Walk 7 Burbage Common to Market Bosworth

5th August 2012

Greeting from your roving newshound reporting on an almost dog-astrophic wet walk from somewhere Common to somewhere Royal(ish) with lots in between.

Prodded early on in the walk, this is now against the SRL rules

As unimpressed as I am to show this image of the abuse of your faithful newshound, I have to report that even before the walk began I was prodded to within an inch of my skin by a walking pole.  A rule change has been introduced for future walks that limits proximity of me to walking poles and vice-versa.

Anyway you will notice that the original group is back together.  A little like most reunions we will never be as good as we once were but needed the money.  So welcome to the backside of Leicestershire to Ev who managed to catch us up by stoically walking from Claybrook Magna to Burbage over the last few days (or possibly by getting in a car with Rob and travelling down the A14).

To say that the weather was not set fair would be an understatement.  Indeed Rob dressed in waterproofs is most unusual; is that something he might regret?  Read on to find out.

So we tee-off the walk, completely ignoring the cafe at Burbage Common which was actually open as we departed.  For the first (and not for the last) time, the challenge was to actually find the route.

Unlucky for some

Fore!  Oh, he really is a deaf as a post these days.  Anyway it would appear that the route goes around the edge of Hinckley Golf Club.

Out of bounds

So off we stomp through the rough towards Burbage.

Stiles pose no problems to a dog of many talents

Crossing the main road, and descending into the edge of what turned out to be someone's garden.  Anyway, the signs were pointing us in the right direction, so across a stile into a very wild field and to the first cache of the day.

Time to get lost

This was also the one that almost caused us a problem, as the two people with GPS stayed behind whilst the main group including I, Stanley, leader of the pack, wandered aimlessly around getting lost.  This despite the fact that we had a map. Dohh!

And they had a map

Rebooting the Stanley-GPS after a few telephone calls quickly locates the the path again.  Now I have to say that, for the most part, the walk has been really well signposted, but this bit across to Market Bosworth is hopeless with hardly any signs.  So if you are doing the walk, turn sharp right after the bridge, cross the field with the hedge to your left and then go through the hedge at the end of the road to

Ev does the walk in her sleep

the main road, where you will find two signs (really helpful those).  A thought does enter our heads at this point that we are actually doing the walk the wrong way round; odd that the signage seems better if we were going anti-clockwise.

Anyway enough musing, onwards to Burbage. The Las Vegas of the Midlands.

You are welcome to Burbage

Burbage.  What is there to say about this jewel in the crown of Leicestershire? 

OK.  So we went through Burbage.

Still on the right track then.

Ah, that's more like it.  Wide open countryside and maybe a hint of blue sky if you close one eye and squint.

 Jane spots "The Naked Rambler"

No idea what is going on here.  Nope...absolutely nothing to report.

Fetch the stick, nice doggie

Here I am, waiting again while the humans attempt to cross stiles and bridges.  We are actually getting quite warm by this stage.  It feels as though the sun might peak through the clouds anytime soon.

What an Odd House, thinks Rob (SP 425 971)

And when the sun does come out, the going soon hots up.  Note Rob out of waterproofs by now.

One man and a dog

So as "the light was good", the official walk photographer (OWP) took a few snaps.

A photo with no caption

If I remember right we were somewhere near Odd House Farm at this point

It's this way

It would appear that the OWP was experimenting on us again, this time with 1:1 format photos (whatever that means??).

Bull Rush

And then it was time for some beans.  In fact a lot of beans.  Head high beans, tail high beans and other more tender bit high beans.

Beans, beans, beans

Beans, beans, beans.  I like beans.

Dog on a stick

Here I am liking my beans (although I do suspect the OWP was taking the micky at this point).

Happy Dog

It is at this point that the totally unexpected happened. Having been already told the story of sowing his grass seed (I am pretty sure he said "grass") on the verges of Cadeby, John stunned us all by admitting that he had never heard of the village we were approaching.

John wants proof that Dadlington exists

 

So we can only assume that the poor people of Dadlington were at some point last century up to their necks in grass as the council mower drivers ignored them completely. Either that or it could be in the Twilight Zone as we were still struggling to find the route round Dadlington.  It looks as though at this point the actual path differs slightly to the OS maps we have.

So, being possibly lost, the humans decided that it was lunch.  A liquid one (as usual) but no beer as far as I could see, and also no chips.  I'm not sure what the world is coming to....

I'm not talking to anyone

John tries to see Dadlington

Lunch time

Well they all look as if they are enjoying their rest.  So after a quick paddle in the brook for me we were off again, heading towards the Ashby-De-La-Zouch canal and Sutton Wharf.

The Ashby Canal and a slight hint of beer in the air

They seem to be in one heck of a hurry for some reason.

The Ashby Canal

The reason why they were in a hurry becomes clear as we reach Sutton Wharf.  Obviously the smell of beer and chips has a real "speed up" effect on the humans.

Giant cocktail

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

And once Gillian has finished her beer, we can set off for the most exciting bit (so I am told) of the walk - Bosworth Field... Which was actually a bit of a disappointment, mainly because the humans suddenly decided to take a look behind them to see what the weather was doing.

Jane tries to grab the gate opener while thunder rumbles and John vanishes

To say that it did not look promising for the last part of the walk would be an understatement, and so the humans basically walked as fast as their little legs could carry them, in the (possibly) vain hope of getting to Market Bosworth before the rain arrived.

Rain?  What rain?

 
And they walked over (small) hill and dale towards Bosworth, while to the left of them it was getting darker

Oh that rain...

 

and to the right of them it looked beautiful

No rain

 
Unfortunately the weather was coming from the left.  A huge thunderstorm was brewing over Coventry and Nuneaton and we were all staring at a soaking (unless of course they put their waterproofs on, but no-one wanted to do that, so....)

Pond life

 
While this was all going on the OWP just kept mumbling about "the light" as if he was some kind of "Artist".

Soon the thunder (and steam train whistles - but that is a story for another day) was rumbling all around us and we entered the woods of Bosworth Park.

Bosworth Park 1

The OWP could not decide which of these photos to put in the blog, so you have two of the same tree.

and 2

The woods were rather muddy in places as Jane nearly found to her cost over this little bit (below).

Mud facial

And then, quite suddenly, we were at the end of the walk.  We had not got wet (yet) and we had had a great walk.  Shame that we could not have had more time to explore Bosworth Park but those clouds did look threatening.

The end.  Mind that stick...

When I say we did not get wet, we had parked in the town square in Market Bosworth. Just as we arrived at the car, the heavens opened so yours truly got dumped in the car while the humans went and had tea.  Meanwhile I was left with some warm water in a bowl and no biscuit.

Oh, a lump of chocolate cake

Happy faces all round

Looks like they had fun anyway, so that's nice isn't it?

Some of the basic information on the walk.  The cache register stood at fourteen, so Rob has improved his average a little. The GPS tells us that the walk was 9.73 miles. And the muddy paw mark?  Well, taking into account the paddle in the brook and the muddy paths towards Bosworth, I'd say four muddy paws.  It would have been higher but the poor signs really let this part down - and then there was Burbage...

Download GPX file here (actions - export).  Note we did get a little lost on this one, so just avoid the big circle near the start.  Please use a virus checker.

Next time: Steam trains.  And, if we ever get John past Shakerstone station, we walk along the Ivanhoe Way, have a look at Odstone Hall and also pass a few pubs.

c. Stanley The Dog 2012