Rolling hills, rich heritage and great pubs: a car-free break in Leicestershire

This picturesque corner of the East Midlands is a well-kept secret and it’s great for exploring by public transport Fallow deer are grazing under ruined brick walls in the house where Lady Jane Grey was born. It’s a moody spring day at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire and there are few visitors. Instead, there are fieldfares in the hedges and skylarks singing in the mist. I’m walking, through bracken and craggy outcrops, towards Old John Tower, a folly that looks like a giant beer mug on the ...

By Phoebe Taplin