This ride is our on our doorstep, it comprises of cycle paths, B class and unclassified roads. Market Bosworth is inextricably linked with that most famous of English battles, the Battle of Bosworth Field, where Richard of York finally did give battle in vain. A memorial in Richards Field which is past on the ride, marks the location where King Richard III died, - a scene immortalised by Shakespeare's line 'a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse'.
The award winning battlefield visitor centre tells the full story and brings those far distant events back to life. The surrounding area is also blessed with other attractions including the heritage steam railway 'The Battlefield Line' which has several crossing points over the Ashby Canal plus of course the lovely picturesque town of Market Bosworth. All this awaits you from the saddle of your Brompton pedal cycle.
The beauty of this ride is that it can be made longer or cut shorter depending on the time you have available. A quick study of the OS Map sheet 140 will soon set the area and items that appeal to YOU most. The route we normally ride is just under 20 miles.
Leaving home we are quickly riding on a gravel path doubling up as a local nature reserve for plants and wildlife, many butterflies etc are seen buzzing around, this leads to a cycle path which runs along the perimeter road the A47 which feeds into our local town. The gravel path is very pleasant at all times of the year with flora and fauna in bloom. It runs behind the football ground the home for Hinckley Town FC and Hinckley Town Rugby club plus Hinckley Cricket Club are located here. Alas its not Griffin Park home of the mighty Brentford FC whoops sorry, yes it's my birth right to support the Bee's and ride a Brompton!!.... Start point OS map sheet 140 map ref 445960
The cycle path is followed for around 2 miles passing the Windmill pub, Morrison's and Halfords if any provisions are required en route! There is also a drive in/ sit in McDonalds if that takes your fancy!
Turning right onto Wykin Lane map ref 411952 and two and half miles into the ride, places you immediately into the rolling Leicestershire countryside, a series of downhill left handers and right handers reminds me of the mountain stages of the tour de France! well in my dreams anyway! I have on occasions leaned over to far and scrapped my pedal on the road, I sure you have all done the same.... note to self - must stop pedaling when cornering fast!
Passing the popular fishing lake to the right hand side which is always a joy to watch as many a fine specimen of Chub and Carp are often caught allegedly!
Very quickly you are approaching the Ashby Canal and need to turn right at map ref 397953 towards Basin Bridge, cycling adjacent to the Ashby Canal is a lovely experience as there are always canal narrow boats on the move or moored up, see picture below, arriving at Basin Bridge approx 4 miles into the ride. Time to dismount the bike and take stock of the scenery. I am sure we all have local rides where we say "all this on the doorstep and just a few miles from home", well that is one of those moments. If we remembered, this is the point where we feed the ducks if we have brought bread for them! normally left on the kitchen work top!
Ashby de la Zouch canal runs for approx 31 miles which connected the mining industry in the north of the County to the canal system in the south at Coventry. More info can be found at www.ashbycanal.org
Continuing along the route you join the national cycle route 52, then Immediately to the left you will notice a large embankment, to the un-initiated this is just another grass embankment but oh no it's more than that. map ref 385965
This is one of large embankments that make up the speed test track for MIRA Proving ground (motor industry research authority) briefly it used to be RAF Lindley during the war years but later developed to test civil and military vehicles. Back in 1957 it had large freezers where cars were tested to see how they performed in Arctic conditions, cars were also crashed in their crash lab and rebuilt. In 1992 Chris Boardman and team lotus produced together a bike in the 'wind tunnel' to ensure it was streamlined for the Barcelona Olympics, it paid off as he won gold! More info can be found at www.mira.co.uk
Still pedalling on unclassified roads you quickly come to an open fields to the right which make up a private flying club, on occasions light aircraft can be seen landing or taking off, that must be so much fun. I think we will stick with the Bromptons and our feet firmly on the ground.
Suddenly before you know it, at around 6 miles into the ride your in the battlefield area, in fact our route takes you right past White Moors car park, map ref 385992 which is where the House of Lancaster under the command of Henry Tudor the Earl of Richmond encamped his forces prior to battle. I often wonder being an Ashford Middx boy, would ,I have been a member of his army as Richmond was so close to my birth town!
The area is quite flat and soon your Brompton with tyres whizzing along the tarmac takes you into Shenton, this is a lovely hamlet and very quaint. There is a farm building that has been converted into an antiques centre which is worth exploring. Located here is also a nice cafe and toilet facilities, just over 6 and half miles this could make a good stop and soak up the atmosphere.
