This route can be found online at www.leicesterwalk.co.uk

Information
Distance: 4 miles Time: 1h 20 m
Suitable For: All walkers Terrain: Undulating, many stiles, can be muddy
Difficulty: Quite Easy OS Map: Explorer 245
Starting Point: Car Park at Billa Barra Hill (468112) Parking: Car park at Billa Barra Hill
Toilets: Petrol Station at nearby roundabout Refreshments: None
The Walk
From the car park, walk out onto the road, and turn left, up to the junction. Here turn right, onto Cliffe Hill Road. After a short distance, turn right onto the footpath, which goes up some steps, over the dismantled railway line, and down the steps on the other side. Continue as the footpath turns into a road behind the houses, with the allotments on the right, and then bends round the the left. As soon as you have turned left at this point, turn right, continuing behind the houses along a track, eventually reaching a footpath which goes off to the right and into the trees. Follow this footpath, as it goes over a bridge, (signposted "Quarryman's Way")  ignoring the turns to the right, and go uphill, bending around to the left.

Follow the edge of the Quarry, going along the top of fields, and ignoring the footpath off to the left, and eventually walking under four sets of power lines before coming out next to the Quarry Entrance on West Lane.

Cross over the railway bridge, and the Quarry Entrance, and walk along the pavement until you reach the junction with South Lane on the right (just after the ponds). Walk along South lane, until the end, where there is a footpath sign, pointing straight on, between a house and a field. Walk along this path, which goes along a raised disused railway embankment, between the trees, until you come out on Billa Barra Lane. Walk straight on, along Billa Barra lane, until you reach a footpath sign on the left. Go over the stile, and up to the summit. From here, you can return straight down the hill, to the car park at the bottom.
Map

Map produced for Leicesterwalk by Daniel Spencer - 19/01/03
Grid References
In this day of increasing technology, quite a few walkers have GPS Systems with them. These 6 figure grid references are the ones I used when I did the walk.

(All are SK)

  1. 468 112
  2. 469 109
  3. 466 105
  4. 448 108
  5. 453 115
  6. 458 116
  7. 162 113
  8. 468 112

Author's Comment

I walked this route on a January afternoon, and it was quite windy up on the top of the Quarryman's Way part of the route. However, the views over the surrounding countryside made up for this. The Quarry on your right is hidden for most of the journey, although, at the point when you can see it, it is interesting to look at the different rock layers visible in the opposite side of the quarry.

The view from Billa Barra stretches across to Bardon Hill (the highest point in Leicestershire) and far beyond, to East Midlands airport. In the other direction, the village of Thornton can be seen, as well as Bagworth and Stanton under Bardon.

Please contact me if you have any queries or comments about this walk!