Anstey Parish Walks

There is one main walk in the Anstey area: 10km (6.25miles).  There are two optional shortcuts making shorter routes of 2.5 miles or 5 miles.  .The walk starts from the free public car park which is off The Nook, the roundabout and shopping area in the centre of Anstey.

Where is Anstey? The location map. Anstey is about 3 miles to the north of Leicester.

The Saxon village of Anstey was mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It is known for Nedd Ludd, a half-witted Anstey lad who smashed machinery in protest against the Industrial Revolution (1811-1816), giving his name to the Luddites.

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The Route

From the car park, walk back to the roundabout, and head straight over, out of the village, towards the A46. Take the second right and continue to the end, then cross the Packhorse Bridge (built in the 15th century to provide easier access with Leicester).

1. Before you reach the approach for the A46, turn right into Mill Farm and take the footpath through the farmyard. (There has been a mill on this site since 1306). Cross the Mill Bridge and cross the field diagonally by the pylon. At the far side of the second field, do not cross the stile, but walk left with the hedge on your right. Follow the path over three fields to the bridge over the brook. Do not cross, but turn back and take the other path back across the field towards the cemetery.

2. Cross the stile and walk with the hedge on your left to reach Groby Road. Continue to the path on the other side and follow this up hill. Once over the stile turn right along the hedgerow, at the end of the field go over the stile onto the enclosed track. (To cut the walk short, take the stile to the right and follow the footpath to Bradgate Road and turn right to return to Anstey village centre).

3. Take the stile to the left, and follow the hedge on the right. Turn right to the corner of the open green area, known as Top Green. Manor Farm on the Green is Anstey’s oldest existing building.
Pass over the green to the road and turn left towards Newton Linford. After 200 metres take the bridleway on the right and follow this up hill. Here you will see distant views of Bradgate Park and Old John. On meeting a footpath, turn left and follow it across the fields towards the ruins of Bradgate House. Go down a short slope, cross two stiles close together and through a gate into Bradgate Park. The ruins in Bradgate Park are well worth a visit. Bradgate House was the childhood home of Lady Jane Grey, who became Queen for just 9 days in 1553.

4. Once inside the park boundary, bear right to another kissing gate, leading to a narrow field. Take the stile in the top right hand corner and follow the enclosed section of path into the field, which you cross keeping the reservoir on your left. The view of Cropston Reservoir through the trees is very picturesque and a bird watchers paradise. The reservoir was built in the mid-Victorian period. Turn left through a hand gate, following a stoney track onto Causeway Lane, Cropston. (Half way  along this track is a footpath to the right. To cut the walk short, follow this back to Anstey).

5. Go straight ahead at the crossroads towards the Bradgate Arms Public House and turn down the lane to the right before the pub, leading to a small housing estate. Bear right along the road to a T junction. Cross the road and 50 metres to the left a footpath leads to open fields. Follow the footpath diagonally left across the field to cross an ancient packhorse bridge and climb up the track towards Anstey Lane, and Thurcaston.

6. Turn right along the road for 400 metres and as the road bends to the right, go left along a footpath. Shortly after leaving the road, take the path on the right and follow the brook to King Williams Bridge. The bridge was built for William III’s journey, when he visited the Grey family in Bradgate Park in 1696. Cross the bridge and on reaching the road, turn left to return to the centre of the village.