Day 3 - Thringstone to Shackerstone - 13 Miles

I hadn't planned to do any of Ivanhoe Way this weekend at all as I'd had a friend Phil over for the saturday evening, but it turned out he had to get home early in the morning on the sunday. This meant a) I would be getting up early myself and b) I had the day free after all. Because I was also busy for the forseeable few weekends I thought I may as well do the last 13 miles of Ivanhoe Way now rather than later.

I set off from home earlier than ever for any of the previous days of the walk, and parked up in School Lane by The Oak pub in Thringstone/Whitwick, where I'd ended the walk the week before. I set off at about 10.15am.

I crossed the main road in Whitwick/Thringstone, taking a lane (Dumps Road) that descended quite steeply over a disused railway bridge and into the valley bottom. The collection of terraced houses at the bottom here were intriguingly called The City of Three Waters according to a sign on them? When the road bent to the right I took the road off to the left, almost straight on which bent round under allotments. Before too long I took a path off to the right climbing quite steeply through the allotments to the common land of Cademan Wood.

Cademan Wood is one of the few remaining wooded areas of the ancient Charnwood Forest although most of the wood is now semi-natural and recent. Many new settlements were founded in the Forest soon after the Norman Conquest, which began the process of deforestation in the area. Haphazard clearance continued until the end of the 18th Century. With The Enclosure Act of 1829 much of the land was drained and reclaimed as arable farmland. The area overlies some of the oldest rocks in the country, and many tor like outcroppings of this are visible on the walk through the woods. This whole section of the walk was particularly pleasant and would have been even more so in the summer with leaves on the trees. The area had a very 'upland' feel to it, with wide open vistas to the north and dry stone walls, and rocky outcroppings.

After passing High Cademan I followed a dry stone wall to emergeat last on a road. I turned right along this. Off to the left were more rocky outcroppings surrounded by wooded areas in predominantly arable fields. In the distance I could see the tower of St Bernard's Abbey.

I came to a T junction and crossed almost straight over onto a track up to a house. There were good views off to the right over Whitwick as I gradually climbed up here. After a few hundred yards I turned right to cross fields newly turned into tree plantations and then descended through these to the main road in Whitwick. I crossed straight over and followed Bernard's Road through a council housing estate of very pleasant and characterful council houses. At its far end I took a path off to the right that lead into Holly Hayes Wood.

I emerged at the far end of this woodland onto common land with a lake off to my right and a large bank behind a wire fence hiding a large noisy factory or quarry of some kind. I continued in a straight line and while walking along here it started to rain in the wind which was rather annoying. Even worse the clouds all around looked increasingly heavy and ominous as they were whipped along in the strong and cool wind.

I came to a road just before Agar Nook, which is where I'd planned to reach at the end of Day 2! I crossed straight over and took to a narrow path squeezed between the back fences of houses on the right and a large school playing fields area off to the left. The school was seemingly being rebuilt, and a very modern designed, but quite pleasant building was almost finished in front of the original school buildings by the looks of it. I continued in a straight line on the edge of Agar Nook past a junior school and eventually emerged in the streets of the estate at the far end. It looked quite a dodgey council estate with large street cameras, presumably to watch for trouble. It made me glad that I'd not made it as far as this by the end of day 2 or I would have had to leave my car parked here all day today!

Crossing a more main road I walked through a few more quiet streets of houses before beginning my ascent of Bardon Hill standing in my way ahead. The actual official path climbs a little way up before skirting around the base of the hill. Why anyone would want to miss out the views from the top are beyond me so they should re route the official path if you ask me? I, of course climbed for the views. It was interesting, if not pretty, to look down at the quarry far below from the trig point at the summit of the hill.

The hill is apparently of interest because of its geology. The grey coloured rocks (andesite) found here, below more recent red deposits, were formed from dust, ash and large lumps of rock that were erupted from a volcano. The rocks settled out in what was, at the time, a sea. The environment would have been something similar to that found around more recent eruptions at Montserrat in the West Indies. The red rocks layers above the volcanic andesites were deposited much later in the Triassic Period (230 -210 million years ago). They are called the Mercia Mudstones and are formed from wind blown sand deposits produced in desert conditions.

Bardon Hill is also designated as an SSSI because of the presence of a rare spider Mastigusa macropthalma, apparently??

Quarrying has existed at Bardon for hundreds of years and at least since the 1600s. Around 1800, broken granite was in demand when John Macadam developed a new improved method for making roads and many men were employed as stone breakers. By 1858, business partners Ellis and Everard had leased the quarry at Bardon and they supplied broken stone for road building by using steam driven machinery. The stone was transported to market from Bardon Station by the Midland Railway. The quarry is now operated by Aggregate Industries.

While I was at the top by the trig point it started raining quite heavily and I donned my thin waterproof coat (the only one I'd bought today) and sheltered in the lee of the trig point out of the strong and quite cold wind eating the tuna and tomato batch I'd bought along for my packed lunch.

Left: Looking down into the quarry depths from the trig point area.

