The Eastern Edges of the Peak District

Saturday 7th May 2016

Last spring I was keen to visit as many woods as I could find that had bluebells in them as well as lots of other lovely woodland flowers such as wood anemones and celandines. Only ancient woods have this carpet of flowers that are so are rare and when they are found is a delightful sight. On the previous weekend I did my Charnwood Forest Round, which is a walk in Leicestershire that I do frequently at all times of the year, but which also happens to be an excellent walk for seeing bluebells as it passes through several woods that feature amazing displays of these flowers. The Outwoods, near Loughborough, is particularly outstanding and deserves national acclaim. I remember standing in the middle of this wood with bluebells all around me and the was sun shining overhead on an amazing display that puts many other woods to shame. I have described my Charnwood Forest Round on this blog before so I will not do so again, but instead I’ll move on a week to a walk that I did in the Peak District. Searches on the internet for bluebell woods are skewed towards those owned by the National Trust, which was probably why they had sent me to Calke Abbey two weeks earlier, and now it took me to Curbar Gap on the eastern edge of the national park.

I arrived at the windy and exposed car park bright and early in the morning while a strong, cold wind was blowing over Curbar Edge and mist lay in the valleys. Despite the forecast of warm temperatures I was wrapped up in gloves and a woolly hat as I made my way along Curbar Edge with poor views across the misty Derwent Valley. My enthusiasm for the millstone grit was not extinguished by the cold start or the hazy views as I bounced around from rock to rock along the edge of the escarpment relishing the feeling of rock underfoot and the lack of another soul to witness my larking about. Coming off the edge before I reached Froggatt Edge, I made my way along a great path that passes below the sheer cliffs where later in the day many climbers would be practicing their suicidal art while I made my way down through the woodland and onto the main road. A short walk along the road brought me to a National Trust wood with a path that slowly deteriorated while it graced me with fabulous displays of bluebells, wood anemones, stitchworts, celandines and marsh marigolds in amongst the bogs. Slowly I made my way along this highly decorated, but horrendous path that in many places merged into the morass until eventually and with very muddy shoes I came out of the wood.

A short walk along a road took me to the station of Grindleford that is situated dramatically at the mouth of the long Totley Tunnel and high above the Derwent Valley. An interesting walk through Bolehill Wood above the station took me gradually uphill through the former Bolehill Quarry that is slowly being reclaimed by nature. A fun, little path took me past climbers hanging precariously off the rocks in the quarry and up to the top of the moorland looking out over the valley. Continuing north took me over a main road as I made my way through the heather moor towards the striking rock tors that are scattered around this part of the eastern edges of the Peak District. Passing over several smaller tors I eventually reached Higger Tor where there were hazy views in the sunshine, but warm, blue skies above me. I could have kept going north, but I decided that this would do and I should turn back south from there. It was great to be walking in short sleeves again after the long, wet winter and I enjoyed basking in the sunshine as I made my way back across Hathersage Moor.

On crossing the main road again I re-entered the extensive National Trust property of the Longshaw Estate that I had been spending a great part of the day walking through. Passing the visitor centre at the heart of the estate I made my way south along some great paths, most notably in a striking, deep valley in Oak’s Wood, until eventually I reached Hay Wood. This was the wood that I had heard was full of bluebells, but I was very disappointed when I got there as it was difficult to find any. The boggy path of earlier in the day passes through a southern extension of Hay Wood, but it took me a long time to find any bluebells until I finally found some beside a wall near the Grouse Inn. After the extensive blankets of bluebells that I had seen the week before in Charnwood Forest, these were disappointing especially as a lot of them were still in bud even though the Leicestershire bluebells were at their peak this weekend. Despite my disappointment at the small quantity of bluebells the timely re-appearance of the sun made this small spread adequately satisfying.

