Ibscoa two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Ibscoa here.

Walked from Coalville to Ibstock. A straightforward direct route. A couple of stiles and a few steps, and one slightly muddy section.

The walk out of Coalville is entirely on shopping and residential streets until we reach Ashburton Road. From here we cross a park on a surfaced path, which continues through trees to reach the curiously named Tweentown.

At Manor Road we join the National Forest Way, which takes us down Townsend Lane, then leaves the old lane on a path left, that starts over a stile into a horse pasture, then crosses a fairly wet riverside area with a couple more stiles to reach a bridge over the Sence. There is a short flight of steps up the bank on the south side of the bridge. We then cross a field (recently ploughed, no sign of a cut path) to an old railway, where the trodden path now takes an easier line than the waymarked right of way, starting along the old railway then joining the old route where it starts to cross a large arable field diagonally. This field has a good cut strip, though at one point it forks - fortunately the exit gate is already in sight here which makes the choice obvious.

Beyond small area of semi-wild scrub we leave the National Forest Way to go half left along a field edge and into Ibstock. The path becomes surfaced when it reaches the houses, and the route into Victoria Road is obvious. From here an easy pavement walk takes us to the meeting point at the bus shelter by the Co-Op car park (no seats here!).

A short walk with roadside pavements at both ends and a brief countryside forray in the middle, here our path crosses a valley and water course so it could be muddy. No services but at 3 miles that should not be an issue. Cropped fields and a motor bike scramble circuit, noisy but no incursion.

This starts along a road, a pavement either side, parked cars on the left and a grass strip on the right both offer a buffer from the traffic. Note, the pavement on the right has a short very narrow section. The various developments to the west of the road have failed to offer a quieter escape into the countryside, or at least I couldn't find a route through.

The path after Blackberry Lane is well walked and as the picture shows it should be apparent, unless you are the first visitor after cultivation. The naming of the track suggests public use but it's not all recorded. After the stream crossing our path is well defined by the landowner and a permissive track, not our route, has reopened, so the sign says.

Taking a right then left at Donington le Heath, we miss the old Manor House museum but this way offers an excellent surfaced path avoiding the narrow lane which has no pavement. It also misses the Co-op store which is left along the road after the children's play area.

From here it's pavement walking along fairly quiet roads. As suggested in the review of Ibscoa this Slow Way now avoids the back alleys approaching Coalville, it passes a few shops and other services before arriving at the town square with the tall clock tower and buses.

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