Days 5 to 7 of the #GreatCentralRouteBack was about following a track or the traces of one, not always walking. With a good map on which we had marked the course of the line we could tell when we were on it, near it or crossing over.
Day 5 I started walking at Onley Lane, South Rugby on a well maintained route called the Great Central Way. Maintained by the Wildlife Trust as a wildlife corridor it is an example of what the whole route could be. Butterflies, beetles, plants: it was just beautiful. Elegant bridges remain in place and extra oases for wildlife have also been engineered. The local Rotary Club have set up some art installations, including some sections of track, as if abandoned by Wallace and Gromit and the old Rugby Central Station getting a makeover.
I met Bob in Rugby and we had a snack in the new station. We then walked north out of the town on the next stretch of the line up to Newton Five Arches, also a Wildlife Trust site.
On Day 6 the traces of the track were less easy to follow, and there were a lot of nettles in places. Bob started at Newtown Five Arches, crossing the M6 near junction 1 (only a little more than 3 weeks since I was alongside junction 2). I started at Shawell, battling my way through the nettles to meet Bob. He carried on to Lutterworth back and forth to paths near the route of the line, while I drove to Lutterworth and walked the section north of Station Road (no station left). After that the line gets caught up into the route of the M1.
Day 7 was a different opportunity on the heritage Great Central Main Line railway from Leicester North to Loughborough Central. We had to change round the order of our days in order to travel on the GCML on a day when trains were running. It made a pleasant change to sit back and enjoy the route with steam or diesel. We made sure we sampled refreshments at each station.
Tomorrow we’ll be walking again.
From my remembered bible: My soul is restored.
Put me back on track.
From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.
Janet Lees, 27, 28,29 May 2022, Leicestershire.