Continuing my trek southwards I headed across a busy road and up to Froggatt Edge towards the point where I had left the edge at the start of the walk, passing many people on the way who were also enjoying this spectacular location. Before reaching the top of Curbar Edge I came off the top onto a path that descends through woodland that was sadly devoid of flowers to continue the walk below the edge until I reached the road a short distance from the car park at Curbar Gap. The weather on this walk, when the wind wasn’t blowing, was very warm, pleasantly warm for early May, and made for a great stroll in short sleeves. I have walked these edges several times in the past and they are always a pleasure, especially when it is sunny. However it was very misty all day so the distant views remained poor, although it was the views at my feet that I had come for and even though these had ultimately failed to satisfy I still had an enjoyable walk.

Calke Abbey in search of Bluebells

Saturday 23rd April 2016

The week before this walk, after doing section five of the Ivanhoe Way, I came across an astonishing display of bluebells in White Horse Wood, near Shepshed, and this fired my enthusiasm for the delightful woodland flower. A woodland floor covered in these small blue flowers is almost a uniquely British phenomenon and one that must be treasured in the ancient woods that contain this fabulous display. A search on the internet revealed that one of the best displays of bluebells in Britain is at Calke Abbey, which is a National Trust property less than a mile from the Leicestershire county border. I had passed through Calke Abbey the year before while doing what I later considered to be the best stage of the National Forest Way. When I tried to think of a walk that I could do encompassing Calke Abbey, I couldn’t think of a better walk to do than the one that I had done the year before, but this time in the opposite direction as it’s astonishing how different a walk can seem on the way back. That was why I abandoned my circuit of the Ivanhoe Way and made my way past Ashby-de-la-Zouch to the lovely village of Smisby again. The walk started very early in the morning as I headed north along the gloriously bejewelled Forties Lane through a deep cutting whose banks were covered in celandines and speckled with bluebells, though this delight was just a foretaste of the wildflowers that I would later encounter of this walk.

Rather than following the route of the National Forest Way out of Smisby, as I had previously, I headed towards Daniel Hayes Wood on the original route that I had planned to take at the end the walk the year before. Leaving the road I headed through typical National Forest woodland, i.e. young, with the sun slowly rising above the horizon as I made my way to Daniel Hayes Farm where after a little confusion I turned right onto the road even though I’d wanted to go through the farm into Daniel Hayes Wood. When I realised my mistake, rather than retrace my steps, I decided to change my route so I now headed along a bridlepath beside the edge of the wood on a path that was lined with many wildflowers although there were none in the young wood. I was delighted by my unintended diversion and this continued into The Oaklands and Smith’s Gorse, which also had a few bluebells. Leaving the woods I made my way over to Foremark Reservoir where I joined up with the National Forest Way and retraced my steps of the year before under cloudless skies through the constructed paths beside the reservoir.

When I reached the car park at the north-eastern corner of the reservoir, I remember being astonished that it wasn’t yet eight o’clock and yet I had already been walking for several hours due to my early start. Continuing on the National Forest Way, I left the reservoir and followed dreary paths beside arable fields turning right at Hangman’s Stone to eventually reach the village of Ticknall. There I entered the grounds of Calke Park and soon started exploring this fabulous area stopping off at a bird feeding station before descending to the ponds following one of the waymarked paths. I came across some bluebells above the ponds, but they seemed nothing special, though grand old oak trees nearby were majestic. Turning north I entered a wood where I was immediately dazzled by many celandines and bluebells that had me mesmerised, until I turned right at the corner of the wood and entered Serpentine Wood where I finally found the awesome displays of bluebells that I had heard so much about. Now I was totally awestruck.

With the sun going in and out behind clouds I lingered for a long time gazing at the fabulous bluebells taking many pictures when the sun was out and standing in awe even when the sun was in. Slowly I made my way along the path through the awesome displays of bluebells until eventually I reached the course of the National Forest Way. After a lingering return through the park back to Calke Abbey I finally decided that it was time to leave and I headed off once more along the route of the National Forest Way around the deer park and down to Staunton Harold Reservoir. The weather was now wonderful with no sign of the patchy sunlight that had plagued me while I had been wandering through the bluebells of Serpentine Wood, so with the main purpose of the walk now completed I wandered slowly in the warm weather past the reservoir and along the road through the tiny hamlet of Calke. Eventually I reached Dimminsdale Nature Reserve where I had seen a fabulous display of snowdrops the year before, but it was now too late in the season for these enchanting flowers.

