Leicestershire Round - 2008

Day four - Easter Monday - March 24th

¶¶ "When I was three, I planted a tree, the day I went to sea, ¶ I jumped aboard a pirate ship and the captain said to me, going this way that way forwards and backwards over the Irish sea, ¶¶ a bottle of rum to fill my tum and that's the life for me" ¶
(From a song that Joseph learnt at school)



There were some places on our journey that we were genuinely sad to leave, either because we'd had such good service or just liked the place. Markfield wasn't one of those places. I could bad mouth the Travelodge for its inability to deal with the aftermath of ravers who had booked most of their rooms and gone on a wrecking rampage in the early hours, or the sadly predictable poor quality and over-priced food and service at the Little Chef but I've done that in detail elsewhere. 

What did bother me though was that countless dog owners with brains matching the expulsions from their beloved pet's bottoms had left their mess everywhere on the footpaths. This included the paths up from Thornton, in the village itself and right the way through to the metalled subway under the A50. 
I for one was glad to be on the way again and into Charnwood where many I've many happy childhood memories, cycling here, fishing there.....

Movie: a climb in Bradgate Park

Into Newtown Linford, away from the traffic noise now from the A50 and M1. Wild Garlic growing in profusion along the banks of the River Lin. Into Bradgate Park, predictably busy, particularly along the main paths, but we went cross country at the ruins, up and over Old John, into Hunts Lane, across the golf course (my least favourite part of the walk) and into Woodhouse Eaves where we went into the Curzon Pub for a pleasant rest and snack.

The walk to Mountsorrel is one of the finest sections of the walk, skirting around Swithland Reservoir, a popular spot with birdwatchers. At Mountsorrel, Our B&B hosts kindly agreed to cook an evening meal for us, so all we had to do was relax. 

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