Ivanhoe Way - Leicestershire Circular Walk

Distance: 36 miles
Time: The Ivanhoe Way challenge is to complete the route in under 15 hours.
Terrain: A wide variety of terrain - open country and crop fields, hills, woodland, canal towpath, dismantled railway, road and the odd housing estate.
Starting location: Anywhere en route, suggest Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire [location map]
Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 245
My last walk: 7th and 8th August 2010

The Ivanhoe Way is one of Leicestershire's long-distance paths, created by Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire Association of Parish and Local Councils, to celebrate the centenary of civil Parish Councils in 1994. At 36 miles, it's possible to do in a single day, but in mid-summer if you want to do it all in daylight. it's also possible to do as a series of shorter walks.

Ivanhoe Way Challenge 2011 - If you'd like to join an organised group and raise money for charity at the same time, you could join the third Ivanhoe Way Challenge on Saturday 18th June 2011. More about this event

The largest towns the route passes through are Ashby de la Zouch and Measham. They're fairly close together and will be the best places for topping up on provisions. Ashby has a large number of shops and public toilets (at the bottom of the town close to Somerfield supermarket), and the route passes the front door of Measham's Co-op convenience store. Ashby may be a convenient place to start / finish, as it has good car parking.

The route passes convenience stores at:

The route is clearly marked on Explorer 245. Pubs en route are also shown on the Explorer map. There's also a good guide available from Leicestershire County Council. This used to cost a pound, but I see that it's now free - unfortunately not available for download - you have to contact them or visit one of their TICs for a printed copy. It's also well worth printing off a copy of their web page as it lists some erata and updates to the maps and leaflet. http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/environment/countryside/walking/ivanhoeway.htm

Here are my own comments which I'd add to Leicestershire's list.

And my tips.

blog posts about this walk:

Walking calendar

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