Some of us hardy foot-sloggers were planning to hike from Fleckney to join this tongue-twister walk at Kilby. However, we decided to travel by car with the option of leaving said car in Kilby and walking back. 

Anyway, we should have started from the Dog and Gun in Kilby and moseyed down the road a bit, through the kiddie’s playing field, onto the footpath leading through a few fields and down to the canal at Spinney Lock. The plan was then to follow the canal towpath all the way to Clifton’s Bridge.

We would have left the canal there and headed through the fields and over the railway bridge to Cooks Lane. Then it would have been a spot of pavement pounding to take us around the bottom end of Wiggy and along the busy Welford Road. We would then have turned right, headed north, or went up the map, whichever is your preference, until the roundabout.

Then it would have been a wander through the cemetery to exit onto Exmoor Close and, from there, onto Horsewell Lane. We planned to take a left there and head south, wandering past the first turning to Durnford Road, around the bend until the next turning to Durnford Road. We would have taken this road until the junction with Barford Road. This is a cul-de-sac, but there is a footpath and footbridge over the railway line at the far end.

Then there would have been a bit of fieldwork before rejoining the canal at Lock 31. This time, we would have traversed the towpath in the opposite direction before magically ending up at Kilby Bridge, our pub stop, The Navigation, and some well-deserved refreshment.

Suitably refreshed, Kathy would have taken us over the assault course to get us onto the footpath back to Kilby. This would have involved a short spurt along the side of Welford Road, over a fence or two and through some more fields. There are a couple of stiles along this section but with the thought of extra refreshment at the Dog and Gun, they would have been easily traversed!

The recent rainfall and flooding in the area would have made this walk a rather soggy and overly muddy one. Luckily Kathy had a “plan B” and we decided on that route instead.

So, we drove to Kilby Bridge and anchored the cars by the side of the road. We popped down to the canal towpath and headed sort of southeast until we reached Clifton’s Bridge. This brought us to a section of the original route. We left the canal and followed the footpath that took us over the railway and onto the track from Elm Tree Farm into Wigston Harcourt. 

We then more or less followed the original walk through the south of Wigston Harcourt, out over the railway line, and back to the canal. However, our new route took us right on the towpath and we followed the canal around the bottom end of South Wigston until we reached Crow Mill. We left the canal and headed south along the pavement of Countesthorpe Road. 

After about half a mile we took the rather muddy and puddlesome footpath towards the sewage works. We navigated around the treatment area, over a footbridge and onto a footpath heading northeast that took us back to the canal via a stile. 

Once again we were on the original route so we turned right onto the towpath and followed the canal back to Kilby Bridge and the transport back to Kilby and the newly taken over and very busy Dog and Gun. 

The walk from Kilby is 7 miles, with slight undulation, and I am aware of 3 stiles en route. If you start from Fleckney, you can add another 2 miles and 6 stiles, but some of these have died.