Still in celebration of the blog's 13th birthday, I'm very lucky to be able to share with you another guest blogpost, this time about the Loughborough countryside as experienced by walking groups, and how this compares with walking in the countryside elsewhere.
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| Walking group in Loughborough |
A long-standing friend recently moved from a picturesque black and white cottage in a hamlet in Herefordshire, to the metropolis that is Loughborough!
Many years ago, Rod took up the challenge of training as a walk leader for what we would probably today call ‘wellbeing’ walks, and led many walks in and around the countryside close to his home. When the initiative came to an end, Rod and some of his walking chums decided they really wanted to continue walking, and so the Monday Milers was born, and the group of friends would set off every other Monday on a 2-hour walk. Each month, Rod wrote a short article about the walks for the local village magazine, which sat alongside many other articles which showcased the wide variety of activities taking place in the village.
As you probably know, I’m a bit of a walker myself, so when Rod moved to Loughborough, I was keen to make sure he joined a walking group, and inundated him with information (not just about walking groups!) – probably far too much information all in one go!! Anyway, he has become part of the Active Charnwood walking group that meets at Gorse Covert, and has even done the training to become a walk leader!
As you can imagine, walking in our area is a whole lot different from walking in the Herefordshire countryside, but, as we know, Loughborough is surrounded by countryside, nature, and interesting sights, and I think Rod has found some Loughborough walking routes that are actually very appealing.
But, I’ll let him tell you about his experiences himself …
My name is Rod and, as Lynne says in her introduction, I have recently moved to Loughborough. The move was prompted by the need to have a bungalow and to be nearer to family for more support as my wife and I grow older. It was a tough decision to make as it meant leaving behind lots of dear friends and loads of activities that were really enjoyed. It also meant leaving a small rural village in Herefordshire and moving to the relatively large town of Loughborough, a seemingly small step but a massive change to our way of life. So, how did I cope? Well, one thing I was very involved in was a walking group and so it was important to me to continue this activity for both physical and mental health reasons.
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| Rod's walking group on one of their walks |
As a bit of background, I retired in 2008 and at that time my practice nurse suggested (I suspect that she thought I was a little overweight) that I might like to help with leading walks for guests at a local hotel. I hadn’t walked for walking’s sake for many years however I found it very enjoyable and relished the exercise, fresh air and the opportunity to chat with other walkers. Very soon afterwards this nurse was instrumental in implementing the national Walking for Health scheme in our village and asked me to train as a walk leader. This scheme proved very popular and continued for many years until sadly disrupted by Covid and the need to stay at home and isolate.
Once we were released from the restrictions, the group wished to pick up our routine again. On this occasion, we decided to walk as an informal group of friends rather than under the rather bureaucratic regime of Walking for Health. The group named themselves the Monday Milers and flourished. Rather obviously, we walked on Mondays every couple of weeks and, as fitness improved, we found ourselves walking further and on more challenging routes. Although we generally walked in the immediate area of our village and its surroundings, we did sometimes drive out to a more distant start point and walk from there e.g. the Malvern Hills or the wild daffodil trails around Newent and Ross on Wye. I took on the unenviable task of writing a report of our activities for the monthly village magazine, the Fownhope Flag. I always tried to make that factual but interesting, and tried to expand people’s perception of the environment on their doorstep.
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| A February walk around the River Wye |
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| February trees in Herefordshire |
Inevitably, we had some odd incidents on some of the walks, sometimes amusing, other times worrying. On one occasion, on the Malvern Hills, one person had a boot mishap when the sole became detached and was flapping around like a clown’s shoe. A hasty look through bags and pockets enabled a temporary repair with string and spare shoelaces. I took this to heart as I could see how serious this could be on rocky or mountainous terrain and so always carried a roll of gaffer tape after that. Amazingly, the tape was called upon a further twice for similar repairs on subsequent walks.
