Distance:
about three miles; about 75 minutes
General conditions and accessibility:
mixture of tarmac paths, firm granite chip walks and uneven muddy surfaces with several stiles to climb and kissing gates to pass through.
Start and finish:
Library, Church House, The Green, Mountsorrel, LE12 7AS.
Parking:
Mountsorrel Memorial Centre LE12 7AG OR Little Lane, LE12 7BA
Eat, drink and toilet facilities:
Sorrel Youth Cafe (start and finish) The Green (Mon-Fri 9am-2pm),
Waterside Inn (end), Sileby Road (Mon-Thurs 12noon-3pm & 5.00pm-10.30pm; Fri-Sat 12noon-11.00pm; Sun 12noon-10.00pm),
Butter Market Cafe (end) Market Place (Mon-Fri 9am-3pm; Sat 9am-2pm).
There are public toilets in the Library (Church House) during opening hours, opposite the Memorial Centre.
Public Transport:
Start/finish points are on regular bus routes: Arriva 127 – Shepshed / Leicester; Winsons X26-Loughborough / Rothley; Roberts 27-Loughborough/ Asda,Thurmaston
The walk:
1) Cross Leicester Road from the Library towards Mountsorrel Memorial Centre and Soar Valley Leisure Centre using the footpath
2) Cross the car park diagonally (south-east) to path from car park towards local housing estate.
3) Take path due south following the Leicestershire Round
Photo A
4) At the edge of the estate the path changes from tarmac to granite chips and runs parallel to A6 for about 350 yards when the path goes left across a short bridge and then turn right along a permanently muddy path with over-grown path-side bushes.
5) At the end of the path turn left and be stunned by the brutality of a 1990s civil engineering under-pass decorated with the aerosol imagination of youth (presumably?) as the path goes under the A6. Take the path going left to be faced with a kissing gate
Photo B
6) After the kissing gate the path forks:
a) straight ahead (which takes you to the bird-watching “hide” for the wetlands) and b) right. Take the right turn
Photo C
walk along the dirt track for about 300 yards (in the distance you can see Sileby Church tower) to the next kissing gate after which there’s an abrupt bank. A red life-saving ring on a fence on the left confirms the correct location.
7) Bear left down the other side of the bank into the wetlands following a muddy path for about 100 yards to a path (of parallel 12-foot concrete sleepers) on the right which heads towards the Sileby Mill lock (The path to the left goes to the bird-watching lookout point).
8) Follow the concrete path (beware its unevenness) towards the river, crossing a strongly-flowing stream (from the weir below the main river) on an arched bridge and then a slate clapper bridge to the lock-side.
[Nearby and over the bridge crossing the lock and weirs towards Sileby you can visit the Sileby Mill to hire a day boat or buy an ice cream or cold drink (www.silebymill.co.uk/shop) or visit the Stowfledge Candlestick works (www.stowfledge.co.uk) where artisan artefacts can be bought]
9) Turn left and follow the path to the left of the lock. Continue the path (northwards) towards the arched bridge across the river. Cross the bridge and turn left following the riverside path to the first of four stiles along the river as the path crosses successive fields. Dependent on the time of year, the river walk offers the opportunity to see Grey Herons, Cormorants and Common Terns. The fields along the river are often populated with livestock. Please keep dogs on lead.
On both sides of the stiles the ground is often muddy and the stiles are to be treated with caution. At the end of the riverside walk a gate with no latch leads to a wooden bridge over the weir where Grey Herons often fish. Downstream from the weir can be seen the Essex Bridge. After the weir bridge the path is very uneven, often muddy and rather precarious during wet and winter months. The path goes under the A6 before a further kissing gate, prior to crossing two fields and two more kissing gates. As the Waterside Inn comes into view, prefaced by a sign, a small fenced garden (developed and tended by Canal & River Trust volunteers) can be seen just as the mooring area starts.
10) The Waterside Inn provides food, drink and toilets before heading back into Mountsorrel village via the canal-crossing hump-backed bridge, followed by the Peace Garden (on the left side) and a left turn into the Market Place.
11) The Buttermarket Cafe (in the Market Place) provides a further opportunity for food, drink and toilets. Continue along Leicester Road/Main Street to the Library and The Green. It might be the right time for a final cuppa at the Sorrel Youth cafe!
Prepared by Chris W. Berry (1st June 2017)