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Walked from Loughborough to Mountsorrel, with Saira and Mary on the Sunday of the November swarm weekend. An excellent direct route with varied scenery and pretty canal and river sections. There are a few steps and stiles.

Leaving the meeting point at Loughborough station, we take the marked pedestrian route across the car park, cross Station Boulevard at the pelican route and follow the pavement down the right/north side of Nottingham Road to the canal. The towpath is accessed down a short flight of steps on the north side of the bridge. We then follow the towpath through the bridge and out of the town, through fields and woodland past the marina, crossing the canal where it rejoins the Soar and following the right bank to Barrow Road. Here we cross the bridge left and turn right back to the canal, where we cross another bridge and follow the right bank to Mill Lane. Here we leave the canal up steps and turn right, soon taking a signposted path left between fences to a bridge over the Soar, which leads onto an open field. The route back to the canal is not strictly a right of way, but is popular and well used. The best trodden line does not follow the main road beyond Betty Henser's Lane but goes straight ahead to the river, where we turn right, and follow the riverside path under the road bridge and past a couple of fields to a bridge, which we cross (steps on both sides). The path crosses grassy fields (where well trodden shortcuts are available) following the east bank of the river under the old railway viaduct to Sileby Road. We stopped for lunch at the Waterside Inn, where we met Tim and Ingrina, and Tim joined us here for the rest of our walk to Syston via Sileby.

The route continues right up Sileby Road and left along Loughborough Road, then up Watling Street which climbs right past Castle Hill. We use a footpath left/straight on to cut the corner to the meadow by the hill, which like many hills in this part of Leicestershire has granite outcrops, and views quite a long way east. We turn left down another surfaced path that leads down to The Green and the Mountsorrel meeting point.

This is largely a canal towpath route, therefore easy to follow for most of the way. However the access at the Loughborough end is via steps. There is also a stepped footbridge over Pilling’s Lock at one point, plus a narrow bridge and a field crossing, so it’s a tricky route for wheels.
There is a point during the fields shortcut, close to the A6 roundabout just south of Barrow-on-Soar, where the field gate is padlocked but there is a well-used gap next to it. Although there is no right of way marked here, it appears well used by walkers and dog-walkers, who all seem to go straight across to the canal, rather than follow the field edge next to the main road.
There is soon a lovely disused railway viaduct to go under, then a nice pub (where we had lunch) before the final walk round the back of Castle Hill (with good views) to the Mountsorrel meeting point.
A very nice walk!.

I walked from Loughborough to Mountsorrel with Mary and Hugh on 12/11/22 as part of the slow ways swarm. This is a direct and pleasant route that snakes its way along canal and through green spaces. I especially enjoyed the quirky cottage names (Dolls House and Rice Pudding Cottage were my favourites) Full review and photos to follow.

Can't fault it. A nice easy walk on a good route.

Pretty walk by the canal, very easy and not at all steep. 4 stars not 5 because there are better views in Leicestershire, but still a very nice gentle walk.

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