The Leicestershire Round

11th November 2006

Market Bosworth - Carlton - Shackerstone - Nailstone - Bagworth

(9.5 miles)

Market Bosworth Center

As a daily customer of the Arriva bus service, I can be driven to distraction at the bus services. However, a keen eyed bus driver saw me pegging it for the bus from my home and waited at the stop as I ran hopefully. It's with moments like these that I think the bus service is great. As a result, I made it in good time to the start of my next journey.

My New Home

Still on the look-out for an affordable home, I came across this one, just outside of Market Bosworth. The anti-flood design is second to none and the view is just spectacular. This is just within my price range and I'm talking to the mortgage advisors as you read this.

Just imagine the child who has this place as their adventure home. What a well adjusted person they will become...

No Rest For The Fields

The new Oil-Seed Rape crop is growing already, soaking up the last of the autumn sun before plunging in to the cold depths of winter.

At this point I am still off the OS maps I possess, but remail hopeful that I will complete my walk.

I briefly met Carlton as I passed through the west of its existence. All was quiet and I passed through without alarm.

Which Way Now?

Each Leicester Round sign should have 2 arrows - one for the clockwisers and one for the anti-clockwisers. This one has an extra one for the 'what-evers'. Someone obviously got carried away with tacking the arrows on. I used my intuition to find my way... I was expecting a magical mystery tour... Perhaps next time I'll do this with a SatNav system...

The phenomenal sloe production is still there, although the berries are past their best and are imitating their cousins, the prunes.

This isolated house is the keeper of something or other, which I am sure is important for my walking adventure. Having lived in a number of houses on the sides of fields, I can imagine that the winter gales can make this place a wind-swept place to live in. I hope they were visited by a good double-glazing firm.

The guide book said (casually) that I should cross over this field diagonally. You must be joking! Looking at the state of the waterlogged soil, I would end up dragging half the field with me. I took the easier route around the perimeter of the field - another extra bit to add on to my total walk miles.

This year, as has already been seen from the apples and sloes, has been an exceptional year for berries and fruits. The hot summer has provided a lot of sun to help grow and ripen the fruits. The birds should not go hungry this winter.

This view, overlooking Shackerstone and its steam railway, was once dominated by a 12th century castle. This is now obviously long gone, apart from a few grassy lumps showing where some of its bits used to be.

After standing on the bridge and watch the steam trains steam up for a while, I made my way down to the other side where I was greeted by this sign. Just what I needed! I was a bit tired (hadn't quite woken up yet) and really fancied a coffee. I looked in my pocket for my money - £1.14. I hoped the coffee wasn't expensive.

I had no idea how much a platform ticket was going to cost, but I knew that I would have virtually nothing left for a coffee. The bubble of my dream burst. I could almost imagine the smell of the coffee as I walked past... It would have been in my imagination. The place was shut anyway. I continued, coffeeless and tired.

Though tired and hungry, the walk along the canal cheered my spirits, seen here from the bridge at Shackerstone.

This was, so the great book informs me, the motte of the castle that once stood here. Now a tree has taken over the greatness it once had.

This bridge, doubling as a storage place for barrels, was a good place to stop, have a sandwich and sip of water, and dream about the coffee that almost was.

Compared to other properties that I could afford, this one seemed quite luxurious with its complete roof, door that closes and horticultural features. It was a shame that at this point, I didn't realise that I had completely gone off the Round and was headed for unknown territory.

Having come back from one direction, I headed off in another, under a bridge, through a farm, onto a road and towards this sign. Remember - I'm following words in a book at this point and not a detailed OS Explorer Map. I am a visual person - therefore I was lost. These places meant nothing to me. Time for me to retrace my steps - again!

... turned right here! In the book it does say 'Meet the field road and turn right'. It refers to its map that could have referred to here. Was this the field road it was talking about...? I needed to add another couple of miles to my walk total.

I read that I needed to pass this ha-ha wall of Odstone Hall. I was back on track. Despite the walls name, I was not feeling in a great mood at that moment, having added lots of distance and time to my walk. I looked at the clouds above, which were quickly turning grey, and wondered if I had brought my rain-mac with me.

The spire from Nailstone's church, which is set on a hill, can be seen from miles around. These vast green fields that border the village were once described as 'meadows garlanded with wildflowers alongside rambling streams'. These are, of course, long gone, buried by the plough, replaced by an infinity of monocolour green. I was feeling better at this point - I was just about to get back on to my OS Explorer map again.

The last nectar of the year, provided by the ivy, has long gone. The spikes with berries will stay to ripen and provide food for birds, whilst those that didn't set will be loosened and blown off by the wind.

Heading towards Bagworth, under the darkening skies. My phone clock told me I had only about 20 minutes to get to Bagworth for the next bus. If I missed that one, the next would be 1 hour later. However, I had to stop for a moment and try to puzzle out this new creation - an island surrounded by water with a pipe pointing at it...?

Time is ticking down fast. Bagworth is in my sights. However, I had to speed-walk this part to make sure I got my bus. The wind was getting up and it was cold. I knew Bagworth would have few places of refuge, so I had to make it!

The wind-swept bus stop had me hoping that the bus hadn't come early. Perhaps there was more to Bagworth than what I saw here, but I really didn't want to be stranded here for an hour. After adding on another large distance to my walk, I was in no mood to put any wait down to 'the adventures of the walk'. I just wanted to get home, have a cuppa and warm up. The bus came promptly. All was well. I met a colleague from work on the way back. My spirit was restored.