A circuit around Daniel Hayes

Walks in and Around Ashby This walk takes in the beautiful area around Daniel Hayes, which is situated just outside Ashby, not far from Smisby.
The name Daniel Hayes is thought to be a derivation of Dene Well, coming from Valley Spring and the site of this ancient settlement dates back 8,000 years to the Mesolithic period. Evidence of stone age man has been found and the track which you follow around the hill dates back as far as 1260.
The paths are fairly well marked though the path around the back of the farm buildings and through the young woodland was a bit lacking in arrows. Some of the stiles have stock fencing around them meaning dogs may need to go over rather than around. There is a very short section alongside the road at the start.
This walk takes around an hour and a half
Leave Ashby via Smisby Road, continuing straight over the roundabout for the by-pass to take the B5006 towards Ticknall. Continue for about 1 miles to pass Elm Farm and the entrance to Daniel Hayes on your left. There is space to park a short way after by the entrance to a track, just before the bend.
Walk a short distance back down the verge alongside the road and turn right into the drive to Daniel Hayes. Go through the narrow metal swing gate and follow the footpath arrow straight ahead, going on up the driveway. Just before the gate at the end, turn left and go through a wooden gate into a field. Keep to the right across the field towards a small, fenced pond in the right hand corner. Go through a small gate to the left of the pond and follow the footpath arrow down to join a track. Turn left onto the track and almost immediately right off it to go up the bank and through a wooden gate beside a large tree. Follow the yellow footpath signs by the field edge to pass around the back of the farm buildings and then across the field to a stile beside a field gate.
Cross the stile to enter an attractive area of young, mixed, woodland. Follow the obvious path which leads straight ahead, and remain on this through the woodland, it is crossed a couple of times by other paths, before dipping downhill to reach a stile at the boundary of the woodland.
Go over this stile (it has a handy dog flap at the side), and into a field. Follow the path which starts along the right hand edge of the field and then follows the contours of the land to curve around the edge of the hillside gradually becoming a more obvious track. Keep an eye out for a plaque set into the bank on the left (opposite a metal gateway leading to a conservation area) which tells you a little about the history of the site.
After passing the plaque on your left, carry on ahead, down the wide, grass, track which continues to follow the contours of the hill around. Pass over a series of three stiles by gateways, the second and third of which are very close together. After these keep on along the track for a while longer but look out for a small yellow footpath arrow set on a low post by the right hand hedgerow.
Following this arrow, leave the track over a stile into a field. Go downhill along the field edge to cross another stile and enter Sharps Bottom Wood. There is a wide path through the wood, crossing by a small pool before going uphill, bearing left. Continue along this track passing by an old storage container. When you come to an obvious fork in the track, take the left hand fork to go downhill before curving right to lead back up to the rear of the farm buildings.
Turn right just before the gate to the yard to go back up to the gate by the pond at the start. Cross the field, go through the gate on the left and return down the driveway to the road.



Walk by Liz (Ashby Life)