Ivanhoe Way Day 1 Bardon to Measham

Date : 29 July 2011

Area : Leicestershire
Walk : Ivanhoe Walk Day 1

Start At : Stanton under Bardon

End At : Measham

OS Sheet : Explorer 245

Start Grid : SK4688 1115

End Grid:  SK3347 1209  

Distance (M/k): 13.3 / 21.3
Ascent (ft): 429

Descent (ft): 762

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

The Ivanhoe Walk is clearly marked on the map. From the small car park to the north of Stanton under Bardon walk south to Bagworth, east to Nailstone, Odstone, Shackerston then north west to Snarestone and north to Measham.

Journey

This was a walk like no other I’ve ever done; miles of fields, almost no roads, no woodland, a handful of small, picturesque villages, no hills to speak of just slight rises and falls in the landscape with long gentle slopes. The most prominent features were the lines of electricity pylons and the steeple of Nailstone Church.

The way marking was excellent, clear and well placed, often indicating the name of the village it was pointing to and sometimes the distance. In thirteen miles we saw no walkers, two cyclists and two horse riders and in all this ruralness we only walked across two cow fields, one horse field and one sheep field. We counted 12 different crops growing, walked under two railway bridges and over two canal bridges, saw a number of moored canal boats plus one chugging quietly along and saw bits and pieces of farm machinery churning away in the distance. Naturally there were an inordinate number of stiles and gates to negotiate, and several little plank bridges to cross.

The very fact that we have retained these statistics marks this out as a boring walk, far from it, to our own amazement we were never bored, although the frequent long straight lines of the paths and tracks did get a little tedious. However, there was plenty of interest along the way, the crops, a building in the distance, a glimpse of a lake, seeing a bridge, birds, wild flowers and smoke on the horizon, the villages and the houses in them.

All this was contained within what we could see, as the dullness of the day made the far distance obscure so that, throughout the morning, as we walked across the higher land our views were limited to about two miles. This limited horizon coupled with the straight lines and relatively uniform slopes of the large fields created, a sensation we both experienced, where everything we could see appeared to be a very long way away. I guess that’s how walking in a desert might feel, it was certainly odd.  

This walk is on part of the Ivanhoe Way a walk that encircles an area of South Leicestershire. The Ivanhoe Way is 35 miles long, the official/start finish is I believe in Ashby De La Zouch, but I guess you can start anywhere and walk it in either direction. Because this bit looked flat and boring, in comparison to the rest, we decided to do this bit first. We parked one car in Measham then drove the other to the small car park just above Stanton under Barden and headed south.

While we saw several pubs on the way round we did not see any shops so if you need to take food and drink with you. As I've said the route is well signed, however between Bagworth and Shackerston it shares signs with the Leicestershire Round with the LC seeming to take precedent.

The Ivanhoe Way routing from the Ashby Canal outside Shackerston to Snarestone was a bit of a let down with a long road section and some scruffy fields. Should I walk this bit again I would stay on the canal as far as Snarestone and then possibly further to avoid the nasty walk along the busy B4116 from Snarestone to Measham and the poor walk around the perimeter of Hansons Brickworks on a narrow concrete path with speed humps every few hundred yards, after 13 miles I was tired and managed to trip on a good few of the humps.

We are now planning the Measham to Calke Abbey or a bit further section of the Ivanhoe Way.