Markcor two

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Walked from Corby to Market Harborough, on an overcast summer Saturday. Most of the route is on good paths or pavements, but the "path" west of Stoke Albany disappears in places. The Corby end is a bit of a dull pavement slog but there are no obvious better alternatives available.

From Corby station, we turn left and follow the pavements west. The route is very easy to follow as long as you don't miss the right turn onto Willow Brook Road. The walk through the suburbs is greener than I expected, and until you get onto the A427 it is not too noisy either. A short section of main road pavement ends when the main road bends to the left and we continue along a Roman road into Cottingham, which has some pretty old buildings. Here we take an alley down the hill to Water Lane, then climb steps into the church yard to pick up the good path west. We descend steeply through Middleton then take a path that goes dead straight along the north edge of a country park before rising to Church Lane.

We go straight across - the path through the next field is constrained by electric fences and takes a slightly wider line than the right of way line. Beyond we cross some lovely wild flower fields and with a few ups and downs we arrive on the playing fields on the edge of Wilbarstone. There is a pub and a tiny community shop here. We follow the pavement down Church Street and continue along a very quiet road through Stoke Albany. The path left from Ashley Road is signposted, but in some of the fields the path line is not well marked, though you can't go too far wrong by following the left edges of the fields.

Eventually you should spot a little gap in the hedge which leads into the wood. On the far side the line through the wheat field was well cut and it was easy to reach the meadow at the top of the field, but the direct line across it looked untrodden and arduous so I opted to follow the edge of the field to another path in the left corner, which is what I plotted on the GPX. An old four way signpost leads to the descent path which follows field edges into a farmyard from where the farm road takes us down to Sutton Road. Take care on the short road section.

We soon leave the busy road to follow a well marked bridlepath over the infant Welland (where we cross into Leicestershire) and onto Welham Lane, another very quiet road that leads us over the A6 into Great Bowdon. More quiet back street pavements take us to Main Street, where we turn left onto Gunnsbrook Close then take the signposted path to the right almost immediately, following the fenced path through gardens into a park where a cricket match was in progress on a summer Saturday afternoon.

The railway bridge is obvious and has unavoidable steps on both sides, which render the route unsuitable for wheels. Beyond the railway the line uphill through a grassy pasture is well trodden and obvious, and a path weaves its way through residential streets down to the meeting point by the church in Market Harborough, where a singer with more enthusiasm than talent was regaling a small crowd.

[My reason for starting at the Corby end was because of engineering work on the Midland Main Line which meant all of the Leicester-London trains were stopping at Corby instead of Market Harborough, and fortunately for me a bus to Leicester appeared just as I was debating whether to walk to the station and use a rail replacement.].

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