From the antique centre map ref 385000 you cycle past Shenton Hall on the right and Shenton church on the left, both beautiful buildings, we keep meaning to stop and have a closer look at theses, one day we will. Picture below of the church.
Less than a mile down the road in Shenton you cycle under a large aqueduct map ref 392007 made from blue engineering bricks holding the water in for the Ashby canal above, those builders were so clever. Picture below. As you cycle under the Aqueduct you can turn right and shorten the route but you would be missing out Market Bosworth!. So we are turning left and taking you further on unclassified roads following the path of the canal then turning right past Coton Priory map ref 394023 over the Steam railway line map ref 391021 and into Market Bosworth village centre.
There are 5 lanes and roads into and from Market Bosworth, we are taking you along the gated road towards Sutton Cheney map ref 406029. Being a gated road we have yet to meet a motor vehicle along this minor road!, as you cycle towards Sutton Cheney the hill at 127' is quite steep, no problem on our M3L but you do get a sweat on it has to be said! Sorry ladies do not sweat, they perspire sorry! anyway this would a doddle on our M6R next time. At this stage your about 11 miles into the journey.
Arriving at Sutton Cheney you turn right into Ambion Lane map ref 415005 and cycle down hill towards the Battlefield Information Centre map ref 404001. However its along this road, both on the left and right hand side, where the other army encamped before the battle, namely House of York- King Richard III of England. I wonder what both sets of soldiers would think if we could turn back the time to 22 August 1485 and see us on our Bromptons whizzing past!
Turning left from Ambion Lane you cycle up a steep hill onto Ambion Hill where the visitor centre is located. Its near here that you can find King Richards Well, where he is reputed to have had his last drink of water on the last day of battle. At this point you have cycled around 13 miles. More information can be found at www.bosworthbattlefield.com Here you can take the escorted tour of the battlefield along the battle front of just over a mile walk and hear from the experts exactly what happened to turn and make history of our fine kingdom.
Cycling out of the Visitor centre and turning left takes you to a T junction near to the blue engineering brick aqueduct, you can turn right and first left and return the same journey, however we are taking you left and withing half a mile you arrive at Shenton Station on the heritage steam railway line, map ref 396004. At this station you can find a nice cafe, a local potter and toilets. if your lucky you can see the steam engines running and indulge on a ride back to Market Bosworth to buy those bargains you ummed and arrhed at!!
We continue along the flat traffic free lanes past Ambion Wood (scene of the battle) over and past the Ashby canal where we have animals for company from local farms.
You quickly arrive at the cross roads with Fen Lane (old roman road) map ref 398988 where our journey takes you straight on into Dadlington. There was another army involved in the war of the roses in 1485 the Stanley army, Lord Stanley had his forces camped here. I can see why, there is a lovely pub here called the Dog and Hedgehog! Here we sometimes turn left and cycle a longer way home but the more scenic route we are showing you is to turn right and down a hill (for the mountain tour de France moment again!) at the bottom of the hill as it turns left, the lane is adjacent to the Ashby Canal where nice pictures of the Bromtpon can be taken with the canal and narrow boats as a back drop. Setting off again, you ride a fairly steep hill into the lovely village of Stoke Golding. This is where the Stanley armies reinforcements were camped led by William Stanley. I have never found out who's side they were on, the York's or Lancaster's, may be they just stayed in the pub instead, like Dadlington, there are some nice pubs in Stoke Golding! Note to self - must learn more of the local history......
Cycling through Stoke Golding is about 15 miles into the ride, we now cycle towards Wykin village past local farms and back to cycle path on the A47 near Hinckley. For the motorcycle enthusiasts amongst us, the Triumph motorcycle factory is one mile to the right along this cycle path or A47.
From this point it is possible for a very short detour ride into Hinckley town centre where in St Marys church, is a wonderful coffee shop where the church ladies bake their own cakes just like mum used to make!, there are three cycle shops in the town if you felt the urge to browse, sadly none selling our beloved metal.
However, we now turn left and retrace our schwalbe marathon plus tyre tracks, back along the cycle path back home passing the The Windmill Pub and shops. Average journey of 20 miles will have been clocked up. We are so lucky to have this gem on our door step with so much to see and steeped in history.
We hope you have enjoyed 'our local' ride and that it has given you a taste of what is awaiting you if you decide to pedal in our neck of the woods.
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