Moulei two

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Walked from Mountsorrel to Leicester. Mostly good. The pavement walk out of Mountsorrel drags a bit, and I used the riverside path between the A6 bridge and Cossington Lane/Syston Road. One stile and a few narrow and slightly overgrown sections, but no major obstacles.

We start from Mountsorrel with a long pavement walk out of the village alongside the old A6. Note that the west pavement has gaps so the east side is better. Eventually we cross Rothley Brook and take the path left that starts at a stile by a locked gate (the only stile on the whole route). We follow the track under the A6 and into a mown field. There was little sign of anyone having walked the right of way line recently so I opted for the riverside path (see Tim's review) too, which actually offers a better route to Cossington Lane/Syston Road. There are a few steps up to the road, and we use the road bridge to cross the canal then continue on the towpath. This section is unsurfaced, but after a while we are joined by a wide tarmac cycle track.

We cross the river Wreake at a footbridge and head south under the Leicester bypass, then cross the canal using the road bridge on Wanlip Road. Beyond this there is a choice between a surfaced cycle track and the unsurfaced towpath - I chose the latter to give my feet a rest from hard surfaces. We continue south until we reach the three bridges across the canal and river Soar at Thurmaston. The path on the east side of the river was new to me. Easy enough to follow but the undergrowth is encroaching a little in places. The private marina forces us into a narrow fenced strip by a business park, which ends at Mammoth Lake, which forces us left a short distance before the track bends round to the south. I didn't take a close look at the mammoth sculpture, which sits on a small hill.

The paved path turns right to cross under Watermead Way by the river, and fairly shortly afterwards we leave the familiar riverside path to take a shortcut through a residential area and past a church which is now for sale. Eventually we cross the Soar on a footbridge to join the main riverside track, passing the National Space Centre and the ruined Abbey. We follow the river out of Abbey Park and then cross to follow the A6 into Leicester to the meeting point. Sadly the underpass under Burleys Way is now closed - last time I was here in 2022 there was some rather impressive street art here, but now we have to use the pelican crossings above ground.

A very pleasant route. One change which is needed I have included in the photos. As the route shown near the A6 is overgrown and impassable. A slight detour makes this an excellent Riverside and lakeside walk. The detour from the south starts at Cossington Lane at SK 954 129 and goes down the steps (shown in the first photo) onto the riverside path, continues north with the river on the right until after 300 m you pass through a gate and then go diagonally left to a yellow marker by the A6 underpass where you re-join the route out onto Loughborough Road. From Mountsorrel direction go under the A6 but do not turn immediately right/ Go diagonally right to a yellow marker and a gate in the far corner. This takes you down to the riverside path, continue to Cossington Lane and back on route. The 2nd two photos show the extent of undergrowth on the identified route along the A6 (between Cossington lane at SK594129 and the A6 underpass at SK592 133. I found it to be impassable at the time of the walk. Leics.CC informed. However, in my opinion even if that path is cleared the route as described is better, in that it is more direct, shorter and along the river rather than the A6. The suggested alternative is shown on the map in 4th picture on the red line. However, this was an otherwise excellent route, easy to follow, easy to walk with riverside and lakeside paths. A very nice day out. The Hope and Anchor at Syston is conveniently placed along the walk.

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