The second day was always going to be more difficult, regardless of how long it was or how many more uppy downy bits there were. But I started off with high hopes, as a night’s sleep had more or less dealt with the stiffness in my legs and knees. I parked up outside the church at Stonton Wyville, was accompanied for a while by two lady joggers (who, for some reason, I kept pace with even though they were jogging).
The next village along was Glooston, which was the precursor to what seemed like a long walk along the road (a very straight and uppy type road). Nothing much more to say about Glooston – it has a pub, and a road closure. Sorry, people of Glooston for the lack of poetic descriptive prose concerning your village.
The path then skirted Cranoe, and thereafter, there were a lot of uppy downy bits. Made friends with more cows also. Hallaton is another of those expensive looking chocolate box type villages. Very pleasant with it though – the residents I encountered were friendly enough, and they have a duck pond.
It’s also one of those villages that make you wonder how a village that size can support two pubs, let alone a pub that includes a gift shop.
So, out of Hallaton, there were just the long three miles to Allexton. This is where things started to get tricky. A lot of ups and downs, some of them through fields of crops – the kind of crops that wrap themselves around your feet and slow your progress. They also do a great job in untying your boot laces.
Allexton was the halfway point, and is again, a tiny place – Allexton Hall, plus a couple of houses and a church. Very pleasant with it though, and just skirting Rutland.
I made the mistake of sitting down for lunch again – getting back up again was something of a challenge. My legs thought I didn’t need to walk any more, and were not cooperating when asked to do more.
Then, it was just a case of putting my head down, and walking the 7.5 miles back to Stonton Wyville.
It was, once again, a reminder of the wonderful countryside we have in Leicestershire though. I really haven’t been out to the south east of Leicestershire much (probably because there are no Scout campsites there), but it has some fantastic scenery, very pretty little villages, and great walking.
Follow me
