Distance: 8 miles, 4 miles there and 4 back, but you can make this as long or short as you wish
Parking: On road near where you wish to start
Family Friendly: Yes
Pushchair/ wheelchair access: Yes in places, probably not in winter
Facilities: No
This Ashby Canal is a lovely walk, you start with the hustle and bustle of Hinckley, with all the traffic and factories, but you soon leave this all behind and get lost next to the water.
I love house boats, I think they are gorgeous. They’re all different and as unique as the person who owns them, so I love the opportunity to look at them as I walk by and imagine what it would be like to live in them.
I got on to the canal at the Wharf Inn in Hinckley and walked to Dadlington. I was intending to go further, but didn’t make it this time.
If you carry on the canal path I was on this takes you all the way to Shenton, site of the battle of Bosworth. This is a lovely place to walk and one I think I will do soon.
The nature of identifying anything was slightly different on this walk, as you only have things that grow at the side of the water or the hedge next to you. But, we did manage to find some species.
Species Identified
Broad-Leaved Dock – Rumex obtusifolius
This is a wonderful member of the dock family, that lovely plant we search for when we have been stung by a stinging nettle. This particular plant has long elongated heart shaped leaves that are rough to touch and slightly curled at the edges. The leaves are alternate and the stems of the leaves wrap around the main thick stem. The stem is banded. It produces clusters to green to green/pink bulbous looking flower heads.
Stinging Nettle – Urtica
We all know this plant right! Interestingly the female of this family has the white and green flowers, as pictured above. These flowers hang down in a long cluster of small heads. The male of this species has flowers that are yellow or purple. So, there you are, you can now sex a flowering stinging nettle! You’re welcome! These plants are tall, with spines up the stem, on the underside of the leaves and on the edges of the leaves. The cocktail of poison in the nettles is still largely not understood. But we all know they sting, your skin swells and you spend the next couple of hours trying not to scratch it!
The leaves are toothed at the edges.
Spotted Dead-Nettle – Lamium maculatum
This is a member of the mint family. It looks similar to the purple dead-nettle, the difference here is that the flowers are above the leaves and there are no purple leaves. This looks very similar to a stinging nettle, but this does not sting, the leaves are soft to touch, like a fur or down over the top and bottom of the leaves. The flowers are beautiful, with purple flowers. Almost pea or orchid like.
Spear Thistle – Cirsium vulgare
A lovely tall thistle, with heavily lobed leaves, each leaflet terminating in a spine. There are fine and large spines running up the stems. The flower head is spiny looking with a purple tuft of flower on the top, when in flower, this one has flowered and so now all that remains is the spiny globular head.
Garlic Mustard – Alliaria petiolate
This is a tall herb, the leaves are a lighter green colour with a toothed edge. The herb is hairless and leaves are soft with visible edges. When in flower, this plant has small white flowers with 4 petals. They form small clusters on top of the racemes. These are visible in these photos, but there are no flowers now. If the plant is brushed it smells like garlic.
Creeping Thistle – Cirsium arvense
A lovely thistle that has a complex root system allowing it to spread with easy, and can become a problem in agricultural landscapes. It is tall with slender stems. The flower heads have spines leading up the bracket and a pink to pink purple flower head on the top. The leaves are long and have multiple lobes, each lobe terminates in a spine. The spines do not reach up with the stem.
Tufted Vetch – Vicia cracca
This is a lovely member of the pea family. It has purple flowers that droop over the thin and delicate stem that it is attached to. The leaves site below the flower head cluster and tendrils are curled off the end of the leaf. The pinnate leaf has opposite pairs of leaflets. The stems looked ridged and are lightly downy.
If you would like the watch my Vlog for this walk, you can find the link below
Here are some extra photos of the walk
