Lousil two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Lousil here.

Walked from Sileby to Loughborough, after a wet weekend and a very wet month. The route selection reflects this - in particular even the Soar towpath was visibly flooded at Barrow upon Soar, and I had to abandon the more direct footpath from the edge of Quorndon to Woodthorpe as well. The path from Barrow bridge to Quorndon was fine, and the pavement walk from Sileby to Barrow, is safe, easy and direct if not as pretty or quiet as the riverside meadows.

From Sileby we start along Barrow Road, which has a good pavement on the right/east side all the way to Barrow upon Soar, where there are pubs and shops. We bear left to cross the Soar, then take a fairly new tarmac path directly towards Quorndon which crosses the A6 bypass on a high ramped bridge, then descends through a park. We head straight on into the centre of the village, where there are shops and pubs, then bear right through the churchyard and down Church Lane to a pelican crossing over High Street, from where a good path crosses a new estate and a small stream. We turn right, initially along the edge of a park, on a path which is good but a little muddy. On the right there is an area of nature reserve where the woods by the stream are allowed to flood, but this flood water never gets too close to the path, and Woodhouse Road is reached without difficulty.

I investigated the path that goes towards Woodthorpe, which starts OK if muddy, but I had to abandon it when it crossed a flooded stream with no visible bridge (there may have been one under water, but it was not obvious where the best crossing was). So instead I took the noisier option of using the pavements and cycle tracks along the main road. We go half left at the first roundabout and right at the second (take care at these crossings - there are central refuges but some of the cars come round the roundabouts quite fast).

The right turn into Carnarfon Road take us into a new estate, and we take the path left that leads into the cemetery. The road out to the right from the cemetery car park is a public bridleway - it has no pavement but the speed limit is very low so this is not a safety issue.

We cross Leicester Road and from there the route is mostly on the pavements of quiet backstreets apart from one short alleyway before we rejoin the pavement of the main road. Nottingham Road can be crossed at a convenient pelican crossing, and here we turn right, crossing the canal and continuing into the station car park to the meeting point.

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