Fourteen members took part in this gruelling (OK, perhaps just to me) 6¼ mile trek around north west Leicestershire, including two new starters; Tony Golden and Mike Billetop who between them brought the average age down by about 3 years. Alan Lee joined the party for lunch and restored the age balance a bit.

START POINT The Hollybush Inn, Melbourne Lane, Breedon on the Hill.

DIRECTIONS to Breedon:
For those coming from the north, leave the Ml at junction 23A and take the A42 South towards Ashby. Take the first right turn onto the A453, but almost immediately you turn onto a minor road to Tonge and onto Breedon. You drive through the village passing both the Three Horse Shoes and The Lime Kilns On your Left. You then come to a small Green on your right with a round stone monument. Turn right here and the pub is ahead on your left. The car park is immediately after the pub.

From the south you take the Ml to junction 22, turning onto the A511 to Coalville and through to Ashby. An alternative is the A447 up to the A511. Before entering Ashby you come to a large roundabout and still heading for Ashby you quickly come to another round about, where you turn right to Lount you then follow the signs to Breedon. Shortly after entering the village you pass a golf club on your left and turn left at the village green with the round stone monument. The pub is just ahead on your left.

WALK The walk is number 4 of four walks described in a leaflet published by the Leicestershire County Council and is the purple route on the map above (click on it to see a large version). (The other walks are 2 miles, 7 miles and 3 miles)
There are 13 stiles along the walk, each inscribed with part of a quotation from Hilaire Belloc (if you're walking south to north) and by John Blunt (north to south). But then everybody probably spotted that on the way round.....

Lunch was very good; definitely one for the gourmets not the gourmands among us.

Click here for some photos of the day.