Loumel two

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This is quite a long challenging walk, and is not suitable for any form of wheeled transport because much of it is on unsurfaced field paths with stiles. I walked it from Melton Mowbray to Loughborough, so in reverse, and found it very enjoyable, but having walked it I made a further change to the part east of Walton on the Wolds - I used the footpath but decided it had too many awkward stiles, and since there is an easy alternative remaining on the very quiet Six Hills Road, I used that in the submitted version.

I will describe the route east to west, since that is the direction that I walked.

From the Melton meeting place, take Park Lane down to the park and follow the path round the edge of the part to a bridge, which we cross and head up to Dalby Road. Use the pelican crossings to cross Dalby Road and Leicester Road and take the path along the Navigation just before the bridge. This path along the Navigation and the river Eye is unsurfaced but easy to follow.

Just beyond the railway bridge we follow the path across a footbridge onto Rhubarb Island (a name to conjure with) and follow the right of way path over two more bridges and a level crossing to Badger Avenue, a fairly new housing estate. Walk east along the avenue to the signposted path up to the A607, leaving it right before the main road is reached.

The next section is a little up and down and overgrown, but the path is well waymarked and easy to follow. The path passes between the railway and a garden centre and emerges onto open fields, and leads easily (not without a few stiles) to Kirby Bellars, where we turn right and follow another open field path left just before the railway which takes us to Frisby on the Wreake, where there is a shop and a pub.

At the T-junction near the east end of the village take the Leicestershire Round path straight on, and follow the path, which disappears in places as it crosses grazing fields. After running parallel to Rotherby Lane for a while we come to a decision point. I chose to take the direct path across to Hoby, which is a little overgrown and actually forks right from the Leicestershire Round path about 50 meters beyond the junction, or you could stay on the Leicestershire Round as far as Hoby, which is slightly further. A level crossing (no lights, so take care) takes us over the railway, and a field path crosses the Wreake and a grazing field and climbs up into Hoby. The shortcut path up from Back Lane could easily be mistaken for a garden path as it is not labelled, but follow it up between the houses to Chapel Lane.

Our route goes right (east) past the pub and follows Chapel Lane to its end. From here a succession of fields takes us up a gently rising hill to Ragdale. Note that since the fields have been harvested this is easy in mid-September, but I can't vouch for the quality of the path when the crops are high. In Ragdale we turn left up Main Street, and at the last house we follow the signed path right - this takes a direct and usually well cut line across to the Six Hills junction.

The footpath across the wood beyond the A46 slip road has steps and is probably not worth using, so my preference is to stay on the verges. Beyond the bridge under the A46 we turn left onto Paudy Lane, signposted Barrow upon Soar and Seagrave. This road has no pavement but does have a verge which can be used as necessary if the oncoming cars are too fast.

Just beyond Walton Thorns farm we take a signposted path through a gate, following a wide grassy strip along the edge of the field then left through another gate onto the unsurfaced part of Six Hills Road.

After half a kilometer there is a choice - when I walked the route I took the field path right, but it has a lot of stiles, some of them rather awkward due to overgrown hedges, and when I walked it there was also a field of frisky bullocks, and on balance it is probably better to stay on Six Hills Road, which is very quiet as it is a dead end which only serves a few farms and houses.

This leads easily down into Walton on the Wolds, where we pass another pub, following Loughborough Road out of the village to a path that leads right along the edge of a field to a footbridge over Walton Brook, where we follow a well cut field path (which is actually neither the right of way nor the path shown on OpenStreetMap but is in between. Go straight on up the hill at Barrow Road and turn left at the end of the field, emerging on Nottingham Road, which we follow right.

A signposted path turns left and follows field boundaries round to a natural burial ground. The right of way eventually leaves the burial ground track to cut through the wood towards farm buildings, and we follow the farm track past Burton Bandalls farm up to the B676. There is a narrow but overgrown pavement along the north side of this road, but it is probably easier to walk on the road as far as the footpath sign, where we leave the road for a while to follow the field edge parallel to it. The west end of this path is a little overgrown. Take care on the next part up to the A60 junction, where there is no pavement and some cars are fast.

The A60 has a pavement on the north side throughout apart from a short bridge over Hermitage Brook, but there are a few places where brambles and other overgrown plants force you onto the road. Since this is a long route with plenty of other obstacles which make it only really suitable for fit walkers, I have no problem recommending using the shortcut steps that lead straight down from the railway bridge into the station car park which is the Loughborough meeting point.

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