I had been in this reserve just a month before when I had started my circuit of the Ivanhoe Way and it was astonishing to see how much Dimminsdale had changed in such a short time as it was now teeming with life and vegetation, most notably with celandines and the distinctive smell of wild garlic filled the air. Continuing along the route of the National Forest Way, I was now on the route of section three of the Ivanhoe Way, though in the opposite direction to my circuit. I encountered more bluebells in Mosley’s Plantation, while in the spectacular, though shallow, gorge of Black Ditches, the woodland was filled with wood anemones. Unfortunately the sunshine that I had enjoyed for most of the morning had now been replaced by thick clouds that would ruin the rest of the day and was the reason for my very early start. Just beyond Black Ditches is Park Pale Woods, which I had hated the year before as the path had been horrendously muddy, so with the bogs of the walk the week before still fresh in my mind I tried to take a different route, but I wasn’t entirely successful.

I wandered through this wood for quite a while and was close to getting lost until eventually I found the track of the National Forest Way and the Ivanhoe Way, and rejecting a shortcut that would have taken me straight back to Smisby I followed these trails all the way past a large warehouse and into Ashby. My return to Smisby was along the same route that I had taken the year before. This was a long but interesting walk with many fabulous displays of wild flowers along the way, most notably the bluebells in Calke Park. It was great to retrace my steps from the great walk that I had done the year before on the National Forest Way on a stage that I had thoroughly enjoyed then and thoroughly enjoyed again. I love walking at this time of the year as I love woodland flowers and this walk showed many of these flowers in lots of fabulous locations.

The Ivanhoe Way, section five

Saturday 16th April 2016

While a lot of rain was falling in Britain last spring I wondered if I’d ever get some good weather on a Saturday when I could go for a walk in the countryside. However, during the course of the morning on this day the sun did come out, which was all the prompting that I needed to grab my rucksack and drive to the small town of Shepshed in north-west Leicestershire. Having started my circuit of the Ivanhoe Way the month before I was now aiming to do my second stage of the trail, which is actually section five in the leaflet produced by Leicestershire County Council. A well-constructed path beside a recent housing development took me out of Shepshed and onto boggy paths beside arable fields. The heavy rains of the previous couple of months had saturated the ground so that I had a lot of difficulty on this walk with mud, although usually the ground was quite firm, except in a few really bad places. The first part of this walk was not very interesting as I made my way through various fields of varying standards underfoot as I tried to find my way to the point where I had finished the Ivanhoe Way the previous month.

Occasionally I spotted a few bluebells (my first of the year) underneath a hedge along with some celandines and it brightened up the dull trudge through the monoculture that is usually seen in fields. Coming out of the pretty little village of Osgathorpe, I climbed up a great little path that was lined with many delightful wild flowers, especially forget-me-nots that were unforgettable, while at this stage of the day the sun was shining brightly overhead through broken cloud. Eventually I arrived in Griffydam where I had left the Ivanhoe Way previously, at the end of section four, and now I resumed my circuit of the trail, though through yet more arable fields. The leaflet on the Ivanhoe Way makes a big mention at this point of the Leicester and Swannington Railway even though the trail doesn’t actually touch the disused railway line and I had to make a diversion up to the top of the embankment in order to have a glimpse up and down the tiny stretch that is a public footpath. Returning to the Ivanhoe Way I continued to Whitwick and beyond into the delightful Cademan Wood that is bestrewn with granite outcrops typical of the Charnwood Forest.

