Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today Mick and I enjoyed an 8-mile circular walk from the Leicestershire village of Branston to Stathern, Eastwell, Eaton and back to Branston.

There was a chilly wind and it was a cloudy morning as we set off from Branston village. The forecast was promising with sunshine forecast.

We followed open farm tracks from Branston along the Jubilee Way, then joined Tofts Lane which then took us down the Belvoir escarpment, via a tree lined track, into Stathern village.

We thought we heard a cuckoo in the trees but, when Mick referred to his bird call App, it turned out to be a chiffchaff. There were some nice Bluebells in the woods – always colourful.

Walking into the village we paused at the information board and adjacent to it I was pleased to see the public telephone box being using as a library which makes a change from housing defibrillators.

Having been to Stathern previously, I knew that there was a popular cafe where I could get a nice bacon and egg bap, so we headed there.

The cafe also serves 200 degrees coffee, which is an excellent coffee. 200 degrees coffee was a start up company in 2012 and grew to have shops all over England. They were bought by Cafe Nero in 2024 but 200 Degrees still successfully operates under its own brand name.

After our break – my bacon and egg bap was delicious -we headed out of Stathern passing through the grounds of the picturesque St Gulthac’s church.

We left Stathern along a track – Pasture Lane -which is on the Cross Britain Way and spotted unusual black and white sheep along the way.

Turning off the track we crossed fields and as we climbed slightly had extensive views across the Vale of Belvoir. The fields were dry – no signs of any mud!

Having crossed the fields we ended on a road and had a short , but perilous, section of walking uphill against speeding traffic. Pleased to be off the road, we crossed more fields to arrive into the village of Eastwell and blue skies. We paused at a bus shelter for a break, where a passing horse rider bade us a good morning.

After the short break we walked past the modern village hall and at the end of the village headed across fields once again with wonderful views of the countryside.

We met a runner who informed us that he runs marathon’s and ultra-marathon’s – he did look fit. Soon, we were crossing a field of oilseed rape with its vibrant yellow flowers.

Arriving into the village of Eaton we walked along its narrow hilly roads from one side to the other.

The church sits in a dominant position over the village and we noted the steeple was scaffolded out, presumably for some maintenance work. The walk had been quite undulating and we continued in this vein as we left Eaton and headed for Branston. Eventually the route levelled out and we had a flat walk back into Branston arriving through the grounds of the pub – ‘The Wheel Inn’.

The grounds of the pub are extensive, with a large carpark and a marquee for holding events.

The weather forecast had been correct and it had nicely sunny for most of the walk.

It had been a lovely walk and it was nice to enjoy the fine spring weather.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