Meamar one

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Two named recreational routes make up this walk. The Ivanhoe Way and Leicestershire Round. It’s a good country walk so there could be mud, stiles and cattle. Refreshments and seating half way at Shackerstone.

I walked from Measham on a dry warm late March day but there had been plenty of rain at the start of 2024. The exit is not the best but has interest at the small Measham museum which was open and worth the one pound entry fee. The footpath around the large Forterra brick works site starts with a concrete path, with speed humps, or should that be trip hazard? Towards the end a view through the fence offers a selection of specials, not just bricks are made of clay.

The busy road section was fine, not a walking first choice but the verges were wide and mown and this is the recognised route for the Ivanhoe Way so in the absence of an alternative direct route I’m happy not to fail it.

At Snarestone the route misses the canal which is hidden in a tunnel under the village. The Globe Inn might offer refreshment. I found the next paths most enjoyable and fairly well walked so easy to follow even where the cross field path was ignored.

The section of open road was almost traffic free but then the short link to the canal let the route down, being very wet just before the canal bridge. Once on the canal the towpath is good with a seat at the start. This section is not a cycle route so in places care is needed as it’s quite narrow. Shackerstone is about half way and has an inn but if you don’t need it or a seat in the churchyard stay on the canal path to the next bridge.

Station approach offers a nice view of the canal aqueduct over the river which was flowing well as I passed. A tea room at the station, open if trains are running, is accessed after paying for a platform ticket. We are now on the popular Leicestershire Round. This route is well signed, has a lot of gates and is usually evident on the ground which is handy as some paths are across large cropped fields.

The inn at Carlton is off route at the east end of the village so I pressed on. Market Bosworth has all that you might need including buses to Leicester. A pleasant town that is worth allowing time to explore.

Pleasant walk for the majority of the route with a few exceptions. Near the start of the route as the walk heads towards Gallows Lane/Measham Road, the route directly behind the industrial estate could not be found so we had to instead cut across the field (path visible on map) to get to Gallows Lane and then onto Measham Road. This was not a nice place to walk due to the lack of pavements for this national speed limit road, especially as dogs were with us. Once we were able to get onto the grass verges on Measham Road it was a lot less stressful.

After this point there were only a couple of minor issues observed. The small woodland that the route passed through on Green Lane on the Hinckley and Bosworth boundary line unfortunately had a large amount of tyres dumped there which was sad to see and they had clearly been there for some time judging by the amount of vegetation growth on them. The other issue experienced was getting access to the canal via Derby Lane, the footpath here was virtually inaccessible due to the overgrowth of the vegetation. We asked a local passer-by and she confirmed that this was the only path to get on to the canal, other than walking to the end of the road. We decided to stick to Derby Lane and reach Shackerstone that way. It was a shame that we had to miss out the Ashby-de-la-zouch canal but the path was too overgrown to walk through with shorts on!

The surfaces were pretty good throughout the route, although there were a couple of fields which were a bit less stable under foot and a couple of stiles were either loose or covered in nettles/brambles. A few of the fields could be quite treacherous in the winter months due to mud.

There were no other issues noted on the route. There was a good mixture of fields and wooded areas to walk through, it was also nice going through the vintage railway at Shackerstone. Overall a decent walk with minimal elevation, would walk again.

Generally a good route with the exception of the section on Measham Road between Measham and Snarestone. The road has fast cars, no footpath and is generally unsafe and unpleasant to walk along. There is an alternative route that is slightly longer.
Another alternative to part of this route is between Snarestone and Market Bosworth. Its possible to take the canal tow path for the majority of the distance.

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