I really enjoyed the route which roughly follows the route of the river Swift throughout, all in the long mid-summer evening after I had finished work. Immediately after leaving the golf course, the route is very clearly defined (photo 4) all the way to Cotesbach , and I found this section a real joy to be amongst. Once into the village of Churchover, the route takes you over almost 1 mile of metalled pavement and then road walking. After leaving the Nature Reserve, the route then briefly follows the disused canal (photo 14) to the junction with the Oxford canal where a footbridge takes you across the water. After walking under the A426, the route immediately turns right and follows the 'Black Path' all the way to the footbridge (photo 15) over the West Coast Main Line and then up into Rugby town centre....

Steve Litchfield

Pleasant villages and quiet countryside but this walk is spoilt by the need to walk a busy and fast road between Bitteswell and Ashby Parva. Ashby Road starts well with a pavement but unfortunately this ends just before a bend in the road. This is not a nice road to be walking along so I feel I have to fail the route with the caveat that the bus runs hourly between Bitteswell and Ashby Parva, I would strongly recommend its use. Ashby offers an inn just off route....

Ken

The well used path takes a direct line crossing the River Avon to the Oxford canal passing a Tesco store for last minute provisions. Turning left to briefly follow the canal towpath we cross a substantial footbridge then follow a well used but unrecorded path alongside the canal feeder that before the Oxford canal improvements of 1830 was the main route for boat traffic. Just before passing under the M6 we pass a structure in the canal feeder here the original canal crossed the River Swift and headed back south. After passing under the M6 the diagonally cross field path had not been cleared through the crop as required by sec 134 of the Highways Act so the plotted route follows a track around the field edge. A quiet road then takes us to Churchover with a seat on the green. It would be nice to know who is responsible for the bridge and canal feeder path so that I could ask for the low branches to be cut back....

Ken

Only two stars because this is a dull trudge of a walk: field boundaries on leaving Lutterworth, then a long stretch of road walking into Husband's Bosworth, canal towpath, more road walking into Lubbenham, and finally a couple of fields before housing estates and the centre of Market Harborough. No navigational issues, but some of the stiles on the first leg are overgrown and shaky; the towpath is mostly in good repair but there are a few places still needing attention....

KB

A few points of note: when leaving Brinklow near the start you walk along a stream - make sure you are on the right hand side of the fence otherwise you will not get through. Approaching the M6 crossing there are very few markers and the overgrown or planted fields give no clear route through....

Laura

Route crossed A4303 into Lutterworth, again good sight lines both direction (barrier in the middle has a clear path through)....

Laura