Saturday, June 14, 2008

 

The 'Barrow Bash!'

Well, I decided that I had better get myself out to do a long walk before I completely stagnate! It was the 'Baslow Boot Bash' today, and I had considered doing it, but it's quite a long way away, and I am really having to watch the pennies if I am to pay the first installment for the MdS in September... so the walk I did the one I had had in mind for a little while; I have John Merrill's book, 'Long Circular Walks in Charnwood Forest', and there are two walks which start and finish in Barrow-Upon-Soar, which is very near me. Interestingly enough it has a very large running club! One of the walks is 14 miles long, and I had done it before, but it was five years ago. The other is 12 miles, and added together they make a kind of figure of eight 26 mile route, which I have christened 'The Barrow Bash'...

There is a free car park in Barrow, with no restrictions, and it's never full, so ideal for leaving the car there for the day. The first 14 mile loop heads out to the Grand Union Canal, and follows it for about two miles.
The Canal At Barrow-Upon-Soar

It was nice, easy walking by the canal. I did pass a field with cows in at some point, but they just ignored me, apart from the odd bovine stare. I passed Mountsorrel, and walked under this impressive bridge, built, as proclaimed, in 1860.


Bridge At Mountsorrel

It was fairly uneventful, easy walking for the next 1 1/2 miles; the lats time I had done this, the section from Mountsorrel to Cossington Mill was quite difficult, as the path was overgrown and non existant, but the area has been made a nature reserve since, and as well as being a lot more scenic, good paths had been put in. I ran a bit along here, the pack started at 5.4kg but felt ok.

Nature Reserve
At Cossington Mill, I left the canal and headed on through Rothely; a sleepy village which is now constantly in the news, as it was home to missing toddler Madeline McGann. The next part of the route was straightforward- through a golf course and under the old steam railway which runs from Loughborough to Quorn- to Thurcaston, but I remembered getting lost on the next footpath which should take me up to Cropston. I studied the map, and fought my way up through marsh and a ploughed field with no path (very uneven- good practice!!) and although I had a better result than last time, I still came out in slightly the wrong place!
The next path by woodland, with views to Bradgate Park, was a delight, although it started to rain. I kept passing groups of teenagers with huge rucksacks and roll mats, going the other way; about six in each group, and must have passed at least ten groups. Some had an adult with them but they didn't all. On the path to Quorn, I passed a group without an adult who were sprawled on the ground. One of them was looking at a map, and as I walked on, I heard him say "Well, chaps, I have absolutely no idea where we are... I think we're vaguely on this track here..." Bless... it was actually good to see kids out and about and doing something worthwhile!
It had stopped raining when I reached Quorn, and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I found the huge steel footbridge over the A6 (I think a housing estate had been built since John Merrill last walked here!) Then it was back to the road at Barrow and straight over for walk two!
This starts off along the canal too, and at Pillings Lock, 3/4 mile in, the sun was out again, so I stopped for lunch, which I shared with a hungry swan...


Pillings Lock



My Lunch Guest!
There was another uneventful couple of miles on a good path by the canal. I kept seeing female ducks with cute fluffy ducklings, and wished I had saved some bread. Due to the soaking my feet had got in the marsh, I had a sore spot on the top of one of my toes, so instead of just carrying on like I usually do, I made myself stop and dress it- I will need to be very disciplined about doing that in the MdS so may as well start getting used to it!
The walk leaves the canal at Little Moorland Bridge and goes down a track- I came to Moorlands Bridge, and as there was a track leading from it, decided to take it. Luckily I looked at the map before I had gone too far, and realised it was the wrong one! The proper route went to the A60 and then round to the village of Cotes, before a long traverse on a bridleway right over the Hoton Hills. It was still sunny, and the views were superb- I had another run.
Stanford Hall From The Hoton Hills
The route dropped down into Hoton, and then along fields and a road to Prestwold before taking a footpath into the grounds of Prestwold Hall. This was familiar, and as I passed the church I recognised it as one of the checkpoints on the Seagrave Wolds Challenge. The next bit was slightly messy, but found my way up through the woods to Burton.
The section from Burton to Walton-on-the-Wolds was great- through fields of crops, but a wide path had been cleared through each field which made route finding easy. I ran down here, it was all downhill too which was a bonus. I passed by the church at Walton and up towards Walton Manor House, the route turned off to the right and I wasn't sure where to go, so studied the map and had a drink. I found the route- through three fields to the road- and to my dismay, the last field was full of large bulls! The footpath ran diagonally through the field, too, so I had to walk round them... but they completely ignored me! Lucky actually as the grass was so long it was hard work.
The last path was a track- I had to leave it at a footpath to a housing estate, but ended up on a brand new estate, and had to walk in to Barrow village centre a different way; I suspect that the developers had put in a couple of new stiles on to the track and I had left it too early. I passed Somerfield and couldn't resist the lure of a cold drink and packet of fruit pastels. Total time was not great- about 7 hours 45 minutes- but I had to stop for route finding quite often, and retrace my steps more than once so probably did slightly more than 26 miles!! Plus I didn't want to push it too much as hadn't done a long walk for a while.
I have had my Pot Noodle, and may have chocolate later- it's that time of the month... my legs are stinging like merry hell from all the nettles I have had to force my way through! Glad I did it though!





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# posted by Steph Cooke @ 7:45 PM
Comments:
Great walk Steph! The pictures are gorgeous too (glad the cows didn't bother you either). Must say I don't think I'd be that keen on walking through a field of cows. It would scare the living daylights out of me! You seem to take 26 miles in your stride very well!! I need to get out there and walk!! x
# posted by Blogger Rach's MdS : 10:22 AM
 
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