Monday 5 June 2023 - Bardon Hill

Whilst Sue spent the day at a spa with her mum, I went to nearby Coalville, and parked near an Amazon Prime warehouse.

From here, a 15km circuit took me past a variety of quarries and the 278 metre summit of Bardon Hill, the highest point in Leicestershire.

In theory this should not have been a very attractive route, but once South Lane (pictured below) was reached, lush meadows and shady tree lined tracks dominated the scenery.

Beyond a field of buttercups, on the way to Old Hall Farm, an enclosed construction appeared in the distance.

Ducks played in a moat at Brook Farm, where I joined a route named the Ivanhoe Way for the ascent past a huge granite quarry.

 

A bridge took me over the 'enclosed  construction' referred to above - that proving to be two conveyor belts taking the granite in the direction of Bardon Hill Quarry.

There's also a roadway to cross - I suppose this comes in handy when the conveyor belts break down.

'English Nature' seem to be standing up for Aggregate Industries, even to the extent of putting up an information board. Apparently there are over 200 species of spider to be found here, and invasive rhododendrons 'will be removed by 2006'. So how old is the information board?

Approaching the summit, views open out over the Leicestershire countryside and massive trading estates.

Another old information board appears to have been cleaned within the last few years and it does inform us that quarrying has taken place here for many years, possibly as long ago as in the 1600s.

Click on this or any other images for a better view

From the trig point, the depths of Bardon Hill Quarry can be seen.

There are views from the trig point, but the actual summit is a little way away on a rocky tor just north of a communications mast. A willow warbler was singing on the summit.

After a while I descended north and wound my way back around the hill and down to Brook Farm on the Ivanhoe Way path. On reaching the main road, I left the Ivanhoe Way to cross the road and find my way around another large quarry at Stanton under Bardon.

Initially my path followed that of a disused railway line.

Then an overgrown section led to some open fields where harvesting the meadow was in progress, attracting hundreds of rooks and a brace of buzzards circling above.

Another buzzard flew from fence post to fence post, keeping a discreet distance ahead of me as I made my way through the fields.

My 15km route, from the red blob on the left is shown in pale blue below. (Click to enlarge.)

This gentle stroll was enhanced by the proliferation of wild flowers that graced the field edges and hedgerows as I passed by. Here is just a small sample - others, such as forget-me-nots have unfortunately had to be deleted due to camera incompetence on my part.

Dog Rose

Red Campion

Prickly Sowthistle

Hogweed

Common Hawthorn

Great Burnet

Lesser Hop Trefoil

Yellow Rattle, sown to inhibit grasses in favour of other wild flowers

Common Sorrel

Red Clover

Perennial Cornflower

Mouse-ear Hawkweed

Wild Strawberry

Cut-leaved Crane's-bill

Bramble (aka European Dewberry)

Oxeye Daisy