Leicestershire Round - 2008

Day one - Good Friday - March 21st

"As I walked out one mor-or-or-orning......"
(John Renbourn - Verdant rays of Scree)


 Doom laden severe weather warnings for Good Friday did nothing to ease my apprehension about the forthcoming walk, neither did the text messages from Nephew, Dylan saying that he and girlfriend Michelle would be with us by 1am. Son, Joseph had been poorly and off school several days earlier and on top of all of this I had to go and give a talk and demonstration about Batik to the Lutterworth Branch of the Embroiderers Guild on the evening of the 20th.
However, by around 7.30am on Good Friday our journey started up past St Helens church in Gumley and across the ridge towards Saddington and beyond. The walk from Gumley to Saddington is arguably one of the most scenic along the whole route and this in turn gave way to lush, green fairly flat pasture land as we walked first towards Fleckney and then westwards for the whole of the days walking towards Bruntingthorpe. In spite of the cold and blustery weather there were signs of spring everywhere with lambs gamboling around in the fields, the Hawthorn greening up and cheery birdsong.

We passed through Peatling Magna where on a previous walk we had been abruptly ordered off a field by a disgruntled landowner who took exception to us taking a break in one of his fields, referring to us as townies who come into the countryside leaving gates open and dropping litter. It was a stereotypical 'git orf of moy laaaaannd' scenario which might have been laughable had it not been so aggressive and unprovoked. A farmer having a delayed mid-life crisis or just another psychopath? We may never know.

We walked on, over Mere Lane and across the fields to Willoughby Waterleys where we met a lady in the church who kindly took Michelle to her nearby farmhouse to let her use her toilet. Joseph, Dylan and I took a grateful rest inside the church porch until Dylan got a phone call from a distressed Michelle who had inadvertently got locked in the toilet. "Lets get out of here" we all agreed.

Stopping in Dunton Bassett for lunch at around 1.30 and the overcast sky suddenly released a hail shower and we hurriedly put on our waterproofs and continued walking towards Leire before pushing on up to Frolesworth where the roadsign indicated 2 miles to Sharnford. Hmmmm, our route would take us through Sharnford tomorrow, 8 miles later. On through Claybrook Magna and Parva and finally arriving on the doorstep of our B&B in High Cross in the dark. "Have you seen tomorrows weather forecast?" asked our host.

Next day