[1] Start from Station Road car park and proceed to your right until you pass the Railway Hotel. Take the drive on your left and then the footpath to your right between the buildings. Cross the A50 and follow the path beside the brook until you can turn left by an underpass below the A46 and cross Rothley Brook by the bridge. Some of these paths can be very muddy.
The A50 is a very busy dual carriageway. Take great care when crossing
[2] Continue forward to the gate in the hedge and then follow the field boundary up to the Groby - Anstey road. Follow it to the right towards Anstey for a few yards then turn left through the gate opposite the cemetery. Go up the slope following the path, part of which once formed the medieval road from Ulverscroft Priory to Leicester.
At the top of the field paths cross but you go straight ahead, keeping the hedgerow to your right. Crops may require a detour round the field boundary but the path actually goes straight across the field. Above you and to the left you should now see Sheet Hedges Wood at the corner of which another path crosses yours (which you should ignore). Carry on, keeping the wood on your left. You now come to a gate, which takes you into Sheet Hedges Wood.
(A) Part of this 30 Hectare medieval ancient woodland dates from 1086. The whole wood is now a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and is rich in native tree species and spring flowers.
[3] A few yards into the wood, as another path joins from the right, by the seat, stay in the woods and take the often muddy path to the right (our route follows the white signed walk). Gradually you will descend through hazel and ash trees to a small footbridge. Cross this and follow a fenced path to the right and round a cultivated field. Go up the hill to the gate at the top, just after the grassy area. Turn left out of the gate and down the slope for about 80 yards and then take the path to the right down through the car park (which is now closed), passing oaks on your right, which are about 200 years old. Carefully follow the road left (Newtown Linford Lane) towards Groby for 400 yards.
This is a very busy country road which has a number of tight bends resulting in very poor visibility of traffic. Take great care and observe the highway code.
[4] Take the signed path to the right from the bend on the road from Sheet Hedges and just before Groby Pool. Go through the gate to follow the old access road past Barn Hill, Black Spinney and White Gate Quarries
(B) Groby Pool, at 15 hectares, is the largest sheet of natural water in Leicestershire. The pool area is owned by Hanson Quarries and has been a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) since 1956 and supports a wide range of plants and animals.
At the second gate turn left down to the stream and over a plank bridge, following the yellow posts up the slope with a low dry stone wall on your left. At the top of the hill leave by the gate in the corner. Follow the narrow path behind the houses until you come out onto the A50. Turn right and go to the pelican crossing in order to cross the A50.
[5] Turn left after crossing the A50 and take the path to the right just before a small industrial estate, on the apex of the road bend. Go up through the gate into Martinshaw Wood and take the well-defined path to the left until you reach a path crossing yours by the wood boundary and school grounds. Turn left here and come out onto Woodbank Road in Groby.
To shorten the walk by 1 mile from Groby Pool, take the footpath on the right, just past Groby Pool and head for Groby Church. Pass under the A50 and turn left by the church onto Leicester Road. Continue on the road right through the village of Groby until you reach the roundabout and turn right up Sacheverell Way. Rejoin the route at [7] by turning left at the entrance to Stamford Memorial Park to join the footpath to Glenfield that crosses the A46.
[6] Turn right (downhill) and cross the main road into the lay-by and go up the steps. Turn right to pick up the path which follows the track of the 1832 Groby granite railway line. At the end turn left onto Sacheverell Way and continue up the hill.
[7] After a few hundred metres take the path to the right which goes over the A46. Cross the fields to rejoin Barrow Lane. Continue to the end to join Kirby Road. Turn left and then right at Glenfield Square to return to the start.