There was a maze of footpaths through the wood, which made following the Ivanhoe Way difficult especially as most of paths were very boggy. Nevertheless I had an enjoyable time exploring the wood and after the visiting the crags at the top of Broad Hill I made my way along what I thought was the path of the trail until I eventually realised that I was passing to the south of High Cademan, the highest point in the wood, even though the Ivanhoe Way passes to the north. To get back on track I clambered up to the trig point that sits at the top of the crags and surveyed the view over the top of the trees before making my way steeply down the other side where I found the path of the Ivanhoe Way. Unfortunately this was horrendously muddy and so excruciatingly bad that I had to come off the path and try to make a course through the bramble, which was preferable to wading through the mud.

I think I have visited High Cademan before, but it was a fleeting visit from the road and back again while waiting to go to a concert at the nearby Loughborough University. This was the first time I’d walked all the way through the woods and it has sparked my interest, so I think I must make a return visit at a better time of the year. When I reached the road I turned right and soon started to get wet from the showers that I knew were forecast. So far on this walk I had been lucky with the weather enjoying lovely sunshine, but that had now ended as I made my way through access land on the side of Ratchet Hill and into a small housing estate on the edge of Whitwick. On the other side I entered Holly Hayes Wood on a wide and well-constructed path straight through the ancient woodland and past Whitlock Quarry to Agar Nook. The Ivanhoe Way passes between the houses of Agar Nook and the school playing fields until it reaches Greenhill Road and the end of section five. There, I turned left and climbed up the hill on the road to Warren Hills, which I had first passed through while doing my circuit of the Charnwood Forest Challenge Walk.

I have been back to the Warren Hills several times since and I have enjoyed the crags and undeveloped land immensely every time despite its small size. Usually I would climb over all the crags, but by this point in the walk I just wanted to get back to my car, so I stayed on the path through the heathland area onto the busy Abbey Road. I stayed on the route of the Charnwood Forest Challenge Walk past Mount St. Bernard Abbey and down to Blackbrook Reservoir where I came upon a path that was the worst that I had encountered on the whole walk. The mud was ankle deep and I had no way of avoiding it, so I just had to wade through and endure it, but there was a glorious compensation to come. On the edge of Shepshed I passed through White Horse Wood which was overflowing with wild flowers, especially bluebells and wood anemones. I was gutted that my camera had stopped working on High Cademan, even though I was never going to be able to take good photos as it was so cloudy and late in the day that it was very dull under the trees. Nevertheless I took my phone out and took a few pictures, though they totally failed to do justice to the awesome spectacle.

White Horse Wood was a wonderful reward for all the terrible conditions that I had endured on this walk and more than compensated by bringing this walk to a great end. Generally this wasn’t a good walk, though it did have some great moments. At the start of the walk I had been ecstatic to be out walking again in the countryside again with the sun shining upon me, even though I was walking through dull arable fields. The Ivanhoe Way itself was much better than the previous section as it had now entered the outcrop-rich woods of the Charnwood Forest, especially Cademan Wood, and once I left the Ivanhoe Way I enjoyed walking through the Warren Hills, as always. However, it is the mud that I encountered on this walk that almost ruined it with some abominable section under trees, though ultimately on this walk, despite everything that I came across, it was simply great to be out walking.

The Ivanhoe Way, section four

Saturday 12th March 2016

On the last day of my holiday in the Lake District at Christmas, the weather was still poor so I just wandered up to the nearby Castlerigg standing stones simply because I’d never been there before. This stone circle appears in many pictures of the Lake District, but because I have only been interested in walking up the fells I had given them a miss all these years until now, and the only reason why I was visiting them now was because I had a couple of hours spare before catching a bus that start my journey home. I have not walked up any mountains since and so I have no mountain walks left to describe in this blog, which always happens at this time of the year. However, last year I did many walks on a Saturday in or near Leicestershire that have not been described on this blog, and so I’ll start with this walk from early spring. While walking the National Forest Way in 2014 and 2015, I encountered signs showing the direction of the Ivanhoe Way, which is a thirty-five mile circular walk through north-west Leicestershire. The name “Ivanhoe” comes from the novel written by Sir Walter Scott that features Ashby de la Zouch Castle and the surrounding countryside.

