River Wreake towards Rotherby from Waterhouse Bridge
Good weather brought a good turnout on this novel linear walk of 9 miles. The group met as usual at 10am by the church. Today it was Syston where parking was less easy but accomplished although the leader had arrived by public transport. We walked around the corner and awaited the 10.13 5A bus towards Melton Mowbray. Dropping off on the main road we were soon walking down the lane into the village and the chill wind from the north made it’s presence know.
Approaching Hoby
Once down into the Wreake valley the wind disappeared and we set off along the Leicestershire Round towards Hoby.
Information board at Waterhouse Bridge
Although advertised as a walk along the Round our leader strayed and showed us the excellent restoration of Waterhouse bridge as we headed for Rotherby. See more about the bridge restoration here. The brick arch bridge had been constructed when the Wreake was made navigable and this was only one of the six crossings we would make on this walk.
Waterhouse Bridge
At Brooksby we inspected the proposed diversion of footpath H56 which will, if confirmed, remove the additional crossing of the railway.
Lunch break at Rearsby
At Rearsby we used a newly recorded path to the rear of the church then another new but unrecorded path through the new housing development where we paused at the children’s play area where seats were conveniently available for our lunch break.
Passing Rearsby Mill on the Leicestershire Round
After passing Rearsby Mill we finally left the Round and headed for Ratcliffe on the Wreake then Lewin Bridge before heading for Syston.
Download a gpx file of this walk to use on your SatNav device here
Thanks to Colin B for the pictures, words from leader.