September 14 2021 update.
The report to Leicestershire County Council is now on this website.
June 19th update
The Great Bowden Parish Footpath Survey ended on 31st May 2021 and the report of our findings has now been completed and sent to our County Councillor. He has forwarded it on to the County Council footpath maintenance team and so we hope it will be a useful check list for any repairs and additional signage that is needed
We included everyone’s comments in an appendix as we felt it added to its authenticity and also acknowledged the hard work of the walking team. Many thanks to everyone who took part and sometimes endured really wet and difficult conditions during the autumn and winter months.
The report will shortly be added to this website under the Fields, Routes and Borders section.
April 7th 2021
The weather is still playing havoc with our plans. The very cold northerly wind is not pleasant to face on a walk but at least it has dried up some of the fields despite yesterday’s snow and hail.
We have developments to report. There are two wooden bridges on the A44 footpath north of the Pears Factory on Leicester Road. The first is a small bridge over a ditch at the boundary of the factory land. The second is a larger wooden bridge on the Leicestershire Round Walk north of the by-pass, going over the brook (known as Tocroft brook in the 14th century. I don’t know its modern name - can anyone help?) This bridge has been at a precarious angle since last year and after a recent complaint made on 25th March both bridges have been totally replaced. See the before and after photos .
Please let me have any completed walks as soon as you can. Deadline is 31st May. As we are having success at reporting faults I may turn our “report” into more of a booklet describing different aspects of each path, and send the County Council a brief report of any outstanding faults. We can also include historical facts and theories as some of these paths are very old.
This booklet could be useful to people who are new to the area and who may not know all the local walks. Please let me have any positive experiences or sights of wildlife as spring progresses. On 31st March when we discovered the new bridge over the Tocroft brook we had just been watching skylarks soaring above us and above the new bridge were many rooks noisily making adjustments to their nests. The birds totally blotted out any noise from the distant by -pass.
Rosemary
March 6th 2021
Spring survey forms are being sent out following requests to the volunteers on the list. Some field footpaths, particularly those across ploughed fields are still very sticky and probably best left for a few more weeks. The pasture paths are better although get wet very quickly after rain as the ground is sodden. Currently there are very few animals other than sheep in the fields and so the ground is not churned up.
Currently the COVID restrictions still apply and so walking is restricted to couples and small family groups. No larger groups walks can be organised.
1 February 2021
Originally our plan was to walk every footpath, byway and bridleway in the Parish of Great Bowden during the autumn and winter 2020-2021 and to report any major problems with access or with the state of the routes to Leicestershire County Council who are responsible for the upkeep of these paths. Our original finish date was to be 31st March 2021.
Unfortunately we hadn’t anticipated such a wet autumn and winter and although every path has been walked several times it has been decided to extend the finish date to 31st May and walk all the paths again in April and May or even in March if we have lovely spring weather and the ground dries up considerably.
So join us in the Spring and walk off the lockdown pounds!
Walkers for the spring 2021 walk will be equipped with the same survey form as for the autumn walk but we will add a brief description and relevant comments concerning problems already encountered on each path. This will give us a chance to review things and see if there have been improvements or deteriorations during the winter. With so much rain it will be useful to see if wooden stiles, gates and bridges have deteriorated. We will then report to the County Council and also to the Parish Council and the group who will be carrying out a review of the Neighbourhood Plan next year.
Keep Safe
Walkers are walking these Rights of Way as ordinary members of the public and are not covered by the Heritage Group’s insurance. We do urge people to keep to the route, take care and wear adequate clothing and particularly adequate footwear as many of the fields are very muddy and possibly icy. Also anyone doing the walks for the survey or just for exercise should bear in mind, if accompanied by children or dogs, there are un-gated footpaths crossing the by pass and soon there will be cattle, horses, sheep and chickens in some fields.
The parish Rights of Way vary in length and difficulty. There are some short ones that more or less keep to the village and others that take you out into the depths of the countryside. Some paths cross ploughed fields which is why we have called a halt at the moment. Mud in the ploughed areas and deep water at field gates are not pleasant even for the most dedicated walker.
What we're looking for...
The sort of problems we are noting are: broken or damaged stiles, gates, bridges, overgrown / overhanging vegetation, obstructions and litter, eg fallen trees /branches, damaged or dangerous path surfaces, damaged or missing / misleading signposts. Please report urgent problems to Leicestershire County Council. Search Where to Walk in Leicestershire (and then follow the links).
Covid
Now we get to COVID. We feel that this is activity is safe for as long as we are allowed to take walks but with certain precautions. Please walk individually, in couples or permitted small family groups. Land owners and farmers have been requested by the Govt. to leave field gates open on footpaths where there are no livestock present. Please leave gates as you find them. If you need to open a gate or climb a stile please use hand sanitizer afterwards. In the unlikely event of a queue at a stile please keep at least 2 metres away from other people. Take a face mask and mobile phone and possibly gloves - just in case.
If you want to take part in the survey please get in touch and we will send you a list of routes and relevant survey forms.