Vale of Belvoir Ramblers

Farnsfield and Halam - a Traquil Path, 12th October 2025

On a misty, moisty morning, Howard's 8.6 mile walk took twelve members from the excellent car park off Parfitt Drive in Farnsfield through the recreation ground and the nearby Millennium Wood and then up through Combs Wood to reach and cross Greaves Lane. More hills and sunken lanes followed until we dropped down to Halam church for lunch and swap one member for another. Gentler hiils took us back to Farnsfield.

Parfitt Drive car park

Planted in 2000 - alledgedly

Howard points out the excellent views to the north - as advertised

Entering Combs Wood

This sunken, green lane, known as Rob's Lane on old maps, is an ancient packhorse track that might date back to Norman times

Crossing Halam Beck on a new footbridge replacing the one dislodged in 2023 and subsequenty closed

Approaching St Michael the Archangel Church - lunch stop

Last climb before dropping down to Farnsfield - sunshine at last

Bunny Moor, Hill and Old Wood, 5th October 2025

Jan's leisurely 5.7 mile walk took 12 members from the church in Bunny west across the flat fields of Bunny Moor, then up Rough Hill to the outskirts of East Leake. Then it was east along Ash Lane (with good views) to Bunny Hill and across the A60 into Bunny Old Wood and back.

St Mary the Virgin, Bunny

Bunny Moor

Crossing Fairham Brook

Fairham Brook on its way from near Old Dalby to join the Trent near Clifton Bridge. Shown here draining The Moors, a flat fenland landscape comprising Bunny, Bradmore and Gotham Moors

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Bunny Old Wood is an ancient coppiced woodland – referred to in the Domesday Book in the 11th Century. It is believed that Saxon settlers harvested timber here and, in 1487, Henry VII and his army camped nearby ahead of the Battle of East Stoke. The wood, which covers 16 hectares, was donated to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust by British Gypsum in 1985. Whilst famed for its springtime displays of bluebells, the wood is home to a wealth of other wildlife. Trees include ash and field maple and more than 50 species of bird, including lesser-spotted woodpecker, have been recorded. Elm used to be the dominant canopy species before Dutch Elm disease took hold in the 1970s. Some regrowth still remains and provides food for the caterpillars of the white-letter hairstreak butterfly

British Gypsum in 2022 helped create this bat hotel in an old ammunition store in Bunny Old Wood

Silver Seal Mine entrance
Gypsum mining in the area first started in 1914, currently takes place at Marblaegis Mine and now covers an area of 3,850 hectares. Marblaegis Mine is actually made up of two mines, Marblaegis and Silver Seal. Silver Seal was entered from here and the Marblaegis is entered via a drift at British Gypsum near East Leake

Almhouse in Bunny built by Sir Thomas Parkyns (1662-1741)

VBR Weekend Away in the White Peak. Wetton, Ecton Mine and the Manifold Trail, Friday 27th September 2025

VBR's Weekend away this year was based at HF's Peverill of the Peak Hotel at Thorpe in the White Peak. Six walks were on offer, four short ones with the option of longer ones on the Saturday and Sunday. They explored local villages, the River Dove and Manifold valleys and surrounding high ground.

Thanks to all the walk leaders and assistants, to Scott for arranging the hotel booking and all nineteen members who either stayed at the hotel or joined us on the day for some magnificent walks in glorious weather.

Peverill of the Peak Hotel

Hotel gardens

Friday- Wetton, Ecton Mine and the Manifold Trail

Sue's 7.2 mile walk took us up over Wetton and Ecton Hills to Ecton Mine buildings overlooking the Manifold valley for a lunch stop. We then followed the Manifold Trail past Wettonmill before climbimg back up to Wetton past Thor's Cave.