I have never read “Ivanhoe” and I have no interest in doing so, but it seemed like a good excuse for a walk, so on the first bit of good weather in March I set off to north-west Leicestershire and parked beside Staunton Harold Reservoir, near Dimminsdale Nature Reserve. I had walked through this reserve the year before at this time of the year on stage five of the National Forest Way and was spellbound by the glorious display of snow drops that can be seen at Dimminsdale. I was eager to return to this reserve and see the snow drops once again and had deliberately started my circuit around the Ivanhoe Way at this point in order to do so. Unfortunately poor weather earlier in the month had meant that I was a little too late to see the snow drops at their best, as I’d done the year before, and most of the flowers were now going over. It was still great to be back at Dimminsdale and I was able to enjoy a lovely walk around the reserve before setting off on the Ivanhoe Way.

I soon veered off the route onto a permissive path that heads into the woods behind the car park, but it wasn’t long before this looped back onto the road that I followed all the way to Scotland, which isn’t as far away from Leicestershire as you’d imagine! Before I reached the buildings of Scotland Farm I turned right to head across many dreary fields while successive aeroplanes passed overhead from the nearby East Midlands Airport. I was already finding this walk boring and failed to inspire me as I continued to make my way towards the A42 trunk road and the village of Worthington. I never enjoy walking through farmer’s fields and on this walk I was already seeing far too many of them. Later in the year I may have seen some wild flowers to look at, but it was far too early for me to see much though the track to Worthington Field had been planted with some crocuses and daffodils that were a welcome change from the dull, grassy fields. After passing through Worthington, more fields were endured until I reached the Rempstone Road.

At the bottom of a valley I passed a small pond that was covered in reeds that were shining in the sunlight while their seeds were blowing away in the breeze. It was a lovely scene that contrasted sharply with the dreary walk that I’d had suffered up to this point. A steep climb brought me up to the road at Griffydam where the fourth section of the Ivanhoe Way mercifully ends. I was now on the edge of an astonishing area that is criss-crossed by a dense network of footpaths and roads that I believe is a legacy of the rich mining history in the area. Slowly I made my way across this complex area with the garden plants of the numerous houses providing my biggest interest until I reached the far side of Coleorton. I first visited this area in November 2014 on an aborted attempt to do stage four of the National Forest Way and I returned a month later to successfully complete the stage. Both times I had got lost in the open parkland that lies between the village of Coleorton and Coleorton Hall and now I had another chance.

This area is criss-crossed by many public footpaths, but none of them are very distinct, which makes a traverse of the park a tricky affair if you don’t know the area. I thought I would be successful this time as I was taking a route straight across, but I still had difficulty finding my way until I realised that I needed to climb up the hill to reach Rempstone Road beside Coleorton Hall. Sir Walter Scott got to know this area while staying at Coleorton Hall, but I couldn’t see any trace of it as I walked along the road and headed towards Ashby de la Zouch. Before I reached the Ashby junction of the noisy A42, I turned right onto a track that follows the trunk road into a young wood that is typical of the National Forest. I had a lovely walk through Rising Wood along a path that was so delightful and relaxing that it made up for the earlier section of this walk that had been so dull. When I reached a road I turned left past some lovely displays of wild flowers including celandines that were growing beside the road. After passing below the A42 I entered the grounds of the Staunton Harold Estate and followed a track along the side of Bignall’s and Jaguar Lount Woods.

Daffodils, celandines and snow drops greeted me as I started the walk into the estate and I had a pleasant stroll through the tranquil landscape that I wished had been on the Ivanhoe Way. After passing Staunton Harold Garden Centre I veered off the track and headed through a field of daffodils to Heath End where I joined the familiar route of the National Forest and Ivanhoe Ways. This took me back through Dimminsdale Nature Reserve where I got another chance to see the display of snowdrops. My first stage on the Ivanhoe Way was not very exciting and the walk only really started to get interesting when I left the trail and started my own made-up route through the confusingly complex Coleorton parkland, into the young woodland and past the Staunton Harold Estate. In the end I enjoyed this walk, but it was not the Ivanhoe Way that I enjoyed.