Unitary Authority of Leicester

Walk Details:
Date: 23/7/2005
Total ascent: 13m/ 43ft
Total distance walked: 0.85 miles
Walk difficulty: 0/10
Enjoyment rating: 0.5/10
Best bits: Jim looking like a collie dog
Worst bits: One of those pointless residential tops
Walkers: Anth, Jim
Car Parking: There’s a small layby on Keyham Lane West, no more than a couple of dozen metres from the county top.

Top details:
Name: Hamilton Lane
County top number: 89 of 204
Grid reference: SK 64481 06481
Height above sea level: 110m/ 361ft
How nice was the top? 0.5/10
Views: 0/10
Description/Notes: The highest point in the Unitary Authority of Leicester is an unmarked point at the junction between Hamilton Lane and Keyham Lane West

The Walk:

Jim had a rare navigating ‘mare between Rutland and Leicester county tops, but we made it in the end. Turning into Keyham Lane West and pulling into a layby there I was hounded by an idiot in a BMW who came within inches of ramming the back of my new Corsa. This was an appropriately depressing start to what was to be a pretty miserable top.

The layby was in a slightly dubious residential area – you know the score, slightly run-down ex-council houses, with dirty half-naked kids playing football in the street. The top was just a few metres away at a road junction and was one of those meaningless ones; not at the top of a hill, no views, just a mere point on the unitary boundary.

The job was done and I wanted to move on, but Jim had seen a trig point less than a kilometre away and, buoyed up by having “bagged” a trig in Rutland wanted to see this one too. I was a bit nervous about leaving the car here, but went along nevertheless.

On the map the trig point was on the right hand side of Keyham Lane West, just beyond a school. It seemed a long way past the school, but eventually we found a path into a field beyond. I couldn’t see a trig there and decided to go no further, but Jim was determined and bounded off like a collie dog after a thrown stick. Disappearing into the next field, he re-emerged five minutes later to admit he’d been unable to find it.

I was glad to get back to the car and head on to the Leicestershire top. As the first marilyn of the day, I felt that had to be better.