Leisys one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

I was in Leicester to look at all the King Richard III stuff, and I had the afternoon and limited daylight available for a short walk. This was the shortest of all the Slow Ways out of Leicester, so I decided to follow it. It's all urban with busy roads until you get to the River Soar, but if you start from the bus station then you can halve that distance. It's pretty straightforward following the river downstream, and places such as the Abbey Gardens and the ruined abbey were great to explore. I included a visit to the National Space Centre and had a quick lunch at their cafe, which left me even less daylight to complete the walk. Of course, there had to be a drawback to following the flat and easy tarmac riverside paths, and I realised there might be trouble ahead when I saw a 'Flood Diversion Route' signpost. Sure enough, the underpass at New Bridge was flooded, but easily by-passed. A stretch of path beside the Nature Lake was flooded, so I went the long way round and crossed a brilliant footbridge poised over a weir. I watched wildfowl being fed beside the Mammoth Lake, then followed a securely fenced path past the Leicester Marina. Parts of the riverside path were flooded, so I had to detour through Thurmaston village by road. Every time I tried to get back to the riverside, or the Grand Union Canal towpath, I found everything flooded. I bailed out after meeting a woman who had waded for a mile along the towpath in water that was a foot deep. There were plenty of buses that allowed me to get straight back to Leicester as it got dark. I wasn't able to complete the one mile of towpath and the road-walk into Syston, and the photos will give you an idea of what things look like once the water gets onto the paths. I'm sure it's a five-star walk in the summer, and I'm only taking a star off because you can't guarantee to be able to complete it after heavy rain and flooding.

We walked this wonderful route with the @Muslim.Hikers and had a wonderful time, saw a space centre, beautiful bridges, a lovely park, the autumnal sunshine and lots of soothing water ways. There were forms of pathways for the majority of the route, comfy walking boots or trainers recommended. Toilet at the starting point and also at the finish. the walk through town was great for grabbing a much needed coffee.

I enjoyed the route. I found it easy to follow. Was safe and with plenty of Riverside and lakeside paths. Much of it on tarmac.

Much of this walk is lovely, through Abbey Park and Watermead. There are a couple of places I wouldn't feel safe walking as a woman on my own, an under pass near Abbey Park (although you can choose to cross the dual carriageway instead) and a long, very isolated and industrial path along the marina, but it would be possible to avoid this by going through Birstall instead.

During wet weather the route would be muddy and liable to flooding.

Lots of nice places in Watermead to stop and have a picnic next to the water. There were some toilets in Watermead but they were closed and there were coffee and icecream vans in the car park. You pass a cafe in Abbey Park towards the beginning of the route and a Shell garage once you get in to Syston.

We walked on a Saturday lunchtime. Abbey Park was relatively busy with dog walkers but the rest of the walk was pretty quiet.

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