Cranoe & Hallaton: The Leg-Stretcher You’ll Regret Missing
Leader: John Broadhead
We gather ourselves on Welham Lane (///blocks.dancer.pulp) for this 11‑mile leg‑stretcher — the sort of walk that makes you feel virtuous before you’ve even taken your boots off. Directly opposite sits Church Hill, our opening gambit, though we must first cross Langton Road with the grace and agility of people who definitely did read the risk assessment.
A short way up, Church Hill curves left, but we slip through the gateway on the right to join the Leicestershire Round. This ancient circuit — stitched together from old drovers’ paths, parish boundaries, and the occasional “my cousin says this is a right of way” — leads us gently over hill and down dale all the way to Hallaton. Eventually it spits us out onto Churchgate, a street with more history than it knows what to do with.
Here we leave the Round and turn sharply left onto a footpath heading north‑east towards Goadby Road, reached via a stile. We follow the road until just after the ford — Hallaton’s famous Easter Monday bottle‑kicking battlefield lies not far from here, though thankfully today we’re only kicking our own legs into motion. Just beyond the ford, another stile on the right returns us to the fields.
This next field is a choose‑your‑own‑adventure depending on crop, farmer mood, and whether the footpath has been reinstated or is still “under consideration”. A compass (or your phone) will tell you that north‑east is the correct heading. At the far corner, a stile places us firmly on the Midshires Way.
A neat 90‑degree right turn sends us along the Way until it becomes a farm track. Just after the intriguingly named “The Lakes Buildings” (which, despite the name, contain neither lakes nor buildings of architectural merit), we take an almost 180‑degree right turn onto another farm track. This bridleway escorts us back to Hallaton via three more stiles — consider them character‑building.
We emerge conveniently by The Fox Inn, where benches are scattered about for lunch. Hallaton’s pubs have centuries of stories, including the aforementioned bottle‑kicking tradition, which is best described as “rugby, but with fewer rules and more bruises”.
Our exit route is North End, which subtly morphs into Goadby Road. We follow it past the stile we used earlier and continue all the way along Goadby Road, even after the tarmac gives up and the green lane begins. This permissive track remains Goadby Road in spirit, if not in surface quality.
Eventually it peters out and rejoins the Midshires Way. A left turn sends us southward, all the way back to Cranoe — via one final stile, because the universe insists on balance.
And that’s your lot: medium undulation, a handful of stiles, and a generous helping of countryside charm. Cranoe itself has no pub, but salvation is a mere 10‑minute drive away at The Old Red Lion, Welham — a fine establishment where your leader will pretend the walk was planned around it (because it probably was).
TuesDay Walks
These walks are longer than average and range from 8 to 13 miles.
Walks starting from the car park will be at the earlier time of 9:00 a.m.
Information about trips by bus will be posted on the website and the WhatsApp group.
Provisionally, walks are planned for alternate Tuesdays.
This list will be updated from time to time.
21st July - Youlgreave, Derbyshire by John
4th August - Kinder Scout, Derbyshire by John
18th August - Cranoe by John
1st September - Leicester (Bus) by Phil
15th September - Twyford by John
29th September - Hallaton by John
13th October - Yelvertoft by John