Deslei three

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Deslei here.

Walked on a sunny day and dry underfoot.

Very nice walk - I can't add much to the earlier review, but can confirm everything said in it.

The only point we lost the route was in the fields after Ratby where the path across the field where two routes forked hidden by recent ploughing.

The best part of the walk was the former railway between Glenfield and Ratby and the cavernous tunnel under the M1, built for railway traffic just before the line closed.

Not any notably bad parts, the section of Leicester/ Glenfield between the two railway segments drags a bit, but are low traffic and good crossings where needed. A general lack of benches along the route, but there was a welcome one in Ratby by the end point.

Found a nice pub in Desford for lunch and good bus connection back to Leicester.

Walked from Leicester to Desford. An excellent route, entirely safe and mostly easy to follow. There are field paths with stiles between Desford and Ratby, so it is not suitable for wheels.

Starting at Leicester's Clock Tower, we head east, crossing the A594 slip roads using pelican crossings and crossing the Soar, then following the river north to Soar Lane. We then follow a track along an old railway until it splits beyond the Fosse Road bridge. We then use a mixture of pavements and surfaced paths to pass through New Parks, crossing New Parks Way using more pelican crossings. From Falconer Crescent, a twisty narrow alleyway takes us into the suburbs of Glenfields, where more residential streets and alleyways lead us down to the Square.

There are pubs and shops here (and more later in Ratby). We go a short distance down Main Street, then turn right onto Barrow Lane, where we turn left into the Ivanhoe Way trail, a surfaced track that loosely follows the route of the Midlands' first railway (Leicester-Swannington). We follow this under the A46 and the M1 into Ratby, where we continue on pavements the take the left turn down Desford Lane. I tried following the bridleway line through the farmyard but I suspect that the farm owners would prefer walkers to use the farm road further north which also cuts out a section of road walking with no pavement.

We follow the farm road as far until just before it bends left into the farm. Here an ambiguous waymarker is supposed to tell us to head straight on through the field slightly left of the farm road, and a fairly well trodden path continues along the right edge of the next field. If the shortcut path across the far corner has not been cut, there is an alternative following the bridlepath that skirts the west edge of the field. A stile which is fairly well hidden from a distance takes us to a good path through the next field, and we then cross slightly diagonally to an obvious waymarker in front of the farm buildings. A surfaced road takes us through the farm and continues west. We leave it where it bends sharp left, going straight on along field edges (we have now joined the DesMar two route from Markfield). This path descends quite steeply to reach the road on the edge of Botcheston.Take care crossing Markfield Lane, as cars come round the corner here quite fast.

We head straight on through Botcheston, then take the signposted path left, that starts between fences then crosses fields over Rothley Brook and the Leicester-Coalville-Burton railway (there is a level crossing, but the line is only used by very occasional goods trains). We continue up the hill to emerge on Main Street via Little Lane, from where the Desford meeting walk is a short easy pavement walks.

Share your views about this route, give it a star rating, indicate whether it should be verified or not.

Include information that will be useful to others considering to walk or wheel it.

You can add up to 15 photos.