If you can offer car sharing or would like to take advantage of it, please get in touch in advance. If you don’t already have contact details,there is the enquiry button on the Activities page. Car sharing is offered on a first come, first served basis. Some places may be available on the day but is not guaranteed.
Ticknall and Calke Abbey
Meet 10.30am outside 75 Wheeldon Avenue (on the sharp bend as Wheeldon Avenue becomes West Bank Avenue) Please use Liston Drive or West Bank Close to park if you are bringing your car in order to get to Ticknall.
Ticknall Village Hall Ingleby Lane DE73 7JX (if space available). Please bring coins in case parking charges apply. There are toilets here. Let Lyn know if you are meeting the group at this car park.
Start 11.00/11.15
5 miles: An easy walk through wooded countryside, Calke Abbey and Park
Points of Interest:
Calke Abbey: Built in 1703 as the home of the Harpur-Crewe family. Taken over by the National Trust in 1985 who discovered that many of the Abbey’s 90 rooms had remained untouched for upwards of 150 years
Abbey: Nothing remains of the original Augustinian Abbey on the site
Ticknall: Once a thriving brick and pottery village. The church was built in 1842
Ticknall Tramway: This was used by horse-drawn wagons to carry lime and clay from the now flooded pits and the products of the brick and pottery works to the canal at Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Please bring a packed lunch so we can find somewhere suitable (probably some well-positioned logs) to stop for a bite to eat and drink. You may want to take a plastic bag too so you have something dry to sit on. Please ensure you wear clothes suitable for the weather forecast and definitely comfortable walking shoes or walking shoes/boots. Well behaved dogs (on the lead) will be very welcome.
We look forward to seeing you on the 20th,
Lyn, Reg, Peter & Eva
Feedback from October Walk (more photos on website page)
We had a lovely but unexpected wet walk yesterday on Sunday, 30th October but the best thing was we all laughed about it.
We encountered a rainbow, then thunder (in that order…!!!) and then the sun shone from a beautiful blue sky for the last hour of our walk. On arrival at our meeting point we had to work together to achieve creative parking so we could all fit into the car park – this is where our daily street parking came in handy! We were surrounded by breathtaking views from the outset.
We walked or more likely, clambered up to Birchen Edge where we felt we were on top of the world. We encountered many seasoned rock climbers (rather them than me…) and the Nelson and Wellington Monuments. It was at the latter that the sky emptied itself on us and unfortunately there was not a tree with a leaf remaining for us to shelter under.
We quickly re-packed our sandwiches and huddled together against the largest tree trunk we could find. Jerry, being the most sensible, suddenly produced an umbrella. Boy were we jealous, hahaha! The rain lasted all of 10 minutes and then the sky just got higher and brighter.
Our walk then took us along some stunning walkways with amazing views and scenery all around us. All in all, it was a beautiful walk and we felt the tea and cake in The Robin Hood at the finish was well justified.