Ticknall and Calke Abbey, 29th January 2023

Phil led a magnificent twenty one members on this 8¼ mile walk from Ticknall, through Calke Park to the Abbey Stables for coffee and cake and on to Staunton Harold Reservoir for an early lunch at the Visitor Centre.  After lunch we went down to the reservoir dam before climbing up to higher ground near Robin Wood and then back along the National Forest Way past St George's Church to Ticknall .

The start at Ticknall Village Hall

Ticknall War Memorial

Entrance to Calke Abbey.
The site was an Augustinian priory (attached to Repton) from the 12th Century until its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1538. The present building was never an abbey and was remodelled between 1701 and 1704. The house was owned by the Harpur Crewe family for nearly 300 years until it was passed to the National Trust in 1985 in lieu of death duties.

Coffee (only) at the stables, Calke Abbey

Coffee and cake for some

Approaching one of the feeder streams to the reservoir

Staunton Harold Reservoir, planned by the River Dove Water Board in 1955 to provide drinking water for Leicester and completed in 1964

Site of a tiny Norman chapel. St Bride (also Bridget/Brigid) is often associated with holy wells and springs. The chapel was beside the old road from Derby to Coventry

St Bride's Farm converted from the knave of the Norman Chapel

Trig point on an ancient bridleway between Melbourne and Repton

Distant view of (a steaming) Ratcliffe Power Station in one direction, Alport Height near Wirksworth in another, 20 miles away

St George's Church, Ticknall (1842). Just out of sight are the remains of the old church dedicated to St Thomas Becket and blown up with gunpowder in 1841!

Swinstead, Creeton, Edenham and Grimsthorpe, 22nd January 2023

 John J's 10½ mile walk started at Swinstead Church and took nine VBR members across the West Glen River to Creeton for coffee and on to Edenham for lunch.  Good tracks then took us across the Grimsthorpe Estate with distant views of the Castle and back to Swinstead.  Excellent weather and firm ground all day.

Church of Saint Mary, Swinstead

Looking west towards the valley of the West Glen River ...

... and down to it

Crossing the West Glen River

Creeton Grade II listed former pigeoncote dating from the late 17th century

Church of Saint Peter, Creeton - coffee

Mistletoe behind the church

One of several excellent tracks through the Grimsthorpe Estate

Agri-Linc, Edenham, suppliers of new and used farm machinery

Not covered in the Risk Assessment

Elm Terrace, Edenham. Grade II listed building, formerly cottages built for estate workers on the Grimsthorpe Park Estate in the 1890s

Lunch - Saint Michael's and All Angels Church, Edenham

Grimsthorpe Castle - woods and parkland landscaped by Capability Brown in 1722

Group on bridge with Grimsthorpe Castle and Lake in the background 

Almost back to the church in Swinstead

Hose, Harby and the Grantham Canal, 15th January 2023

Paul's 6¼ mile, multi-recced walk took 27 of us from the Village Hall at Hose and down to the Grantham Canal.  We turned off at Harby Mill Bridge to walk up to Harby and to the church for a coffee stop.  Then it was back to the canal, leaving at Stathern Bridge near Dove Cottage to take Canal Lane and across Stathern Lane to some unavoidable and very muddy tracks back to Hose.

There then followed the VBR AGM, well attended mainly because of the tea and cakes, courtesy of the Committee (and their wives!).

Paul's briefing at the start at Hose Village Hall

Grantham Canal, Harby Windmill just visible

Harby Windmill, Grade II listed

Canal warehouse dating back to the 1790s

Harby War Memorial

St Mary the Virgin Church, Harby - coffee

Just off route, Dove Cottage

Farnsfield, Robin Hood Hill, Edingley and the Southwell Trail, 8th January 2022

We started with sixteen on Scott's 8½ mile walk from Farnsfield first to the Halifax Bomber Memorial and then through Coombs Wood to Robin Hood Hill for coffee.  Dropping down to Greaves Lane we gradually lost members until just seven completed the full circuit to join six others at St Giles' Church, Edingley for lunch.  A short walk through the mud to took us to the Southwell Trail and back to Farnsfield.

St Michael's Church, Farnsfield, an alternative starting point

A family of (very clean) llamas

Group at the Halifax Bomber Memorial

The Halifax was returning to its base at Burn near Selby in Yorkshire after completing its 2nd mission of the day  to bomb the V1 Rocket launch site at Croix-Dalle in France.  It was seen on fire passing over Nottingham and crashed near this spot at 10.25 pm on 6th July 1944. The memorial was established on the 50th anniversary in 1994.

A web-site dedicated to the work of the Farnsfield memorial trust, and the crew of LK-U MZ519 can be found here: http://www.farnsfieldbomber.org.uk/. It contains many photographs, history and directions on how to find it

Heading towards Coombs Hill Wood

Heavy going in Coombs Hill Wood

View towards Mansfield from Robin Hood Hill

Greaves Lane

St Giles' Church, lunch

Farnsfield pumping station, viewed from the Southwell Trail, was opened in 1898 to extract underground water to supply Newark. It is one of several steam-powered pumping stations opened in this part of Nottinghamshire around that time to extract water from the large aquifer below. Steam pumping continued well into the 1960's when the site was converted to use electrical pumps. Up to 2014, water was still extracted from the site which is now managed by Severn Trent

The full route in orange and the drier route along Greaves Lane in green