Melbre one

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I walked this path from Melbourne to Breaston. It was a dry and sunny day, following recent heavy rain that caused severe flooding of rivers in the region a couple of weeks earlier. I wasn’t sure what to expect, or whether the route would even be passable. Spoiler: I managed to make it along 100% of the true route with dry socks, but not without difficulties. At a leisurely pace, and with slowdowns to traverse wet and muddy areas, it took me three hours and 54 minutes.

South of Great Wilne, the path was very good. There was plenty of soft mud on the ground on the route out of Melbourne and the canal towpath, but nothing deep or wet; certainly nothing to worry about with sturdy shoes.

The troubles began in the field north of Great Wilne, which was heavily waterlogged to the point that large areas were fully underwater. The footpath route, which I had followed initially, went through standing water that would certainly have topped my boots; I backtracked and managed to pick my way along the rightmost edge on solid, but boggy, ground, and eventually made it to the bridge.

The second troublesome section was the Coffin Walk approach to Breaston, which was flooded edge-to-edge (and beyond) in several sections; water at least 5cm deep in places (probably deeper, I wasn’t about to step into the middle and check), and thick, sucking mud. I managed to pick my way through these sections while keeping my socks dry, though more through luck than judgment, but I would not consider this path passable at present; I had to edge alongside the thorny hedge on the right, where there was less liquid water and more liquid mud, and got a little scratched up in the attempt. Should flooding be encountered on the Coffin Walk, a diversion avoiding the worst is possible by turning up Sawley Road towards Draycott, though this road has no pavement and should be considered an option of last resort. The Coffin Walk path is usually fine, though; recent weather conditions have been anomalous.

Both ends of the route are easily accessible by public transport. Breaston is served by the Indigo bus line from Derby or Nottingham every 20 minutes Monday-Saturday and every 30 on Sundays. The Arriva 2 runs hourly from Derby bus station to Melbourne, 7 days a week. At both ends, bus stops are perfectly situated at the walk’s endpoints.

There are shops at each endpoint where you can pick up a bite to eat along the way: a Co-op in Breaston, and in Melbourne a branch of Birds bakery. Both have decent selections.

Seating was abundant on the southern part of the walk, including on the Cloud Trail and along the canal. Several pleasant benches exist, one close to the Melbourne end of the canal having a good view back out to the Trent. But perhaps the best spot is at Weston Lock, where there’s a well-built and comfortable park-style bench. (I ate lunch on another comfortable bench about 1km from Shardlow, though unfortunately, also in earshot of the noisy A50.) Please note, however, that north of Shardlow there are no opportunities to sit for the last 5km of the walk, until arrival in Breaston village (where there’s a small park at the north end of the market place with some benches).

The only other amenities along the route are in the only significant settlement the route passes through: the old canal port village of Shardlow, about a third of the way from the Breaston end of the walk. There are several pubs here, but no shops. A small, free village heritage museum is open at weekends in the summer season.

Phone signal (on Three) was consistently above two bars throughout the walk.

There are no public toilets on the route.

Walked from Breaston to Melbourne. An excellent route, mostly on canal towpaths and old railways with field paths at either end and a little pavement and quiet road walking. There are some stiles and some optional steps, and it may be muddy in places when very wet.

From the meeting point at Breaston, we cross Main Road (there is a pelican crossing a few yards east) then take the lane right of the church yard and follow the field path right, crossing a few stiles to join Coffin Walk path to reach the railway bridge, where there is a choice of ramps or steps on both sides. The GPX plotting is a little wayward here, as the railway crossing is not as far west as it shows, so fitter walkers will probably just use the steps. Coffin Walk continues beyond. We cross Sawley Road and take the path straight on. There is a choice of paths where we turn left - the first one has better views but the last part is a open field and has a couple of stiles. I suspect that the GPX plotter had the second path (a bridleway) in mind, but the plotting is too approximate to be certain of that!).

At Wilne Road we turn right, and just beyond a right turn we take the footpath left to reach a footbridge across the Derwent, then cross a large open sheep pasture to reach the gate at the end of Wilne Lane. We follow the lane through Great Wilne. Just before we reach the Trent & Mersey canal we take the road left (The Wharf), which passes two pubs (if you don't need refreshments you could save a short distance by using the towpath from here rather than joining it on London Road). We follow it around several twists and turns and through a short footpath section to emerge on London Road, where we turn left and join the towpath on the far side of the canal.

From here navigation is easy - we follow the canal for several miles until we reach the old railway bridge. Just beyond the bridge, a surfaced ramped path takes us up to the Cloud Trail cycle path/footpath along the old railway track. We cross the Trent, and take the right hand fork which leads up to a bridge on Trent Lane, where we go right then take the path right (there are two, ours is the furthest right) which leads easily through fields to Main Street.

Here our path is a short distance left across the road, and leads through new houses (there is some resurfacing work underway and this has introduced a few bends into the previously straight path). We cross the church yard and the stile beyond and turn right to reach Packhorse Road, where we turn left and follow the roads more or less straight on to the meeting point in Melbourne market place.

I walked this route from Melbourne. The first section is on quiet pavements and a couple of footpaths cut the corner at Kings Newton (These could easily be avoided around the roads - not much further). Then onto the railway trail across the Trent and on to the bank of the Trent and Mersey canal for a fair stretch to Shardlow. Plenty to look at and nice countryside - a couple of very muddy sections today though. From Shardlow there is an adequate but muddy path across the fields and a couple of short stretches of road through the Wilnes. A very enjoyable route.

NOTE: ADD PHOTO LAYER ON MAP TO SEE LOCATIONS ALONG THE ROUTE.
This route has some stiles and gates, plus one ramped railway bridge, but no very narrow access issues. The most difficult stile on the route is the footbridge crossing across the Derwent (photo 14).

The route followed the path of Melbor 1 for the first mile, onto the Derby-Ashby railway cycle track and the Pocklington section of the Trent-Mersey Canal.
The canal path formed the main part of the walk. It’s a very rural part of the Trent-Mersey – no industry by its sides, just fields and woods. I passed few walkers, although a few runners passed me. I said ‘hello’ to a good number of holiday makers happily chugging along in their canal boats.

There are different canal bridges of all shapes and sizes to pass under, and the canal locks were in constant use.

Four miles to Shardlow, where I had lunch next to not one, but two pubs. The inland port still had a wharf and old bonded warehouses – it must have been a busy place during the early 19th Century.

From Shardlow I took a left turn away from the canal, onto a quiet road through Great Wilne, into fields and across a foot-bridge over the Derwent to get onto The Midshires Way. Again, I passed no-one along these lovely paths; you can avoid the crowds on these routes.

A right turn took me across a road and a wood-covered path next to a reservoir (unseen), through more fields containing uninterested horses and into Breaston.

This is a great walk – the East Midlands at its best.

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