Martha's Marvellous Munchies

On the face of it, the next section of the Ivanhoe Way was not a particularly exciting walk - and I'd done a large part of it before, as part of the National Forest Way . I almost skipped this bit. But I found plenty to keep me interested - some large mushrooms, a wasp nest in a hollow tree, and a footpath sign with a hole right through it. I parked in a housing estate in the north of Ashby and walked along a typical suburban alleyway to reach Hood Park. The path followed the Gilwhiskaw Brook, which I have to keep mentioning just because it's a fantastic name. I last saw it near Measham , just before it met the River Mease. The library in Ashby de la Zouch is attached to a small museum. I've never been in; I'll have to remedy that someday. Not today, though; I needed to keep walking. Although I simply had to stop to marvel at this old truck. An ivy trunk had grown right up through all the metal behind the cab. I'd never seen anything like it! New housing estates are...

Today I walked to a village that wasn't really there.   Willesley has several signs but very little substance. The village was demolished (apart from the church) when Willesley Hall was built; the hall was itself demolished (again, apart from the church) in the 1950s, and the long-suffering church of St Thomas has been deconsecrated and now stands in the middle of a Scout campsite. A few farms, prosaically named Hill Farm, Wood Farm, and Valley Farm, now make up the village of Willesley, along with the campsite and a golf course. I'd started in Ashby de la Zouch and followed a few roads out of town, before turning onto a path through long grass, glistening wet in the low autumn sun. My feet were firmly clad in waterproof boots; I'd learned my lesson from previous dewy walks. My OS map still showed the footpath looping over to St Thomas' Church, but a diversion has been in place for a long time now, judging by the tattered signs. Now the route skirts the edge of the Sco...

Measham once had a canal, a railway, and a colliery. Now all of those are just ghosts on the landscape. The River Mease remains, after which the village is named, and is probably cleaner than when all the industry was in full swing. And there are a few other interesting things to see. The train station is now a local museum, where I began my walk today. Measham sculpture The first job was a small loop to join up with where I finished last time. Out along the old Ashby Canal, return along the old Ashby and Nuneaton Railway, and in no time I was back at the station building and goods shed. A walled area had been turned into a garden, now rather overgrown, though someone had done a better job maintaining the sundial. former canal Crossing the main road took me back onto the railway. This section is a cycle path known as the Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail. I could have followed this all the way to Donisthorpe, and indeed the Ivanhoe Way does so, but I decided something else looked more intere...