On another occasion, we decided to split into two groups part way round our walk, the walk leader taking some on a short cut home while the rest of us did the longer route. After half a mile or so, I realised that the leader's black labrador had come with us by mistake. I said “come on George” to him and he happily trotted alongside for several miles back to the car park. The leader was sitting on the boot of her car, and I called out to her “don’t worry, I have George here”. To my horror, she said, “Oh no you haven’t, he’s in the back of the car”. We had inadvertently “dognapped” this poor labrador and had to spend hours trying (thankfully successfully) to locate his owner.
On a more sombre note, we did have a lady with chest pains while out on a walk, we took her to the GP and she ended up having a triple heart bypass, and another lady who tripped on a stone, fell on her knee, carried on as if nothing had happened and subsequently found she had broken two bones in her knee and was on crutches for six weeks. Walking can be very enjoyable but can also be hazardous: you have to be prepared for the unexpected!
Anyway, I now have fresh horizons to explore, and Lynne has been very diligent in researching suitable walks for me to try. The most convenient and favourite for me now is the Gorse Covert group. This is an amazing group; they lead four separate walks every Wednesday morning. There are also a series of summer walks, somewhat longer distances, I haven’t tried those yet but fully intend to soon. I know from my experience how much effort goes into organising and carrying out such a programme. I have been on the 10.40h walk about ten times to date, this is the longest of the Wednesday walks and generally lasts about an hour and a quarter. The route varies but always starts for the Dishley Community Centre by Morrisons. Attendance is impressive, there are generally 20 to 30 participants on that walk alone. I am still a little hazy as to where we go, being new to the area I don’t recognise many landmarks and so I rely on my companions telling me about things en route.
Having said that I do remember that the Gorse Covert group has walked around Dishley Pool, Garendon Park, Booth Wood, the Obelisk, Pear Tree Lane, Stonebow Bridge and, of course, the Black Brook.
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| Crossing Stonebow Bridge, July 2026 |
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| Enjoying the views and the company, July 2026 |
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| Trees in the Loughborough countryside, July 2026 |
I know Gorse Covert is quite high with some far-reaching views and necessitates a bit of an ascent to reach the top but really walking around here is a lot easier on the legs. It was quite difficult to organise a circular route in my old village without some fairly stiff climbs, so Loughborough probably suits me better as my body begins to show its age.
As always, one of the most enjoyable and important parts of group walks is the social interaction, chatting to people, getting to know their background, experiences and stories; priceless. Consequently, it is all too easy to get to the end of a walk and find that you hadn’t paid much attention to where you were going and the sights and scenes you passed, you were engrossed in conversation. It’s the same everywhere, Loughborough, Herefordshire, town or country, it’s a valuable aspect of walking in groups and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Another interesting topic is the terminology for passages between houses/gardens. In rural Herefordshire this didn’t really arise, there are lanes, green lanes and perhaps alleys in more urban areas. I was brought up in Birmingham and there we called such places Gullies. So, I was a little confused when people here started talking about going down this Snicket, what on earth were they talking about? I soon realised that it was the local dialect for a passage between fences. More confusing was when others talked about going down a Twitchell. A little research showed this to be another word for such places but perhaps of more Nottinghamshire origin. Interesting.
One thing I do miss is the magnificent scenery of the Wye Valley. It’s not possible to replicate that of course but my son and his wife have taken me on walks around the Outwoods and I have to say the terrain and woodland there is very reminiscent of my old home area and there are some splendid views. The only thing missing is the mud, I’m used to a lot of that, but I expect it will soon reappear once this prolonged dry summer passes and we get back to our usual rainfall pattern. Of course, I think the East Midlands is noticeably drier than the Welsh Marches so it will be interesting to see how the mud compares, perhaps I won’t need to clean and dubbin my boots quite as often.
Family walk towards the Outwoods, June 2026 (courtesy of FH, with thanks)
I am looking
forward to doing more walks in the area, getting increasingly familiar with the
sights and history and perhaps I will be able to share my thoughts and progress
with you in future blogs.
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Thanks Rod! Looking forward to taking you up Beacon Hill soon - maybe before the approaches get too muddy, so you can save on the dubbin! - Lynne
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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for
typos which are all mine!
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