Welcome once again Llama Paw striders, walkers and explorers as I embark on another of my explorations of rural middle England. This time I’m taking a trip from the bustling region close to East Midlands Airport and the M1, down into quiet rural Leicestershire, taking in roads, fields, trains, boats and planes along the way! As it’s a winter walk, there’s a lot more roads than normal – as the fields are all sodden and super muddy right now.
I start off from Castle Donington’s Clapgun Street Car Park, heading quickly out of the town and across the buffer zone adjacent to the East Midlands Gateway. Heading through the bleakly impressive industrial estate, I hope across the M1 and take the Keyworth bypass for a while, before picking up a field route south. This leads me eventually to classy Long Whatton, which is surprisingly active for a sleepy Sunday morning.
After a modest schlep along the highways, I pass through Zouch and then thankfully take the backroads to and through charming Normanton on Soar. Then it’s back into the fields alongside the River Soar, under and over the railway before I finally arrive in classy Stanford on Soar. From here I’m back on the back roads down to upmarket Cotes, close to Loughborough.
A short sojourn on the main roads soon sees me back onto the quieter back roads all the way to Walton upon Soar – a nexus for walkers and routes in the region. From here it’s up Six Hills Road, and finally across fields – and much mud – to make to back to the host of the Wolds Challenge – Seagrave, and my journey’s end.
Once again, this walk comes without much chatter from me - although frequent text comments can be found throughout - so you can enjoy the passing scenery and sounds of nature which surrounded me.
Naturally, if you’ve enjoyed this walk as much as I did – don’t forget to show your appreciation by giving me a like, subscribe or a share! My thanks in advance!
Location Guide (What3Words):
Start: ///organisms.motivates.city
Finish: ///archive.gates.smothered
Timecodes
00:00 – Clapgun Steet, Castle Donington (Start)
01:28 – Airport & Business Park
03:20 - Kegworth & Bypass
04:32 - Fields & Long Whatton
06:46 - Roads to Zouch
08:21 - Normanton on Soar
09:20 - Fields, Trains & Tunnels
11:32 - Stanford on Soar
12:20 - Cotes & more roads
14:23 - Walton on the Wolds
15:16 - The Final (muddy) Fields
16:25 - Seagrave & the Memorial Hall (End & Outro)