Stathern and Belvoir Castle, 18th January 2026

Paul led 12 members on a 9-mile walk starting at the junction of Main Street and Red Lion Street in Stathern.  The route took us up through Coombs Meadow and around Combs Plantation to join the Jubilee Way on the Belvoir Ridge.  After admiring the fine views to the north across the Vale of Belvoir, we reached Reeded Cottage, a 19th century gamekeeper's house on the Belvoir Estate, before dropping down off the Leicestershire Wolds escarpment to head for the Engine Yard and the entrance to Belvoir Castle for lunch.  We then rejoined the Jubilee Way back towards Stathern via Tofts Hill.

The start

Coombs Meadow

Coombs Meadow

 These meadows have spectacular views across the Vale of Belvoir and the Trent Valley. The nature reserve is 14 hectares of steep and sloping fields are permanent grasslands managed by grazing.

 Colonel Francis Hacker, 1605–1660

 Near this site stood the hall or farmstead of Francis and Isabel Hacker. Hacker was a prominent soldier in Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentary Army and one of Cromwell’s closest confidants, rising to the rank of colonel.

Beacon Hill

Jubilee Way

Belvoir Castle

Lunch near the entrance to Belvoir Castle