U3A WTT Stuart Galloway

Route Summary

Thringstone to Whitwick return

Route Overview

Category: Walking Length: 8.440 km / 5.28 mi Last Modified: 5th April 2016 Difficulty: Medium Rating: Unrated Surface: Average Date Published: 5th April 2016

Description

The walk starts at the Bulls Head, Rd, Thringstone LE67 8LR. (A512).

Waypoints

Start The Bulls Head (52.75889; -1.36260)

1 / 7 The walk starts at the Bulls Head, Loughborough Rd, Thringstone LE67 8LR. (A512).

At the top left corner of the car park - follow the waysign to the old railway track turning right under the railway viaduct. Follow the path onto the disused line.

Charnwood Forest Railway (52.75765; -1.36047)

The Railway was opened on the 16th April 1883 and ran between Loughborough, , Whitwick and . It became known as the ?Bluebell Line?, due to the spring carpet of bluebells in the Grace Dieu Wood. In 1885 the railway was declared bankrupt. Regular passenger trains ended in 1931, the last goods train ran in 1955 and the line finally closed in 1963. It was the transport of coal and stone from Whitwick to Lough-borough which had been the main purpose of The Charnwood Forest Line. Goods trains would have been a more common sight.

At the end of the track turn right then immediately left on to Grace Dieu Rd, continue on this road until it becomes the City of Three Waters at the foot of Dumps Hill. Follow the road up the hill over Grace Dieu brook and railway track bed to North St. Turn left and follow the path towards Whitwick. Continue past the church until you come to the Whitwick Railway station on your right.

Whitwick Railway Station (52.74084; -1.35663)

Whitwick railway station was on the which was constructed by the Charnwood Forest Company between 1881 and 1883. This branch line ran from Coalville East (joined to the Ashby & Joint Railway (ANJR)) to the town of Loughborough, at the Derby Road Station. Whitwick railway station still has surviving structures, the platform and the old station building, now the home of the Whitwick Historical Group, while the railway track bed towards Coalville has been turned into a footpath.

2 / 7 Head back up the road towards St John the Baptist church and take the path into the grounds of the church.

St John the Baptist Church (52.74133; -1.35730)

The St John the Baptist church was probably an adjunct to the castle nearby. The Tower is from the 12th century and the remainder from about 1300. At this time Whitwick was an important settlement and the church was the Mother Church for outlying villages as far as and . The church underwent extensive restoration during the 19th Century.

Whitwick (52.74090; -1.35517)

Whitwick was first mentioned in the of 1086 as a village called Witewic, which could either mean a white farm or dairy farm. Whitwick Castle was probably built between 1135 and 1154. It was heavily fortified sometime between 1199 and 1216 during the reign of King John who owned the manor at that time. It changed hands a number of times; the Hastings family owned Whitwick Manor for nearly 200 hundred years finally selling it in the 19th Century. Nothing remains of the castle today only the mound and the clue in the street name - Castle Street.

Whitwick was granted the right to hold a Market by Royal Charter signed by Edward 1 on the 6th June 1293. The market continued into the 20th century until eclipsed by Coalville market. Nearby street names indicate the importance of the village - Market Place, Silver Street, Skinners Lane. Mining at Whitwick was first recorded in 1204 and was still going strong some 600 years later. Whitwick Colliery was opened on the outskirts of the parish by engineer near Long Lane in 1824; now the site of Morrison's supermarket. There was a mining disaster on 19 April 1898 in Whitwick Number Five Pit, which resulted in the deaths of thirty five men. One man was found on his knees clutching his rosary beads, the youngest fatality was just 13 years old.

3 / 7 Continue down Cademan Stret and Castle Street

Three Horses (52.73980; -1.35320)

Miners worked long and hard resulting in a huge thirst to quench. It is said there were some 39 public houses in the village at one time. Our walk takes us along Castle Street to the Three Horseshoes (Polly?s) on Rd near the junction with the City of Dan, an open area where the Whitwick Colliery winding wheel stands. The pub retains many of its original features.

Stop here for refreshment. They do not serve coffee/tea but worth a look to see how were in the day.

Turn back and walk along Castle St into Cademan St.

Whitwick Industry (52.74193; -1.35502)

Cabbages were used to decorate the lampposts in Cademan St during the annual fair known as the ?Cabbage Street Wakes. There is a blue plaque on a house in The Hockley denoting the importance of Framework Knitting.

4 / 7 Although agriculture (keeping livestock on common land in Charnwood Forest ), was the main source of income in the early years, by the 18th Century the cottage of industry of knitting saw Whitwick boom and in 1844 it was recorded that Whitwick had 423 knitting frames for a village that in 1676 only had a recorded population of 483. By 1851 this had declined to 240 with the opening of knitwear factories. There are several surviving examples of framework knitters' cottages in the village, which can be recognised by elongated first storey windows, designed to allow greater inlet of light. A good example of such a cottage can be found at the foot of the Dumps. Large hosiery factories appeared on Church Lane and at the top of the Dumps, shortly before the First World War.

In addition to the usual village trades, Whitwick also once had three mineral water factories including Beckworth?s which opened in 1875 and closed in the late 1970?s. There is also known to have existed a ?Botanical Brewery?, believed to have been part of one of the other mineral water manufacturers, Stinson or Massey.

Another thriving cottage industry was the manufacture of trinkets from alabaster quarried in Chellaston . This was known as Ornamental Spa Manufacture, locally nicknamed the bauble industry. Candlesticks and eggcups made in Whitwick reached worldwide. The industry had died out by the turn of the 20th Century due to cheap imports from Germany.

Turn left into Parsonwood Hill

Holy Cross (52.74272; -1.35577)

On the right you will see the Holy Cross . The ornamental tower of the Holy Cross Catholic Church did not appear on the skyline until 1904. Whitwick had only received a parish priest in 1859 as a response to the influx of people from Ireland to work in the mines. Prior to this Whitwick Catholics were served from the nearby Mount St Bernard?s Abbey.

Continue along Parsonwood Hill to Loughborough Rd, turn right and then left onto Swannymote Road and turn left to return to Thringstone through Cademan Wood and re-join the disused railway line to .

Grace Dieu Viaduct (52.75887; -1.35894)

5 / 7 Canal and Grace Dieu Priory (52.76076; -1.35535)

En-route we will cross the opened in 1794. The route cut right across the priory precinct. It was never an economic success, and the main reservoir burst its banks in 1799. By 1804 it was derelict. The railway embankment used much of the canal?s route. Follow the footpath to the ruins of Grace Dieu priory.

Roesia de Verdon founded the priory as an Augustinian religious house for nuns? c.1239-41. It was dissolved in October 1538. By 1730 only two sections of the priory were still roofed.

Take the footpath across the field and stream (be careful on the stepping stones) back to the Bulls Head for their excellent carvery or all day breakfast.

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