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 - take care.
[1] Turn left outside the Centre onto Woodbridge Road and then take the first road on the right, Berridge Lane
[2] Turn left at the end of Berridge Lane onto Bath Street
[3] After a short distance turn right onto the track signposted 'Watermead Park', passing the Amusement Depot. Continue forward on this main path to the bridge over the stream feeding the River Soar
Take care in this area - especially keep an eye on children in the proximity of water
[4] From the bridge take the main path straight ahead to follow the river round (the path next to the river is quite muddy and wet)
[5] Pass under the road bridge to enter Watermead Country Park. After a short distance take the main path on the right
During high rainfall periods the path in Watermean Park may flood
(A) Watermead Country Park is an area of disused and reclaimed gravel pits which were worked until 1989. The Park was developed for recreational use in the late 1980s and early 1990s and has recently been designated as a Local Nature Reserve. There are more than 12 lakes and a small number of bird hides.
[6] Continue for about 800 metres to the steps up to the Woolly Mammoth or continue for another 200 metres for access via grassy slopes facing Turnery Lake
The steps are quite steep and the grassy slopes can be wet and slippery - take care.
There is a variety of bird species on and around the lake - they are usually quite friendly but take care with children around them
(B) The Millennium Mammoth (aka the Woolly Mammoth) was built to commemorate the discovery of the remains of an ice age mammoth found when Watermead was a gravel quarry. The remains of other of ice-age animals as well as the Woolly Mammoth were discovered under a log in one of the extraction sites in the 1980s. Woolly Mammoths would have been common in this area between 10,000 and 150,000 years ago. .
[7] From the Woolly Mammoth retrace your steps to pass under the road bridge
[8] Take the path on the left, just past the bridge, and continue forward for a short distance and then turn right at the square post with the green plaque onto the short path leading to Oakland Avenue and continue forward
[9] Turn right at the end of Oakland Avenue onto Melton Road and continue forward
[10] After about 800 metres turn right onto Lanesborough Road and continue forward for about 400 metres
[11] Turn left onto Clarke Street and continue to its junction with Woodbridge Road to return to the start