Pitsford Water Walk & Brixworth Pub Plan

The plan is to take a leisurely bus-assisted adventure to Brixworth, followed by a circuit of Pitsford Water and a well-earned pint.

Getting There

• LC4 from Fleckney at 09:23*, arriving at Kibworth Square at 09:32.
• X7 from Kibworth at 09:50*, reaching Brixworth (Hill Farm stop) around 10:30.

From Hill Farm, it’s only a short stroll to Pitsford Water and the start of the walk. *These times may differ on the day

The Walk

The full loop, including the wander back into Brixworth, comes to roughly 8.5 miles—or 9 miles once we’ve inevitably meandered off course to look at ducks, signage, or each other’s sandwiches. I’m allowing four hours for the circuit, which puts us back in Brixworth at around 14:30. Vickie and I did it in three hours on the recce. There’s an optional detour just over halfway into the quiet village of Holcot, where the White Swan Inn could offer a civilised coffee stop if the walk took place on a Friday. This adds about one extra mile to the total distance. Then there is the optional shortcut through woods, parkland, and housing at the end of the walk, saving just under a mile.

Pub Options

The George Inn is the default choice:

“Nestled in the heart of the charming village of Brixworth, The George Inn is a traditional English pub full of character, warmth, and countryside charm.”

This is a very busy pub close to our exit route, and the bus stop on Spratton Road is only a short walk away. If we’re feeling adventurous (or thirsty for Real Ale), we could continue a little further to the quieter Coach and Horses. Should we choose this option, the Ferro Fields bus stop on Scaldwell Road is conveniently placed for the journey home.

Heading Home

X7 from Spratton Road, buses depart at:

• 15:58 → Market Harborough 16:13 – 16:18 → Kibworth 16:30
• 16:58 → Market Harborough 17:13 – 17:18 → Kibworth 17:30
• 17:58 → Market Harborough 18:13 – 18:18 → Kibworth 18:30

LC4 from Market Harborough/Kibworth, buses depart at:

• Market Harborough 17:10 → Kibworth 17:38 → Fleckney 17:47
• Market Harborough 18:40 → Kibworth 19:08 → Fleckney 19:17
• Market Harborough 20:10 → Kibworth 20:38 → Fleckney 20:47

If we find there is a gap between buses, there’s always The Sugar Loaf in Harborough or The Railway in Kibworth to keep us warm and dry (on the outside)! Bus times may be slightly different on the day.

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.

24th March - Tugby by John
7th April - Welham by John
21st April - Pitsford Water by Phil (bus)
5th May - Tilton by John
19th May - Yelvertoft by John
2nd June - T.B.A.
16th June - Hallaton by John
30th June - T.B.A.
14th July - Derbyshire? by John
28th July - Derbyshire? by John
11th August - T.B.A.
25th August - T.B.A.
8th September - T.B.A.
22nd September - T.B.A.

Event Types: Full day walk, Tuesday

Tilton on the Hill, Halstead, Oswton

by John B

 

We park up in Marefield Lane (///widely.abruptly.shower) and set off along the road in a northerly direction. Then it’s right onto a short section of footpath leading to Oakham Road. We turn off Oakham Road onto Halstead House Lane and follow this around the farm until the lane runs out and the real walk begins!

Now, it’s footpath and stiles, lots of them, all the way northeastwards to Owston. We emerge onto Main Street and bear right to head towards Hill Top Farm. At the junction with Long Lane and Whatborough Road we turn down the latter until we reach a footpath on the left. This path leads through Owston Woods, crosses Oakham Road, and ends at Withcote Hall. There is a lovely pond along here where we can have a brief rest and a bite to eat or a coffee.

After this respite, we charge along a bridle way, passing Avenue Farm, Cottage Farm, and Withcote Hall itself. When we reach a junction with another bridleway, we turn right and join the Leicestershire Round for a short spell. We turn off the “Round” and head west along another bridleway until we reach Loddington Road – a very narrow country lane. We turn right along the lane and follow it over Oxey Cross Roads, past Oxey Farm, and both Robin-a-Tiptoe Farm and Robin-a-Tiptoe Hill – originally called Howback Hill, it gained its current name from a legend about a tall sheep-stealer named Robin who was hanged there but survived because his toes touched the ground!

Loddington Road veers left where it meets Tugby Road that veers right. We go over a stile to continue in the same direction that we were heading in. The undulation along this last leg is not as bad as it has been and, after hurdling over a few stiles, we emerge back onto Loddington Road. A right turn, and a bit of a plod, and we find Main Street and head north along it passing the Rose and Crown – closed on Tuesdays – and onto Marefield Road and transportation.

There we have it. 13.1 miles of undulation and numerous stiles. Hopefully, very little mud – no guarantee!

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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.

24th March - Tugby by John
7th April - Welham by John
21st April - Pitsford Water by Phil (bus)
5th May - Tilton by John
19th May - Yelvertoft by John
2nd June - T.B.A.
16th June - Hallaton by John
30th June - T.B.A.
14th July - Derbyshire? by John
28th July - Derbyshire? by John
11th August - T.B.A.
25th August - T.B.A.
8th September - T.B.A.
22nd September - T.B.A.

