Houash one

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Walked from Ashby Folville to Houghton on the Hill. A good direct route, but quite hard work because there are lots of stiles and little ups and downs and a few steps, and it is muddy in places. There are pubs at both ends, and also en route at South Croxton and Hungarton. There are also shops at Houghton.

Leaving the meeting point by the Carington Arms in Ashby, we take the lane right of the churches and cross a couple of footbridges and head up the steps into the fields, where the path is fairly well marked. In the large field before Barsby we follow the path as it bears right, and then left into a very muddy enclosed path between fences. Where it reaches the houses we turn right onto Church Lane then left at the crossroads (there is a bus shelter with a bench here). A little lower down we head right into the fields on the path that leads up to South Croxton Road, then find the enclosed path past the burial ground to join Barsby Road, which we follow most of the way through South Croxton.

A few houses beyond the pub we take the signposted path left along a lane, then right around the edge of a garden, following the waymarks to a little bridge and on through an enclosed woody lane to an open field, which we cross diagonally then follow the far edge up the hill. The path then crosses left into another field. When I walked it the diagonal footpath had not been restored, so I followed the wide grass strips around the edge to find the path through the wood. When we emerge we pass the enclosed parts of Waterloo Lodge Farm to the left, then continue across fields and past Hungarton Park (note that the waymarked path does NOT go through the garden!) and across the farm lane to emerge on Baggrave Road. There are a lot of stiles on this section.

We follow the road right as far as the Black Boy Inn, where we turn left through Hungarton, leaving the through road to go left past the church. The path forwards appears to go through the garden of a house but is well trodden. It leads to a bridge and more steps, and we then cross more fields to join Barley Lane which we follow to the T junction on Ingarsby Road. Here we head straight on across the field, over another stream (more steps) and up past the farm shed and left to rejoin Ingarsby Lane, where we head right. Just beyond the stream we go right up another farm lane. I missed the point where the bridleway cuts diagonally across the field, but fortunately the increasing wetness of the lane ahead forced me to consult the map and was soon back on the right track, which leads past Redvers Farm to Uppingham Road, where we turn left and follow the pavement into Houghton, where the meeting point is at the Rose and Crown bus stop, which has a shelter.

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