U3A WTT Ratby Stuart Galloway Route Summary A Short walk around Ratby starting and finishing at the Plough Inn, Burroughs Road, Ratby Route Overview Category: Walking Length: 4.310 km / 2.69 mi Last Modified: 5th April 2016 Difficulty: Medium Rating: Unrated Surface: Average Date Published: 5th April 2016 Description Starts and finishes at The Plough Inn Ratby Waypoints History of Ratby (52.64891; -1.24707) The oldest known human settlement in Ratby was at the Bury Camp on the edge of Ratby, an Iron Age encampment dating back approximately 3000 years. Later, the Roman army adapted the camp for use as a temporary fort in around 50 AD. The next oldest structure is the historic Church of St Philip & St James, called Ratby Church, built in four stages from the 13th through 15th centuries and restored by Nicholas Joyce in 1881. The church was appropriated to Leicester Abbey in 1291 and afterwards to Nuneaton Priory. There are also some cottages dating back several centuries. For most of its history, Ratby was a small agricultural village with a few farms and the open 3-field plan until enclosure in the 18th century. From 1346 till the 19th century Ratby was in the hundred of Sparkenhoe. In the 1830s the inhabitants were mainly employed in frame-work knitting; the population at that time was 1025. The chief landowner was the Earl of Stamford and Warrington who was lord of the manor and patron of the vicarage. 1 / 6 Wakes week is held each May on the same land opposite the Plough Inn. Here also is the Statutes Craft (Stattie}, the narrow path running from Stamford Street to the inn down which those presenting themselves at the hiring fairs would walk carrying the insignia of their trade. Other reminders of the past are the Mummers Play enacted in Ratby church on Plough Sunday and the Crow Pie Carnival. The Burroughs is a large open space managed by the Woodland Trust and forms part of the National Forest, formerly part of a deer park. Famous for swathes of bluebells in the spring. Turn left out of the car park towards Main Street. War Memorial (52.64834; -1.24541) At the junction with Main Street you will see the 20th century War Memorial called the "Angel of Peace". It was constructed after the First World War and unveiled in 1920 by the wartime British Army Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Haig. Turn right onto Main St and take a moment to read the display board about the Ratby Burroughs and the 2 / 6 village.Continue along Main St until you reach Berry?s Lane The Post Office Yard (52.64790; -1.24546) Here you will see Post Office Yard a group of five cottages built in a yard behind Main Street in the early 19th century. The name ?Post Office Yard? derives from the location of the former village post office on the north side of the entrance to the yard. A footpath used to link Post Office Yard with Berry?s Lane. This is one of ?Lost yards of Ratby? Continue along Main Street until the Co-op on your left Geary's Bakery (52.64676; -1.24486) The site of the old Geary?s bakery is now the Co-Op. Geary's were Champion Bakers of England for many years and long before people became diet and health conscious, Mr Sidney Geary was baking his famous Rearsby bread at the request of a Consultant at Leicester Royal Infirmary. This far-seeing doctor wished patients with dietary problems to be supplied with wholemeal bread. The junction of Station Rd and Mill Drive is the site of the old Ratby mill. Continue along Station Rd until you reach the Railway Inn on your left. Railway Inn (52.64367; -1.23640) 3 / 6 At the side of the pub is a footpath called the Ivanhoe Way which leads away to the East. This follows the track bed of the former Leicester and Swannington Railway. On 18th July 1832, the first locomotive operated from Swannington to West Bridge via the Glenfield Tunnel. This line ran east to west past the present railway inn. On the same day a mineral line connected Groby Quarries to the Leicester Swannington Railway at a turntable siding, half a mile east of Ratby road crossing. These 2 lines operated for 134 years until closure on 18th April 1966. The Railway Inn comprises of two units. On the left is a single storey building with a hipped roof above a bowed front. This was originally the crossing keeper?s cottage (see plaque on wall). It is now attached to a two storey house on its right. At first there were no stations on the Leicester and Swannington Line because coal was the main commodity. There was one wagon if there were passengers they were accommodated in this wagon some unfortunates rode on top of the coal. In 1832 Daniel Marvin was asked to provide a wharf and Joseph Freeman build a gatehouse at Ratby road crossing. The two storey building was attached to this building in 1833/4 and named ?THE WHITWICK COLLIERY ARMS?. This was probably because Robert Stephenson, chief engineer was the son of George Stephenson a part owner of Whitwick Colliery. The name was changed to the Railway inn in the early 1860?s. Despite the renaming the inn continued to be called ?RATBY WHARF? in both 1861 and 1871 Nothing remains of the Ratby station but its former location can be determined by following the line of the Ivanhoe way across Station Road to the forecourt of the warehouse opposite. The Station was on the North side of the line. At the entrance of the Ivanhoe Way there is a memorial to the former railway. It comprises an information board and section of wrought iron track carried on two to the original stone sleeper blocks. The Ratby section of the footpath is called ?THE COMET TRAIL?, because the first locomotive on the line was named the ?Comet?. The locomotive was 4 / 6 so called because it first journey coincided with a recent siting of Haley?s Comet. Proceed 200 yards, cross Taverner Drive and continue until you reach the M1 bridge. Proceed under the M1 bridge and continue eastwards until you reach the bridge which carries the A46 trunk road over Rothley Brook. From here follow the path to the North East alongside the western side of the A46. After 200 metres you will cross a small stream. Continue to walk beside the A46 until you reach the track of the former quarry line from Groby which is bounded by a double hedge. Railway Junction (52.65066; -1.22439) The junction between the Leicester and Swannington Railway and the Groby Quarry line was located the other side of the bridge. In the winter it is sometimes possible the remains of a low cinder-covered embankment and the bridge that which carried the former quarry one over a small stream. By 1834 the L&SR provided a cottage for the man who managed the transfer of granite. This was occupied until the 1970?s but has now been demolished. Head diagonally across the next field towards a waymarked stile and plank bridge mid- point in the next hedge. Cross the stile, turn left and walk to the next stile where you will join a wide track Groby Quarry Line (52.65038; -1.22658) The track bed of the former Groby Quarry line can be observed over this part of the walk where it runs 250 metres between 2 overgrown hedges. The Groby Quarry Railway under the ownership of the 6th Earl of Stamford was opened on 17th July 1832 to coincide with the start of the Leicester and Swannington Railway. The quarry plant was sold in 1847 and a new granite company formed as a public company in 1865 Cross over the wide track and enter the next field via the waymarked stile. Cross this field towards a stile and bridge over a stream about 100 metres to the west. Cross the stream and stile into the next field. Take the path westwards across the fields towards Ratby Church Tower until you reach the Footbridge over the M1. Cross the footbridge and take the first footpath on the right in the direction of the tower of Ratby Church. This will lead to Cottage Close. Turn left at the junction with Dane Hill, Take the alleyway to Church Lane and follow the route for the Lost Yards of Ratby. 5 / 6 6 / 6.