Event Types: Full day walk, Tuesday

Yelvertoft, Elkington, Winwick

by John B

So, it’s off to Yelvertoft for this walk by John Broadhead. This is an excellent 8-mile walk with few stiles and just a little undulation.

We’re aiming to park near the Knightly Arms on High Street (///august.states.hypnotist). This is a very charming and welcoming pub to come back to after the walk.

Initially, we head down High Street away from the pub until we come to Wards Lane on the left. We follow this road until it peters out to become a footpath. We cross several fields and negotiate three stiles before exiting onto Yelvertoft Road. We turn right on the road, over a bridge where we cross the Grand Union Canal before entering the settlement of Elkington. We take the right fork at the triangle in the road and wander towards Manor Farm. Just after Portly Banks (it’s a house) is a footpath leading to Honey Hill. The climb is well worth the effort – not really much of an effort – and the view from the top is excellent.

We then end up on the Jurassic Way. After less than half a mile, we join a road where we can go left or right to head through Winwick, a shrunken or “lost” medieval village, with earthworks and buried deposits providing insight into the former settlement. It is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book and was once held by the Abbey of Coventry. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Winwick was known as the “Gretna Green of Northamptonshire” because runaway couples could marry there without the usual residency requirements. As we’ve now covered 5 or 6 miles, Winwick may be an ideal spot for a coffee/lunch break at the war memorial.

Next on the agenda is Church Lane, which takes us past the lovely little St. Michael and All Saints Church and the old Manor House. If we were doing the “short” version of this route, we would take a footpath on the same plane as the canal and therefore flat that leads to an unnamed road, which in turn leads to the canal.

The penultimate leg of the walk is along the canal towpath, crossing under Yelvertoft Road three times before reaching Crick Bridle Road. Here we leave the canal and stroll into Yelvertoft for a well-earned respite in the Knightly Arms.

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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.

24th March - Tugby by John
7th April - Welham by John
21st April - Pitsford Water by Phil (bus)
5th May - Tilton by John
19th May - Yelvertoft by John
2nd June - T.B.A.
16th June - Hallaton by John
30th June - T.B.A.
14th July - Derbyshire? by John
28th July - Derbyshire? by John
11th August - T.B.A.
25th August - T.B.A.
8th September - T.B.A.
22nd September - T.B.A.

Event Types: Full day walk, Tuesday

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.

24th March - Tugby by John
7th April - Welham by John
21st April - Pitsford Water by Phil (bus)
5th May - Tilton by John
19th May - Yelvertoft by John
2nd June - T.B.A.
16th June - Hallaton by John
30th June - T.B.A.
14th July - Derbyshire? by John
28th July - Derbyshire? by John
11th August - T.B.A.
25th August - T.B.A.
8th September - T.B.A.
22nd September - T.B.A.

Event Types: Full day walk, Tuesday

Hallaton, Alexton, Belton, Loddington, Tugby

by John B

This is the big one! 14.2 miles over three peaks and a bunch of stiles.

For this walk, we would normally park along Eastgate (///butter.codes.lifeboats) or near the now defunct Fox Inn (///ramble.likening.marathon). Whichever we choose on the day, we head northwards out of Hallaton along East Norton Road until the junction with Allexton Road. Here it’s over a stile and onto the Macmillan Way / Leicestershire Round. We head past Fearn Farm, Allexton Lodge, Allexton Park, and through Manor Farm to arrive at Allexton itself.

Exiting the hamlet, we head across the A47, carefully, and over to Littleworth Lane or New Road – depending on which way we came. Either way, it’s on to the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Belton-in-Rutland. After a quick wander around the village, we head out along the Leicester Round (College Farm Lane) until we run out of tarmac near Bluestones Farm. We continue along the “Round” for a short distance before hanging a left towards Park Wood Farm along a bridleway.

We leave the horse track to take a footpath (and six stiles) leading to Belton Road. A right turn here will take us into Loddington and past Loddington Hall. This is good, as this is the way we want to go. Direction-wise, it’s southwest. A few stiles, a permissive path, and a regular footpath later, we find ourselves squeezing past Hardy’s Gunsel and Big Gunsel and heading towards Gunsells Farm. Interestingly, in convict and tramp slang, a gunsel was a young homosexual male, especially one who was the companion of an older man. It is generally taken to derive from the Yiddish gendzel, a little goose, or from the German Gänslein, a gosling. Make of that what you will!

With luck, we’ll find ourselves crossing the A47 and entering Tugby. The Fox and Hounds lives here. Just saying! At least one of us will be thirsty by now!

We leave Tugby via Hallaton Road, which doubles as the Midshires Way. At the crossroads with Crackbottle Road (don’t you just love these names?), we head straight over onto a track that takes us down to Keythorpe Hall Farm. At the fork in the track, we leave the Midshires and take the left bridleway up hill and down dale and across fields and lastly a few stiles before reaching our destination.

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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.

24th March - Tugby by John
7th April - Welham by John
21st April - Pitsford Water by Phil (bus)
5th May - Tilton by John
19th May - Yelvertoft by John
2nd June - T.B.A.
16th June - Hallaton by John
30th June - T.B.A.
14th July - Derbyshire? by John
28th July - Derbyshire? by John
11th August - T.B.A.
25th August - T.B.A.
8th September - T.B.A.
22nd September - T.B.A.

Event Types: Full day walk, Tuesday