The start near the car park in Wetton

Evidence of mine workings on Wetton Hill

Manor House, formerly known as Pepper Inn, was once a button factory and also an isolation hospital during a smallpox outbreak among the workmen building the Manifold Railway

Ecton Mine buildings - lunch stop

Ecton Mine was almost unique in being a rich copper mine in an area of Derbyshire usually associated with lead mining. The ore was formed by hydrothermal fluids rising in vertical fissures in the rock 180 million years ago and is concentrated in a vertical quasi-cylindrical pipe which surfaces at the top of Ecton Hill and is approached horizontally along a tunnel cut into the hill from the mine buildings.

Although it is thought that Ecton Hill was mined in the Bronze Age, it was not until 1760 that the it was developed seriously when the Duke of Devonshire assumed direct control and major investments were made. By 1767 the mine was 290m deep and 130m of this was below the Manifold and had to be artificially drained. Ecton was briefly the most prolific copper source in the world, and the Duke was able to use it to finance his construction of a new spa resort at Buxton. By the 1780’s Ecton’s 4000 tons per annum output was equivalent to 12% of the entire output of Cornwall’s many copper mines and the mine was the deepest in the world. Further reserves were made accessible by installing a Watt steam engine and by 1795 the Ecton Deep Shaft was 400m deep with 280m of this was below the Manifold.

Ecton Mine Engine House - drawing of the Duke of Devonshire's Watt steam engine (1795) used to pump water from the Duke's 400m deep copper mine, 280m of which was below the Manifold River

Ecton Mine buildings on the path down to the Manifold

The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway track was converted to its present use as a footpath and cycleway by Staffordshire Council in 1937

Manifold - The Disappearing River, reappears near Ilam Park

Bridge over the Manifold

Palaeolithic hunters once lived under the great roof of Thor’s Cave and watched wolves, bears and woolly rhinoceros in the valley below

Slightly off-route - entrance to Thor's Cave

View from inside the cave. More photos can be found here when we last walked in this area in 2014

Thorpe, Blore and Mapleton & Thorpe, Ilam and Milldale, Saturday 27th September 2025

Howard's 8-mile walk explored the area outside the White Peak to the south of Thorpe and the high ground on both sides of the Dove. From our hotel, we dropped down to Coldwall Bridge across the Dove which used to carry the main route across the Dove from Derbyshire to Staffordshire. Then we climbed up to St Bartholomew's Church in Blore before passing through Okeover Park. After recrossing the Dove, we reached Mapleton and its unusual 18th century church before returning to Thorpe via St Leonard's Church.

The short walkers at the start

Both groups walking down toards the river from Thorpe village

Coldwall Bridge, so wide because 250 years ago it used to carry the main route across the Dove from Derbyshire to Staffordshire. The short walkers head towards Blore and the rest up the Dove towards Ilam

St Bartholomew's Church, Blore

The splendid, alabaster Bassett tomb (1640), containing the remains of members of the Bassett family of Blore Hall whose descendants include Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Richard of Gloucester

One of many stunted ancient oaks in Okeover Park

Okeover Hall, a Grade II listed country house, the family seat of the Okeover family who have been in residence since the reign of William Rufus

Okeover Corn Mill (in March)- now with an Archimedes screw for generating electricty

Crossing the Dove flood plain towards The Okeover Arms - a welcome lunch stop

St Mary's Church MapletonI, an 18th century church, of limestone, small, aisleless and endearingly idiosyncratic with a squat west tower which carries a dome, surmounted by a disproportionately large lantern (this in turn evidently once carried an urn, which now lies damaged at the foot of the tower)

St Leonard's Church, Thorpe

St Leonard's Church and its Patron Saint of Prisoners

Rab's 9. mile walk left the others at Caldwell Bridge and took the east side of the Dove to Ilam Park and then along the Manifold. A climb followed up past Castern Hall to Stanshope and a drop down Pasture Lane to Milldale for lunch. Then it was down the Dove to the Stepping Stones and a climb up Lin Dale and across Thorpe Pastures back to Thorpe.