Autumn Quarry Route and Our First Geocache!

Another beautiful autumn day and another walk in the National Forest! We love this area of Leicestershire so much, we're starting to become regulars! Shorter than usual at just 4.3 miles but a couple of short, steep inclines and it got quite hot in the sun!

Starting in the lovely little village of Stanton-Under-Bardon we parked up in the pub car park (of course!) and then set off up the road through the village and take a left at the Post Office and onto the footpath across a field. Then into the woods, you can turn left or right here and do a loop of the quarry, we went right and up the hill to an interesting view over a working quarry. Be aware if you're going during the week as there may be blasts and heavy machinery. The woods are lovely and very colourful at this time of year, lots of leaves to kick through.

Geocaching at Billa Barra Hill

After a bit of research since our last walk we decided to look into Geocaching, which is essentially treasure hunting. The finder searches for 'caches' at certain coordinates which contain a log book and sometimes trinkets or collectables. After a bit of searching around we found our first geocache at Billa Barra Hill. Note to self: Take a pen next time.

Back up the lane and there's a nice track that goes down an old disused railway for a couple of hundred metres. We turned left when we got out of the trees and back up the hill to overlook the quarry again on one side and Coalville on the other. The track skirts round the fields, some were fairly freshly ploughed and a bit rough underfoot, but on the whole it is easy going. Walk down to the road, just to cross the quarry entrance, and then back into the fields. Follow the hedgeline as you circumnavigate the quarry, you can tie up your loop by joining up where you started, but we turned off down past the electricity sub-station a crossed a couple of fields to do an extra bit through some more woods before heading back into the village of Stanton-Under-Bardon and popping into the Old Thatched Inn for a finishing pint.

Rugby World Cup comes to Leicester!

As I am not a football fan, this is likely to be the closest I will get to reviewing a game at Leicester City Football Club's King Power Stadium. The Rugby World Cup has come to the home of rugby football (almost: the town of Rugby is 21 miles away in our neighbouring Warwickshire) so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the world's greatest sport (in my opinion) at home.

Leicester has always had a big rugby following, our beloved Tigers are the pride of our city, so it was natural for some of the matches to be held here. Unfortunately the organisers deemed our Tigers ground on Welford Road too small for such an occasion so 3 matches were held at LCFC's King Power stadium instead.









We started our afternoon in the pub (as usual for our outings), heading to The Counting House  on Freeman's Common. A decent pub with local ales and countless sports fans which is handily located within a car park and just a short walk down the tree-lined avenue to both the Tigers and LCFC stadiums.

I have to say the King Power (formally Walkers') Stadium is a decent venue despite the exorbitant price of beer. Very easy to navigate and despite the down-pours we managed to stay dry under the roof. We had the honour of seeing Canada take on Romania in the first stage of the 2015 World Cup, it was a close match as the teams were very equally matched but Romania managed to steal a couple of points right in the last few minutes.

The atmosphere was great, a good mix of Tigers shirts, Canadians and Romanians all cheering for everyone. Rugby fans are always good natured in my experience and this was no exception. Good game for both teams and a great afternoon out. For those who were celebrating into the night it is merely 10 minutes walk to the pubs and bars of Leicester, failing that it is not far to the train station where you can be in central London in a little over an hour.

Autumnal Woodland Route at Ratby

It's been sometime since our last jaunt around Leicestershire, thwarting our beautiful county to our Derbyshire and Gloucestershire neighbours. Sorry! But as Autumn falls and changes our leafy-green countryside into a watercolour wash of reds, golds and orange colours we couldn't help heading out for another local stroll.

A fairly easy 5.45 miles this time. Not too many hills and, of course, the all important pub stop. There's a small, free car park down Burroughs Road, Ratby, where we started our journey. Walk down the lane, through the woods until you reach a clearing and can turn left onto the footpath. There are lots of paths you can take through Burroughs Wood but we chose to turn away and up towards the golf course. The path is easy and clear and as there had not been rain for a while it was mostly dry.

The colours were wonderful under the trees but for some inexplicable reason I didn't take any digital photos (when I get my film camera developed I'll try and remember to upload some from this walk). The sun was bright overhead, apparently a perfect day for golf as we walked through the course. Turn an abrupt right once you reach to top end of the course. Unfortunately, this path was less well trodden and slightly overgrown, but we managed to pick the last of the blackberries (for a very tasty crumble once home). There was a very informative sign at the edge of Old Hayes Farm which we scooted around and then crossed the fields to Top Farm, through the yard to the left and over a few more horse-filled fields to a large duck pond (no ducks).

Turn right so you walk round the pond and through the trees past another farm yard and more horses. A short incline gives a good skyline view over our great city and then, hugging the hedgeline, make your way all the way back down to Burroughs Road. There is lots of scope to extend this walk as the area is teeming with foot paths, but for us the destination was The Plough pub at the top of the road where is was just another short trek back along the road to the car park.

At this time of year is it important to dress appropriately, as said above the tracks were mostly dry but at times there were muddy patches that needed navigating and as the fields had recently been ploughed it can make going a bit tough (especially on the ankles).