The Ivanhoe Way is a 35 mile circular walk around the north western area of Leicestershire. The route is split up into 7 sections, therefore making it easy to walk as a series of short strolls. The sourthern section of the route, from Bagworth to Shackerstone overlaps with the Leicestershire Round, the 100 mile walk around the county which connects many places of historical and geographical interest.

The name 'Ivanhoe' has been linked to the north west of Leicestershire since Sir Walter Scott wrote his novel 'Ivanhoe' in 1820. Scott chose the castle at Ashby de la Zouch and the surrounding countryside as one of the settings used in the book, having got to know the area whilst staying at nearby Coleorton Hall.

The north west of Leicestershire is an area of contrasts, from the bustling, historic market town of Ashby de la Zouch, through the wooded and rocky outcrops of Charnwood Forest, to the idyllic stretches of the Ashby Canal. For centuries the area has been marked by quarrying and coal-mining. Many former mining sites have been reclaimed and restored as part of the creation of the National Forest.

The Ivanhoe Way was created by the Leicestershire County Council, in conjunction with the Leicestershire Association of Parish and Local Councils, to celebrate the centenary of civil Parish Councils in 1994.

Ordnance Survey Explorer map 245 (The National Forest) show most of the route in detail, though map 233 (Leicester & Hinckley) is needed for the start/end of the walk at Shackerstone.

Traveline provide information on local bus services via the website or by telephoning 0871 200 22 33 (10p per minute landline, mobiles charged at operator's standard rates).

Go Leicestershire is the official site for tourist information including details of accommodation available. In addition the new National Forest Youth Hostel is next door to the Ivanhoe Way at Moira.

Yell.com can be searched for details and location maps of pubs, post offices, grocers & convenience stores and other accommodation in or near specific places on the Ivanhoe Way

Ashby de la Zouch Grid Reference SK365173. The route leaving Ashby heading east may be slightly confusing. Having left North Street and crossed an area of open ground, the path crosses a track and re-enters the built up area. The footpath should then fork, with the left path running along the edge of the development and becoming a bridleway running along behind a warehouse. This left path is the Ivanhoe Way. After the Warehouse it crosses the Ashby bypass which is not marked on the Ivanhoe Way leaflets. The right fork runs along a residential cul-de-sac Plantagenet Way then crosses the bridleway which follows Featherbed Lane.

Heath End near Staunton Harold Grid Reference SK 368 214. Going north/clockwise near Calke, the path from Ashby meets a lane. Go straight ahead via the V shaped squeeze stiles through the edge of the garden of a large private house. After the entrance gates to the drive to this house, the OS map shows the footpath going right into a field, in which it skirts round the corner, and then comes out onto the drive to Staunton Harold Hall - quite near where the drive reaches the public road. This footpath in the field corner doesn't exist on the ground. Instead, at the end of the house driveway, you need to go out onto the roadside verge for a short stretch (you are briefly in Derbyshire) and then go into the Staunton Hall drive from the very end.

Dimminsdale Nature Reserve near Staunton Harold Grid Reference SK 376 218. The route comes through the Dimminsdale Nature Reserve. If heading east/clockwise follow the path through the reserve, then turn right onto the road which bridges over the end of the reservoir and then leads to the Severn Trent visitors car park. The official line of the footpath heads in a more easterly direction straight through the bottom end of the Reservoir. The OS mark the footpath as going that way but there isn't actually a ferry! One day the footpath will be officially moved. If heading west/anticlockwise, follow the road over the bridge then look out on the left for the pedestrian entrance to the Nature Reserve. There is no official footpath sign as this is only a permissive path and is just inside Derbyshire.

Peggs Green west of Thringstone Grid Reference SK 414 181. The maps on the leaflet show the footpath coming out on the main Nottingham Road through Peggs Green, following the road south for 130 metres, then turning left onto a footpath. This is the route which is signposted. Some OS maps mark the path going virtually straight across the road to follow a path opposite which is not the signposted route. Other OS maps show the route here correctly.

Agar Nook on the east edge of Coalville Grid Reference SK 457 142. The map on the leaflet suggests the route uses a lane on the very edge of the built-up area rather  than following the public footpath (some of which is along residental roads) through this area. The signs where the footpaths leave the road indicate the footpath is the Ivanhoe Way and this is the route now recommended. Some OS maps shows the route along the public footpath, though some have been altered to the originally published route!

Bagworth Loop Grid Reference SK456085. Users of the older OS Explorer maps may be puzzled, upon reaching a footpath junction, just south east of a property named Bagworth Park, to find signs for the Ivanhoe Way pointing in two directions. The Ivanhoe Way leaflet includes two options here. The latest OS Explorer map does show both of these routes. The main Ivanhoe Way route continues straight on, under the railway line, directly into Bagworth,

The alternative route, turning right, follows the route of the former Bagworth Incline, then crosses the current railway at the site of Bagworth station and follows Station Road down through the village. It rejoins the main route at the T junction with Main Street/Barlestone Road.

If you have any comments or information to add please email footpaths@leics.gov.uk