This inner city walk has a number of busy roads, please take care when crossing and walking beside them. Use pedestrian crossings where possible.
Some of the pavements and paths are uneven in places and some may have cars parked on them - take care.
[1] Turn left outside Woodbridge Road Surestart Centre.
[2] After 100 meters turn left into Berridge Lane and continue forward on Claremont Street.
[3] At the end of the street turn right onto Checketts Road.
[4] Cross over Loughborough Road at the pedestrian crossing and continue forward on Vicarage Lane.
[5] Continue down Vicarage Lane, you will pass a church on your right and shortly after this a path marked with a green sign reading Belgrave Hall Conservation Area. Turn right onto the path and continue forward with the River Soar (A) on the left.
(A) The River Soar is a tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands. It rises near Hinckley flowing into the Trent near Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire. According to legend, the body of King Richard III of England was thrown into the Soar after his death. The bridge carrying the A47 across the Soar at Leicester is known as 'King Richard's Bridge'. It is believed the name "Leicester" is derived from the words castra (camp) of the Ligore, meaning dwellers on the 'River Legro' (an early name for the River Soar). In the early 10th century it was recorded as Ligeraceaster ("the town of the Ligor people"). The Domesday Book later recorded it as Ledecestre.
(B) You are now entering the Belgrave Hall and Belgrave Gardens Conservation Areas. The Hall was completed between 1709-1713 and is a Grade II listed building. It was built for Edmund Cradock, a wealthy hosiery merchant, who died soon after its completion. The gardens are a site of special historic interest and were created at about the same time. It is rumored that ghostly apparitions have been seen in the Hall.
[6] Continue along the path for 400 meters as it slopes downhill. Then turn right to gain access to the play area.
[7] Exit the play area onto Thurcaston Lane and turn right. Bear left at The Talbot. You will see the main entrance to Belgrave Hall on your right. Continue along Thurcaston Lane to the traffic lights.
The museum is free to enter and worth a visit. The rooms inside are set up as they would have been in the 18th Century and there are activities for families too.
(C) On the opposite side of the road, at the crossroads, is the former Belgrave School, now in use as offices., and built in Mountsorrel granite. Note the Jubilee Clock dated 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
[8] Cross Loughborough Road and continue forward onto Bath Street.
[9] Turn right just after Bath Street Glass and continue forward onto Fieldhouse Road.
[10] Cross Berridge Lane onto Woodbridge Road to return to the Centre.