Walk 8 - Markfield to Shackerstone

We did this section of the walk on Saturday 26^th November 2016.  We had booked a weekend break at Bosworth Hall Hotel who had a very good offer on so did this walk on the Saturday and the next part of the Round on Sunday. Although quite cold at about 7 degrees C, we had a fair amount of warm sunshine during the early part of the walk.  We were expecting very wet and muddy conditions after the very heavy rain earlier in the week but it turned out to be a fairly easy walk, mainly through woodland or grassland.  We planned a shorter than usual route as it is fast approaching the winter solstice and the days are getting shorter so need to ensure we finish before the light fades.

 

Markfield to Thornton

We left Markfield at around 10 am, somewhat later than usual, because we had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel before starting out.  After what seemed a very long walk down Main Street, Markfield and then through a housing estate, we eventually left the village and walked across fields and under the M1 motorway.  

Stone cottages in Main Street Markfield

Young woodland in Browns Wood

 

 

 

We went through newly created woodland areas which are part of the National Forest scheme.  One of these, Browns Wood, was initially planted in the winter of 2001/2 and the Heavy Metal Band, Iron Maiden, arranged with the Carbon Neutral Company to plant enough saplings to offset the carbon dioxide generated by their “Dance of Death” CD released in 2003.  Any mud underfoot was covered by the recent autumn leaf covering giving dry and comfortable walking conditions. 

 

 

 

 

On leaving Browns Wood we got sight of Thornton Reservoir although only walked along the very narrow north west point of it before entering the village.  The reservoir is no longer used for drinking water and was opened to the public in 1997 by Severn Trent Water. 

 

Thornton Reservoir

Thornton is a linear village lying along a scarp overlooking the Reservoir and means a settlement walled by strong hedges – thorn hedges.  St Peters Church dates from13th century and the village pub is The Reservoir Inn.

Thornton to Bagworth

We saw little of Thornton village and crossed the main road, down through a housing estate and past some small houses with paddocks of horses across grassy fields where there were still signs of the lovely autumn colours in the trees.  


Paddocks and stream on leaving Thornton


 





Autumn colours in the trees























Ivanhoe Line Phase 2

We crossed the former Leicester and Swannington Railway which was opened in 1832 and provided Bagworth with its own station.  It was closed to passenger services in 1964 but continued to be used for transporting freight.Since the 1990’s,there have been plans to reopen this part of the line, including Bagworth Station, as phase 2 of the Ivanhoe line, phase 1 of which runs from Leicester to Loughborough.  Phase 2 would extend the line from Leicester to Burton on Trent.

 

After crossing the line we entered Manor Wood, a 25 hectare wood first planted in 2002/2003 on land that was formerly used for crops.  The woodland continued into Bagworth Heath Woods, a more mature woodland before reaching the village of Bagworth, which has an entry sign on a very large rock saying “Bagworth – Village in the Forest 2003”

Sign on entrance to Bagworth Village

Bagworth to Nailstone


Unusual seat on the route near Bagworth, dedicated to "Sylvia"

Again we saw little of Bagworth except for a short walk along the road from the church out of the village and back onto farmland.  We then went through another very young woodland – Underhills Wood – planted in 2005/6









After this there were some really nice views of the surrounding countryside.  Gaps in the clouds gave some stunning sun rays shining through in the distance.  

View south over countryside showing sunrays through cloud gaps
 

We entered the village of Nailstone by All Saints church, a grade II listed building dating from the 13^th and 14^th centuries. 

All Saints Church, Nailstone

Nailstone had a population of 514 in the 2011 census.  We then made our way to the Bulls Head for a lunch stop only to find that it does not serve food so we decided to continue on towards Odstone. 


Nailstone to Odstone

The route out of Nailstone took us on a track to the north of the village and across the busy A447, Hinckley to Ibstock road.  We continued across grass and farmland with autumn sown crops to the small, very pretty hamlet of Odstone.  Odstone appears in the Domesday Book as Odeston which means either Odds Farm.village or a settlement on the protruding piece of land. Oddr is the old Norse for “point” so has a Scandinavian origin.

Houses in the hamlet of Odstone

 Odstone to Shackerstone

We walked down Hall Lane and passed Odstone Hall, a Grade II listed Country House with Elizabethan origins.

Odstone Hall

 

 

The last of the bikers continuing towards Odstone

The route then continued down a wide grass track which was heavily rutted by farm vehicles.  The ruts were very muddy, leaving just narrow strips of grass to walk on which made it rather difficult walking.  Whilst on this track we were surprised to suddenly see 3 motorcross bikes coming towards us riding in the ruts. They kindly stopped to allow us to safely pass them

From Bagworth the Leicestershire Round had shared the route of the Ivanhoe way and we found the waymarker signs mostly showed both routes but sometimes only one or the other which caused a bit of confusion.  We continued to follow the signs for the Ivanhoe way and turned left into a field which led to Shackerstone but then found that this was where the routes diverged and we should have continued for a bit longer where the correct route would have taken us into the village via the Ashby de la Zouch canal tow path.  The route should have taken us across the footbridge at Shackertone station but this was closed and an alternative route in place.



The nearest we could get to Shackerstone Station

Shackerstone is the home of the Battlefield Line Railway, a preserved steam and diesel museum, that runs trains to Bosworth Battlefield. The railway came to Shackerstone in 1873 and continued providing passenger services until 1931 after which only freight ran on the rails of the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. The line was finally closed in 1970 at which point the railway society restored the station and reopened the line to Shenton which is the terminus for the Boswort Batlefield and Heritage Centre.

Shackerstone also hosts a large family festival, usually in the first week of September that covers everything from vintage cars to aerobatic stunt planes.

The Ashby de la Zouch canal at Shackerstone 

 

Distance

We walked a total of  10.63 miles

Next Walk

The next walk will be from Shackerstone to Sutton Wharf on the following day, 27^th November 2016.