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Ivanhoe Way: Measham to Hicks Lodge

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 interesting and went to explore.




The more interesting thing was a path on a very narrow strip of land between two lakes. These were presumably formed by mining subsidence. They were very pretty under the calm blue autumn sky.


there's water both sides

Unfortunately Severn Trent was constructing a new sewage pipe across the next field. The footpath was blocked. As I wandered vaguely along the fence line, hoping for a gap, a man in a checked jumper beckoned to me. "Through this gate," he said, "and you can get out down there." The guys in hi viz seemed not to object to this arrangement, and I was extremely relieved not to have to go all the way back to the railway path.

Donisthorpe was my next ex-mining community. The church of St John the Evangelist has been renovated to double as a social centre; the sign said Having a party? on one side and simply God cares on the other.



The gates to Donisthorpe Woodland Park had large white letters DC on, for Donisthorpe Colliery. Inside, a sign told a rather alarming tale of contaminated ground and slurry lagoons, which made me wonder what I was walking across. Can you really just plant some trees on top and it's all fine? Maybe you can; the woodland looks healthy enough so far.




Moira Furnace was an ideal place for an early lunch break. Lots of benches. This former blast furnace is on a restored section of the Ashby Canal, which runs up to Conkers but doesn't, as yet, connect with the rest of the canal.



Hicks Lodge cycle centre is something else that wasn't there when the Ivanhoe Way was created in 1984. I was tempted to take the path that leads from Moira village to Hicks Lodge; this would have cut off some distance and a considerable amount of road walking. I'd suggest that as a good alternative. This time I followed the original route along Ashby Road. I crossed the Leicester to Burton railway line, disused for only two years but already overgrown. And I was intrigued by these houses which had half a front door each. How does that work?



Not having read the walk notes in advance, I realised when I got home that I'd missed the oak tree at the centre of the National Forest. Drat. I'll have to go back next time.

The Ivanhoe Way turned off of Willesley Lane, but I kept going to reach Hicks Lodge, where I treated myself to a coffee and a flapjack (cranberry, apricot and orange) at Grounds Cafe.



The day was surprisingly warm for September, and I was getting fed up of gravel paths. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. I crunched my way round to Willesley Woods (formerly Oakthorpe Colliery) where I thankfully walked on grass for a bit.



pit head marker

Then I ran into those Severn Trent works again. Another closed path. At least this one had an obvious alternative - a right of way that was also access for a farm, so they had to keep it open.

not this way

this way, then

I dodged through a corner of Oakthorpe, crossed the A42 on a vertiginous bridge, and reached Measham again. This chapel surprised me twice: first by being Baptist, not Methodist, and secondly by still being a church. 

A42 bridge

Baptist Church

very blue pub

St Lawrence's was the holiest church I've ever seen. That is, the stones had holes in. Apparently this is known as honeycomb weathering.



fire bell (not church bell)

One final surprise on the way back to the car was this ghostly sign that once said Empire Cinema. Going around to the side, I could see that the facade was tacked onto what looked like a scout hut. The building was indeed used as a youth club until 2017, but it actually was a purpose-built (if modest) cinema, erected in 1932.



Another walk successfully completed, despite the best efforts of Severn Trent - and they claimed to be improving water quality in the River Mease, so I couldn't be too upset about that. 

Ivanhoe Way Measham - Hicks Lodge

11 miles / 18 km  21 September 2026


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