Narborough Parish Walks
About
Narborough
Narborough and Littlethorpe are situated six miles to the south west of Leicester.
The River Soar and the Railway bisect the two villages.
Narborough is a very old village. The name means “north fort” or “defended site”.
It is believed that in Saxon times, the name referred to a defended house north of Croft. This may have
played an important part in the running of an estate, which comprised Narborough, Huncote, Croft, Sutton,
Cosby and Littethorpe. The estate probably began to break up in the 10th century and isolated farms
became centralised, forming the villages we know today.
The late eighteenth century was a period of rapid building in the Parish of Narborough.
Following the Act of Parliament of 1752 to enclose the medieval open fields, the landscape rapidly began
to assume the appearance we see today.
Recently, many new building developments have changed the appearance of Narborough
and Littlethorpe. It was the Enderby and Narborough District Plan, 1981, which allowed extra development
in Narborough, and changed it into a small town.
For a fuller history of Narborough and Littlethorpe, we recommend Mr. R.P Jarrett’s
book “Narborough and Littlethorpe, a Revised Parish History”.
Traveline which allows users to search by postcode and places of interest. There are other features including detailed maps of the journey, walking distances and public transport timetable downloads.
About
the Walks
- There are 3 walks in the Narborough area: 2 x 2 miles and a 3.5 miles
long
- All start from the Public car park, Desford Road, Narborough
- All
of the paths are waymarked.
To order a paper copy
of
the Parish Walk leaflet to be delivered to you, please email
customerservices@leics.gov.uk
or telephone 0116 305 8160 quoting the leaflet you want and your name and address.
The
Routes
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Walk 1 3 1/2 km (2 miles), allow 1 1/4 hours, easy walking, flat
surfaced paths, only one set of steep steps.
P public car park near the Council
Offices, Desford Road
From the car park use the pedestrian exit onto School Lane opposite the Robjohn
Hall. Turn left and follow the lane to the church. Take the first kissing gate on your left.
A
Follow this path (the Black Pad). Nb. There is a large children’s play area just
before reaching the bypass). Cross the Narborough by-pass via the pedestrian crossing and continue
to where the path ends at Forest Road.
B Turn right along Forest
Road, then left into The Pastures. Continue past The Woodlands Unit. Turn left into Hardwicke Road,
then before the Copt Oak pub turn right into Copt Oak Road. (There is another children’s
play area on this corner).
C At the end of the road, take the
step up onto Whistle Way and turn left along this raised path.
D At
the first bridge, follow the path down to the right and on to Huncote Road. Turn left and continue to
meet the main Coventry Road. Cross this into Leicester Road and back toward the village. At the roundabout
go straight over to return to School Lane.
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Walk 2 3 1/2 km (2 miles), allow 1 1/4 hours, easy walking, flat
surfaced paths
P public car park near the Council Offices, Desford Road
Use the pedestrian exit onto School Lane opposite the Robjohn Hall and turn right.
At the mini roundabout go straight over into Coventry Road. Continue to the B4114 traffic lights and
turn left.
1 Approximately 800m down the road a footpath leads left
across the railway line, before turning left along a hedge, past Lodge Farm to enter Littlethorpe. The
path becomes Oak Road, continue along it, crossing Sycamore Way, until it reaches Biddle Road.
2
Turn right and immediately left onto Rucklington Street. To return to the village and the start
point stay on this road which becomes Station Road.
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Walk 3 5 1/4 km (3 1/2 miles), allow 2 hours, a mixture of farmland
and hard surface paths
P public car park near the Council Offices, Desford Road
From the car park use the pedestrian exit onto School Lane opposite the Robjohn
Hall and turn right. At the mini-roundabout take the road on the left towards the Station, then first
right into Station Road. Follow the road until just before Haybarn Close then take the footpath on the
left. (* The route of the footpath from here under the motorway to Whetstone has been diverted to follow
the river, not as shown on the map above).
i Almost doubling back
on your route, the path turns sharp left to follow the left edge of the field towards - and through
- a small wooded area, and then follows the River Soar under the motorway. The path then turns right
to follow the Whetstone brook on your left through several fields to the old railway embankment. Cross
the stream and follow the path adjacent to the embankment to reach Station Street.
ii
Turn left at the end of the lane and go through the gate on the right. With the hedge on your
right follow the path to a railway crossing. On reaching the Enderby Road, turn left.
iii
After 200m turn left along a footpath and follow the field boundary. Cross over the old packhorse
bridge, then a concrete bridge over the River Soar. Note: a small play area at this point. After the
stile turn left and the path leads you to Abbey Road. Bear left then up the hill to the main road.
iv
Turn left and follow signs to Narborough and continue down Leicester Road through the village
to your starting place.
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