Cropston to Swithland

Now that I am intent on circumnavigating the city of Leicester in a series of circular walks I realised that I needed to go back into the Charnwood Forest one last time to fill a small gap in my route. Having completed a loop that took in Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir and another that circumnavigated Swithland reservoir I needed to do a circle between the villages of Cropston and Swithland. So on Saturday I drove back in to the Charnwood Forest for one last time.

I parked the car in Cropston village and headed north west across fields of plastic covered crops. The soil was a poor clay with large fist shaped pebbles and the occasional shard of slate. In the distance you could hear the steam trains of the Great Central Railway. One field later and I came across this square pond. At sometime in the past somebody dug this. I wonder how long ago it was? Perhaps it was an old fishpond associated with the nearby Swithland hall. Maybe it was a freshwater reservoir for the village of Cropston before the main reservoir was built. Who knows

Whilst cutting across the fields you could see the hills of what would have been the last walk if I had completed this walk in sequence. One of the foothills of Bradgate Park (on the left) hides Old John. On the right of the photo is the hilly mound of Swithland wood. Though it wasn't really raining there as a large amount of precipitation hanging in the air, obscuring the views of more distant hills.

This is the 15th Century Market Cross of the nearby town of Mountsorrel. It now sits in the grounds of Swithland Hall which was just off my route.

The walk cut through a series of small pockets of woodland. These are the last vestiges of the forest of Charnwood. The land between Cropston and Swithland was recognised for its agricultural potential well before the rest of the forest was cleared. Maps from 1754 show this area as the Swithland enclosures.

The path joins the road at Swithland before turning off again into the heart of Swithland wood. The buildings here are all built from slate that has been mined here since the 14th century.

At this point looking to the north east reveals what would have been the land of the next walk, if I hadn't already walked it. The now low profile of Buddon hill and Buddon wood can be seen. The red sides of the quarry crater just visible above the trees.

Swithland wood is where a large amount of the Charnian slate came from. The large pit in the centre of the wood has been in use since Roman times.

The path leaves the wood and after a field of pasture joins the road and heads east past the car park to Bradgate Park and onto the dam of Cropston Reservoir. It was built 1867-1872 after the deforestation and surveying of the area in 1840s.

The river Lin that I followed the other day into Quorn flows into and out of Cropston Reservoir. I then followed the road back through the village back to the car.