It stopped raining before too long and I found the path descending from the summit of the hill down its far side. Much of the woodland at the base of the hill at this side had been felled and replanted with native species. I continued to descend after crossing the wide haul road for the quarry trucks, walking past old Rise Rocks and Rise Rocks Farm. The scenery around here continued to be typically charnwood, with its dry stone walls and tor like rock outcroppings in the middle of some of the fields. At Rise Rocks farm I walked along their drive to emerge on the busy dual carriageway of the A511. I crossed over and turned left along it. It was about 1pm and I'd hoped to stop at a pub marked on the map just beyond the island a hundred yards or so along the road. Unfortunately the pub was now a chinese restaurant so it wasn't to be.

I carried on along the A511 for another hundred yards or so after the chinese restaurant and took a field path off to the right. Unfortunately the fields all around here belonged to a riding school, and where riding schools exist, inevitably horses exist! The two in the first field were particularly frisky and inquisitive but I braved it and forged ahead. Thankfully after this field the path followed a track in front of the riding school shed and stables and then continued up to a track around the edge of Cliffe Hill Quarry. The horses in the field next to the track were careering about kicking their back legs up in the air and so I was certainly glad I hadn't had to walk through there!

The track continued around the edge of the quarry, hidden behind a bank, and emerged at a road at the end of the ribbon settlement of Stanton under Bardon. I turned right along the road briefly and then crossed over to take a path opposite which cut over a bit of waste land and a dismantled section of tramway, before continuing between the backs of the houses on the left and allotments to the right.

At the end of the houses I cut diagonally across another small field, belonging to yet another riding school and then downhill to meet a lane over a particularly boggy field, that did have a couple of horses in it, though for a change, they didn't seem bothered by me in the slightest.

I crossed over the lane and climbed up out of the small valley again. The next section of the walk was along the western side of a shallow valley again, through a newly planted woodland. There was quite a lot of new trees on the opposite valley side as well so in the years to come this will probably be a pleasant section of the walk.

I eventually came to a row of pylons and walked along beneath these. It was raining heavily at this point, pretty much drenching me. There were views off to the left across the valley to Thornton Reservoir at this point. The area around here seemed quite rural and pleasant, the only downer being the crackling electricity wires and the large hedgeless arable fields.

View off to the left of Thornton and its reservoir, before crossing under the electricity wires and heading towards Bagworth.

It had stopped raining briefly as I'd walked along under the power cables, but as soon as I crossed under them and started to cut diagonally across the field of winter wheat uphill for a start, the heavens opened again and the heavy rain was driven horizontally and stingingly into my face. Just as soon as it started it stopped though and this was to be a repeated pattern for the rest of the walk. Hey ho.. typical of me to only bring my lightweight less than waterproof coat on a day that I needed one!

At the crest of the hill I could see the railway line below and beyond it the village of Bagworth nestling on top of another hill. I decided to walk straight into Bagworth rather than do the detour suggested on the walk leaflet, that takes in Bagworth Incline Plane. I went under the railway through a brick bridge and then climbed gradually up to the end of Bagworth itself. I was half hoping to find a pub in the village even if there wasn't one marked on my map. It wasn't to be though and I walked straight through getting another soaking on the way.

At the far side of the village the path took to a field edge track. Views opened up ahead. In the far distance the hill of Atherstone Ridge could be seen on top of which I live, closer at hand, about 2 miles away, was the spire of All Saints Church in Nailstone, the next port of call on the walk.

After crossing a shallow valley between Bagworth and Nailstone and crossing the stream at its bottom, I eventually approached the village. I walked through the churchyard and turned right to go and investigate if the Nut and Squirrel pub was open. Luckily it was open all day, and by this time I was certainly in need of some liquid refreshment. I went in for a pint and sat looking at my map, munching on snacks that I'd bought along with my tuna and tomato batch lunch. It rained again while I was in there, I took my time, waiting until it got brighter and then set off on my way again.

I left the village along Vero's lane which arrived at the busy main road the A447. I crossed over this, in yet more heavy wind blown rain heading across the next wide open arable field towards some welcome woodland in this area - Nailstone Gorse. I skirted around its edge, crossed a track and crossed a stream in another shallow valley. I phoned mum from here, deciding that it would take me about three quarters of an hour to reach Shackerstone from this point. They were at a relatives party and would come when they could. I would be allright waiting in The Rising Sun pub back at Shackerstone anyway.

I joined a lane leading slightly uphill into the tiny hamlet of Odstone. At the houses I took a lane off to the left which lead out of the village in front of Odstone Hall. It became a rutted quagmire of a farm track but from this point onwards the embankment of the railway line at Shackerstone was visible ahead. After one last freshly ploughed field, which I cut diagonally across, I reached the track under the railway, crossed the canal bridge where I'd started the whole walk, and made my way to the Rising Sun for a well earned pint!

I had to wait a while for mum and dad to pick me up and take me back to School Lane in Thringstone/Whitwick, but it was nice to be in the warm and drying out after my regular dousings!