Leics Round 4: Sharnford to Barwell

With Marta. Sunny day, started chill, but warmed up. Very little wind. We took our time. Way clear, mud near gates, otherwise good underfoot. Very flat. 7 miles.

A magical misty drive over to Barwell - if a little longer than I expected. The day turned into the most glorious warm spring-like day so far this year.

Our starting point in Sharnford

We set off from our parking spot on the
back lane behind the garage, turn left along the main road, then cross over
and walk past the 'no entry' sign. When we reach Aston Lane, we turn left after Ivy House, and follow the Leics Round markers across fields to a
track and a gate on the corner of Lychgate Lane. We divert into Aston
Flamville , which is a small picturesque village with manor house, a 1715
dovecote and St Peter’s Church.

We took the footpath on the left just after these gates, on Aston Lane

This is where we left the Leicestershire Round for a visit to Aston Flamville.

Aston Flamville's restored dovecot, originally built in 1715

The sunny sheltered side of the church at Aston F. We had a short break on the sunny bench.

This world's a City full of crooked Streets,

Death is the Market-place where all men meet

If Life was Merchandise that men could buy

the rich would only live, the poor might die

A sign of spring

We go back along Lychgate Lane, and cross the M69 via a bridge. Today it's quiet - there's been an accident just up the road. Later I find out that two people have been injured, but their injuries are not life-threatening. I think the helicopter we saw a little earlier must have been the air ambulance.

Some of the Aston Alpacas we saw just before the bridge over the M69

Once over the bridge our path is alongside the motorway for a couple of hundred yards, before heading off across country once more. We meet a lone walker heading in the opposite direction.

The signs are clear, and the yellow marker posts have recently been repainted. Our only slight wander off track is at one point, just over three miles in, on my garmin map, where we can see a yellow post a couple of fields away and head straight for it, only to discover we can't get through the hedge. It's easy , if slightly irritating, to find the correct path.

From here it's straightforward to the edge of Burbage. We decide not to visit today, but walk left along Sherborne Road, turn right along Salisbury Road, then right along Winchester Drive, and cross the Sapcote Road to pick up thepublic footpath.

The sign tells us the path goes to Burbage Woods and Common and this is easy to follow. With the Woods on our right we make our way to the railway bridge.

It's a little tricky here - which yellow marker do we follow? To make things more complicated the golf course appears to be using yellow topped posts to mark out fairways - I think. We keep to the side of Sheepy Wood, then head across the Common, or a bit of the golf course. We're trying to make for the visitor centre, and with the help of the map and a bit of luck we are not challenged until we are within a couple of yards of a LR sign. The path takes us to the main road, and we turn right to walk along the pavement for a couple of hundred yards, as far as the visitor centre. Today it's closed, and there's a truck cleaning out what smells like a septic tank. We don't hang around for too long.

Back to cross the busyish road, and we have no problems following the markers to Barwell Lane, round the right hand side of a house, then left along the lane. We could miss the turn to the right, but today we have most of our wits about us, and arrive at Barwell with no problems, other than the muddy gateway that's saved itself for our last treat of the day, just before we emerge into Barwell itself.

Finally we make our way through the village, pausing to grab a sandwich at the Red Lion, and then it's back to the car and we have a bit more of the Round under our - in my case, slightly over-dressed today - belts.