Rutland Round

The Rutland Round is 65-mile walk around the small county of Rutland. For most of the time it follows as close as possible to the county boundary, always within it or on it. However, it leaves the border in order to visit Oakham, the county town, and the eponymous reservoir, Rutland Water. The route is indicated by attractive markers, though in our short experience so far, we have found that these can sometimes turn up at places where we didn't think the Rutland Way went! Perhaps linked to this is the fact that, in at least one place (Barrowden), the Rutland Way seems to follow two different routes on the OS Map...

We'd not intended to walk the Rutland Round, at least, not when we did! We were walking the Jurassic Way in a series of short legs, and on 1st March 2025, we'd walked from Barrowden to Harringworth on the Jurassic Way. We realised that we were close to the Welland Viaduct, and wanted to get even closer. Then we saw that we could continue to Seaton, which is on the Rutland Round, and then return to Barrowden on that route - and that is what we did.  Later, we realised that one of our previous walks on the Jurassic Way, from Collyweston Bridge to Duddington and return, was joined by the Rutland Round for most of its length. Therefore, by walking one additional short stretch,  from Barrowden to Duddington via Tixover, rather than the much more circuitous route that the Jurassic Way takes between those two villages, we completed a continuous longer section of the Rutland Round.

We've also previously walked some short sections of the Rutland Round when on the Hereward Way in 2013 and on the Viking Way in 2014 but those sections feel like a long time ago, so we may repeat some or all of them. For now (May 2025), we're pleased to have completed the south-easterly corner of the Rutland Round in its south-easterly corner, and wearen't actively pursuing this route - for now.

First leg (anticlockwise from Seaton)