Silmel two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Silmel here.

I walked this from Syston to Melton Mowbray before submitting it, and think it is as good a route as is possible given the constraint imposed by the very limited number of places where the A46 can be crossed safely. There is a pub and a shop in Frisby-on-the-Wreake, and two pubs a short distance from the route in Rearsby. There are stiles and muddy field paths, and a few slightly awkward short steeper sections, and the mud can be very slippery in places and sticky in others.

Leaving the meeting point at the entrance to Sileby station, we head right / north east a short way along King Street, then right along Burton Road and left along The Banks to reach Ratcliffe Road where we head right, up the hill and out of the village, then left along a field path, where the trodden line follows the field edges rather than going straight across as per the right of way. This leads to a little bridge over the brook, then uphill along more field edges to Rosminian Way. Here we meet the Leicestershire Round and depart from SILMEL 1, turning right down to Ratcliffe Road, where we turn left, taking advantage of the wide grassy verge. The verge narrows a little nearer the A46 bridge, and some may prefer to cross to the right hand side where there is more space. We cross under the main road, and beyond the bridge there is a pavement.

We follow the road, bearing left into Ratcliffe, then crossing the first open field beyond the village on the right (there are a few stiles) and crossing more fields on a fairly well marked path to rejoin the Leicestershire Round at Rearsby Mill. We cross the river and go up the hill over the railway to Rearsby (anyone desperate for refreshments at this stage should leave the route and turn right down Mill Road to find the village pubs and a tearoom on Melton Road - there are no more facilities en route until Frisby-on-the-Wreake). We go right a short distance along Mill Road then left down across a little bridge, along a farm track, then right up a muddy lane that leads past the churchyard and into a park, where we rejoin the Round again on a surfaced path. We cross Station Road and go right into Wreake Drive, then left to find the field path which crosses the railway on another level crossing.

We follow the Leicestershire Round path past the mill and right along another field path, before leaving it right to cross a footbridge over the Wreake and through fields to Hoby Road. We pass the Leicester Tigers training ground and Brooksby Melton College before taking a shortcut path left (initially down a slightly awkward steep slope) then across an open pasture to join the road into Rotherby just above a cattle grid. We follow the road through the village then take the path straight on to rejoin the Leicestershire Round. Here the waymarking lets us down, as it is not obvious how to cross the fence/hedge right without climbing a locked gate (I suspect that the answer is that I should have done it immediately after leaving the road, but that doesn't explain how the Leicestershire Round path crosses it), but once this obstacle is surmounted the path is good. We cross more fields and eventually join a little alleyway into Frisby-on-the-Wreake, where there is a pub and a shop.

Here we leave the Leicestershire Round for the last time and go straight on along Main Street, then left on Mill Lane to find the footpath right that leads out into the fields. The path crosses several clayfields (not pleasant when wet and recently ploughed), crossing Station Lane and going straight on into Kirby Bellars, where we go right up Main Street to find another field path (more stiles), which crosses more large open spaces then crosses a little bridge to follow the railway past the Melton Foods industrial area then onwards across fields (with a couple of surprisingly awkward little dips) to reach the old Mill Lane, where we turn left then cross into a new housing estate, where we go left along Badger Avenue then bear right beyond the houses to find the bridge over the Wreake. We cross the bridge and turn right, then go right over more bridges and across Rhubarb Island to find the path along the south bank of the river (which mysteriously becomes the Eye) and the old navigation, which we follow all the way into the edge of Melton.

Eventually we cross Leicester Road and continue along the river bank and across a bridge into a park, where we go left along a surfaced path than leads around to Park Lane, which we follow, then cross the Main Road to reach Melton Market Place and the meeting point.

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