The Elms (Not a Pub!)

Kathy led this sub-seven mile walk starting from The Elms (///tender.zeal.edits) in Countesthorpe. Some of our members thought it was a new pub but it is in fact a cul-de-sac (originally an 18th century anatomical (French) term that literally means ‘bottom of a sack’)

From The Elms, Kathy took us northwest and across a dismantled railway before heading into fields. After a while the path forked and we took the one to the left and headed towards Ash Spinney. The path then turned sharp right just before the spinney but we ignored that and kept straight on through it, and walked across Oakfield Park and crossed it into the car park.

We exited the car park and crossed Hospital Lane onto another footpath that took us around Long Walk, past Blaby Cemetery, around Bouskell Park and onto Welford Road.

Welford Road changes into Sycamore Street and we wandered along that until we reached Church Street. This took us past Blaby All Saints Church. At the end of Church Street we turned left at the junction onto Wigston Road and then onto Chapel Street. Just before the junction with Northfield Road we headed through the church car park and past a play area and war memorial and onto Leicester Road – well not quite as the pathway took us under the railway bridge where we had to cross the road onto another footpath.

This footpath headed east a way and then turned sharp right and headed north to the canal. We left the footpath here and took the towpath to the right and headed past Dunn’s Lock and Simpkin’s Bridge before leaving the canal at Knight’s Bridge.

We were now on Westminster Drive and this led us onto Little Glen Road. We crossed the road and took the little path leading to The Ford and thence to Glen Parva Manor that just happened to be the pub stop. It was nice and warm in there and the beer wasn’t bad either!

Upon leaving the pub we headed along the track toward Mill Lane Farm. We turned left onto Mill Lane and then right onto the footpath we left earlier until we reached Hospital Lane. This time we took yet another footpath the other side of the woods and then pathways leading back towards Countesthorpe, back over the dismantled railway, on to Linden Farm Drive, left on to The Rowans and finally a short footpath back to The Elms (it’s not a pub!).