This route takes you through some lovely countryside to the north of Rutland Water, and includes a stretch alongside the reservoir and a couple of charming villages.
[1] Set off down Wheatsheaf Lane, to the right of the Wheatsheaf pub (SK930144). At the fork, bear left along a path beside a stream. Soon, cross a footbridge and head gently uphill. Before long you join a track alongside the Greetham Valley golf course, with a hedge to your left at first, and then to your right.
[2] Waymarks lead you past the Greetham Valley Hotel, through the car park, down the drive past the hotel’s smart Lodges (on your left), then past a lake. The path continues south through an attractive wooded valley (ignore paths to your left and right), leading to Fort Henry Lake. On the far side is Fort Henry.
(A) Fort Henry is a mock-gothic folly built in the 18th century for the Earl of Gainsborough. It belongs to Exton Park, a large English country estate that has been the home of the Noel family for almost 400 years.
Continue past the Lower Lake and, at the conifer plantation, bear right to cross the stream and carry on to the road. Turn left, and take the next footpath on the right heading south-southwest. When you reach the path junction at a stile, cross and bear left (passing the wood on your right) to the road. Turn left down to Empingham.
[3] Keep ahead at the crossroads down past the church (which is worth a look) to the A606. Bear right and take the first left, Nook Lane, soon leaving the road along a footpath between houses signed for Rutland Water. This route, which is part of both the Rutland Round and Hereward Way, leads you across fields to the north end of Rutland Water’s great dam. Go through the Sykes Lane car park and follow the surfaced track (also used by cyclists) on the north side of the reservoir to the Whitwell car park.
[4] Turn right along the road and, where it bends left, keep ahead along the lane, bearing right past the church then left to the A606. Cross and turn right, then left at the Noel pub along the path signed for the Viking Way and Exton. Go up the drive, through the gap in the fence and up some steps on the left. Thereafter the path to Exton is straightforward. At the junction, carry on down to the village.
[5] Keep ahead and, after passing the Old Pump House with its tiled roof on your left, bear right along West End. Follow the Viking Way north, first on a bridleway, then a footpath, back to Greetham.