walked: 28 March 2008


This was one of those spring days where you find yourself compelled to stop walking, relax and just look and listen. That doesn't happen during the winter, and it's a lovely moment when it first happens in the spring.

This walk starts at Shelbrook, just outside Ashby,and picks up the Ivanhoe Way, which goes to Moira, Donisthorpe and Measham. I didn't go as far as Measham, leaving the IW at Oakthorpe and through a potentially beautiful new part of National Forest to Willesley and back to Shelbrook.



Just had to record this. All that tweeting is bird-talk for 'Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day..."


Here's a still of that scene. It really was a stunning moment.







More details of the route with an interactive map are at UK-Walks.info

Leicestershire 4 Peaks Challenge

Walked: Easter Monday, 24 March
Distance: 17 miles


Today's important lesson was that making plans to stop and enjoy lunch / coffee at a viewpoint only works if it's a nice day. Today was a cold and breezy day, with some late snow sprinkled around. On a day like this, somewhere sheltered is a much better bet.

Having planned to have lunch on the Markfield viewpoint, we didn't spend long up there, and retreated to the church below. Even there I got very cold and wanted to press on to warm up.

This is a variation of a walk I've done a couple of times before, and called the 'Leicestershire 3 Peaks Challenge'. That's a bit of a joke name, as the 'peaks' aren't really very dramatic Leicestershire is pretty flat. (I enjoy saying that as I've spent my life railing when people claim that Norfolk, my homeland, is flat. It isn't!)

I noticed before that there are other viewpoints marked on the map nearby, so this could easily become the 5 or 6 Peaks Challenge. I'm intrigued about why there are so many viewpoints clustered in a small area. Today we started in a different place; the lay-by on the A511 is convenient but not a pleasant start / finish to the walk.





The car park just through Whitwick was much better. There's a short walk along a road before Mount St Bernard Abbey. The monastery may be worth exploring, but we didn't make time today. Just past the abbey, you can take a footpath to the right and cross a reservoir dam. Footpaths take you to Ingleberry Lane, but there's then a couple of miles to do by road before coming to Beacon Hill.

This is the current beacon. Strangely not near the top of the hill... Apparently you can see the one on Breedon Hill from here, but we couldn't spot it today. It was a bit misty, and the strong breeze made it uncomfortable trying. I'll try to get a small pair of bins, I think.


This is the top of Breedon Hill. A really good view, but as expected there were lots of people on top, thanks to the car park close to the summit.



After Beacon Hill, we're back on footpaths, past a 'Priory, Rems of' (it sez on the map) which looked as if it was being converted or restored.

These were my first gamboling lambs of the spring.


The road sign opposite says 'Polly Botts Lane' which is a delightful name. Take it, and


This was today's surprise. We included the Quarry at Markfield (Hill Hole Quarry) as it has a viewpoint marked on the map, and it delivered on that promise. As you can hear in the video below, (turn your sound down before pressing 'play') it was cold and windy up there, but it has a very good 360 degree view. You can see why it's called Hill Hole - The water is where a hill used to be. It's as if the hill has been turned upside down or inside out:



I've written about Bardon Hill and Billa Barra before. We approached it from a slightly different direction, so this is the view of the 'crown' of trees on Billa Barra from the 'back':


Fourth peak is Bardon Hill. This is said to be the highest point in Leicestershire, and Garmin confirmed that it was the highest point of our walk today. The picture shows the view looking across at Bardon Hill taken from Billa Barra:


You can pick up the Ivanhoe Way to get to the top of Bardon Hill and then follow it all the way back to the car park.