Walk 8 Market Bosworth to Bagworth

25th August 2012

Greetings all.  Your roving newshound Stanley here with his paws on the pulse of all the news that is fit to print about walk 8.

And then there were three...

 Saturday Morning Under The Plastic Palm Trees

Well, four including the photographer (OWP) of course.  Rob and Ev meanwhile were lying in the sun in the Med.  Even so, it would turn out that our happy, if small, band would also soon be feeling the heat themselves; they just did not realise it to start with.

Setting off from Bosworth was a fraught affair.  First of all, Gillian had to learn how to use her new "bum bag", which had nearly all of us crying "the bells Esmerelda" as we walked through the town.  Then we had to pass the cake and bread shop, then Gillian needed tissues because of hay fever, then all the humans had to use the public convenience en-route.

 Sun and sheep

But finally we burst out of the confines of Bosworth and into some glorious countryside.

The GB triathlon team in action

With only the odd stile to cross on the way.  You will already note that Gillian has taken her coat off.  Of this more later.

To coat or not to coat

Blue skies, warming up and a good surface underfoot.  An excellent start to the day, and there were even some puddles to have a drink from.

Bosworth in the sun

The route took us down past some horses and then on to the golf course.

A model roll

But before that Gillian has to have a lesson in the correct use of her new pack, and in particular how to roll your coat up and fix it to the bag.  Above Jane models the correct way; below Gillian gets in a mess.

John always did his own roll-ups

John shows Gillian his supple wrist technique for doing roll-ups.

The 'insert it here' technique

John shows a disinterested Gillian his insertion techniques.  Meanwhile, another tissue is used up.

John, it's fallen out...

John's insertion technique proves to be all talk as it slips out after a few steps.

More blue sky thinking

Meanwhile it gets hotter and hotter ...

Hangin' around

... and the rest of us stand around and wait.

The party just had to wait

And then we walk straight past the sign for a birthday party. I thought the humans liked cake as well...

Home before bedtime

At least I then got the opportunity for a quick dip and a drink in the stream that ran along the side of the golf course.  Soon I was refreshed and ready to go again. And then on up towards Carlton.

This way?

At least it looks as though we are on the right route anyway.

All ploughed up

As far as I can remember, this is the first ploughed field we have seen in quite a long while on the Walk.  Carlton is on the horizon.  If you look over your shoulder at this point and hold your tail straight up in the air, the great pyramid of Nuneaton should be in perfect alignment.

Oi!  No parking

Here we are ignoring the no parking signs in Carlton.  Stick a ticket on that if you can.

 Countryside I

Countryside II

Through Carlton and out into open countryside again.  All the humans thought that this was one of the best bits of the walk so far, giving it a whopping five muddy paws; me - I thought it needed more mud.

Stile is everything

Here's Gillian getting to grips with the Leicestershire Round.  And me, I have become a stile expert on this walk, passing through them like the wind through a thin pair of walking trousers.

 Sheep in tow

More corn fields

Now on our way towards Shackerstone and an (apparently) well-earned drink.  Difficult for me to comment because they do not seem to have done a great deal yet.  Ah well, time for a bit of a sleep I suppose.

The walk comes to a sudden stop

But wait a cotton-pickin' moment.  What is this...Leicestershire shut?  I get the humans to read the notice.  It would appear that the footpath shut about one year ago because of a dangerous bridge (hey guys, if you are listening - what about the one just before the railway line near Market Harbourough??).  Anyway, the notice (dated September 2011) said work was going to take six months.  Now, doing the maths on my paws, I have either fallen into the past or that six months was optimistic.  

Anyway - what now for the pint and a kip?

It seems we need to turn left, down the lane and do a small diversion.  Actually for anyone doing the walk I would suggest ignoring the proposed diversion.  Walk left down the lane, cross the railway ...

That's not a steam train

... and go to the canal, then walk up the tow path.

Time for a swim?

And, before you know it, this will be the scene that you see:

Nastro Azzuro

Although, of course, without Gillian and Jane in the picture.  And then you come to ordering food - Jane is a bit stumped by the menu - but if you order correctly you might see this:

Hot beef, melted cheese et al

or this - although again without Gillian:

Ham and cheese, or should that be cheese and ham?

Anyway, the humans spent a good hour eating and drinking and said it was 'very good value'.  I had a sleep as I knew there were at least 6 more miles to go.  I am told that The Rising Sun got nine chips out of ten in their rather arbitrary pub marking system.  Full results will come at the end of the walk (next year!).

The Do Little Bros & Co. van

All good things come to an end though, and I finally managed to get them up.  Although, as we started the walk again, we passed a van that could well have applied to my human followers.

Taking a leaf out of the humans' book

Suddenly everyone was calling "Stanley" and they wanted me to pose for a picture.  No idea why, it was almost as if they did not want this walk to end (or as if they had eaten so much food that they could not actually walk).

A leaf for a hat

Oh I see. Yes, very funny...

Ivanhoe appears without horse

Ha, ha, ha.  Oh excuse me, I am still laughing at the leaf on the head photo.  Oh dearie me, my sides might split.

We are now at the point of the walk where the Leicestershire Round joins the Ivanhoe Way.  You might have thought that being on two "named" footpaths would make the going much better.  If you do think that, then shake it from your mind as 1 + 1 does not equal 2 here.

Odstone Hall (that's why he walks funny)

When the going gets tough, the tough get sunscreen.  Or something like that.

Sunscreen to ward off the rain

By this point in the walk the heat was beginning to tell. There were also the tell- tale rumbles of thunder to go along with flashes of lightning that was beginning to suggest that our mood might darken at some point soon.

Right turn ahead

If you look closely at the photograph above you will see the path turns slightly left near the trees on the horizon.  If you are walking this way you would be well advised to take note of the footpath marker lying down in the hedge bottom at that point.  Although we did not see it, this marker was telling us that the Leicestershire Round went right, across the field, not up into the next field.

Stormy Saturday

As we tramped around the potato field looking for a footpath, dark clouds slowly rolled up behind us.  Not so much time for sunscreen as full waterproofs, we thought.

Clouds to the right of me, jokers to the left.  Here I come.

That only lasted for about two minutes though; after about four spots of rain it got so hot, they all complained about "getting wet from the inside out".

 Spot Gillian

And so we yomped across the fields towards Nailstone.  If you are doing the Round, beware of the footpath at Nailstone as you cross the A447 - lethal is one word for the headlong dive you have to take onto the main road.

 Don't turn around

Still the storm rolled along behind us, and to our right.

The National Shrub

And then we reached the National Forest, although at this point it could not even be called the National Wood.  Still I suppose there was a grant for it, and this one won a prize!

Running up that hill

And then all that was left was a gallop up the final hill and we were back at the car in Bagworth.

Really this was a walk of two halves, Brian.  First half they played a blinder and got five muddy paws, second half they just went to sleep, let the opposition creep up behind them and nearly paid the price so two muddy paws for that bit.  In my dog mind that makes a mark of about 3½ muddy paws for the total walk.  There were, naturally, zero caches in the register, although we are due a recount on Monday.

And as for cake?  Well, I was in the car having an ice bath to keep my muscles in trim and the suchlike.  The humans, however, went back to Market Bosworth where once again they pigged out on cake and tea/coffee.  It's a dogs life...

So for those who are into the stats side of the game, that was 10.41 miles (including the detour around the potato field), which brings the total up to 70.6 miles completed.

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Next time: Bradgate Park (if we make it), Thornton Reservoir for a spot of fishing, the M1 again, and no doubt several pubs.