Skip to main content

National Forest Way: Final Thoughts

As you may have gathered from my blog posts, I've really enjoyed walking the National Forest Way. I found myself eagerly anticipating each walk, and happily inking the route on the map when I'd done it.

The National Forest Way is an ideal starter long-distance walk. There are no enormous mountains or exposed cliff edges. The route is never too far from a village, a car park, or a cafe. But there are some lovely views over sunny fields, some beautiful patches of woodland, and some industrial history along the way. I very rarely found it boring.

 

An advantage that I didn't appreciate when I started is that the Way forms a giant zigzag. This means it fits 75 miles of path into a relatively compact space, making it easy to reach all of it. From my home in south Derbyshire, every section was within a 40 minute drive. The distance between Beacon Hill and the National Memorial Arboretum is only about 25 miles.


The countryside is lovely, and generally overlooked in favour of the Peak District. I often went for miles without seeing another person. There are exceptions (don't do Bradgate Park on a Bank Holiday like I did!) but usually it's very tranquil. Of course, you can join the crowds if you like; Calke Abbey, Conkers, Rosliston Forestry Centre, and Foremark Reservoir are all popular attractions en route.


Finally, but very importantly, the directions for the National Forest Way are excellent. The free downloads cover each stage in both directions (many paths assume you will only walk one way). They include a chunk of the OS map with the route clearly marked. In general, the waymarkers on the ground are obvious, too. Occasionally one has disappeared. I often found the directions useful on the short sections through village streets, where the arrows were less common. But I almost never had a problem finding the path.

There were only a couple of minor quibbles. Firstly, as someone who likes paper maps, I found it annoying that while most of the route was on OS Explorer 245 (National Forest, obviously!) I then had to buy two more maps to finish - Leicester and Loughborough. However, I do realise that all sensible people have gone over to apps now. And if I wasn't so keen on plotting my route with a Sharpie, I probably would have just used the downloads and not bought the extra maps. Still, I might complete the Leicestershire Round one day...

The only other disappointment was the lack of starting and finishing signposts. There are some very nice information boards along the way. So it was a surprise to get to Beacon Hill and find nothing, not even a waymarker with "START/END" underneath it. I don't remember anything at the Arboretum, either, although that was a long time ago. Both places are owned by separate organisations; perhaps that led to difficulties in putting up signs.

It's hard to pick highlights. Jacksons Bank and Gresley Woods were both beautiful. I would like to go back and walk around Thornton Reservoir on a sunny day. Netherseal, with Sir Nigel Gresley's grave, was interesting, and the miners' memorial at Bagworth unexpectedly moving. And of course, you can't beat Beacon Hill.

So, if you've ever been wondering about trying a long-distance route, I would recommend the National Forest Way as a great place to start. It's not too strenuous, it's easy to get to, you'll see a lot of trees... and if you want company, I'd be happy to do any of it again.

All the posts:

Beacon Hill

Bradgate Park

Ratby and Martinshaw Wood

Bagworth and Thornton Reservoir

Ellistown, Bagworth, Nailstone

Normanton le Heath - Ellistown

Ashby - Normanton le Heath

Calke Abbey - Ashby de la Zouch

Hartshorne, Foremark, Calke Abbey

Overseal - Hartshorne

Rosliston - Overseal

Rangemore - Rosliston

National Memorial Arboretum - Rangemore

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Derwent Valley: Derby City and the Derwent Pilgrimage

It was 8 am and I was already hayfeverish, headachey and hot. Why on earth was I setting out to walk through the middle of Derby, when I could be up in the hills of the Peak District? No one was forcing me to do this section. I could skip it entirely. But I knew I wouldn't, because this was the next part of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way. And besides, I had a suspicion that it would be better than it looked. Alvaston Park was certainly a good start. It's a wide sweep of green grass and mature trees. I used to come here quite often when the boys were small. I was glad to see some of the planets were still there - although Mars has had a lot of feet standing on it, I think. Here's a tiny Toby in 2013 with Mars... ... and a more battered Mars today. Alvaston Park I kept off the roads for a while by following a cycle route. Even when I joined the traffic, it wasn't bad. The factories and office blocks had roses outside. This road, now the A5194, used to be the A6 coming in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Derwent Valley: Exploring the Astons

It was the hottest day of the year so far, with a forecast high of 32°C, and I was setting out to walk around three places with very similar names: Elvaston, Alvaston, and Ambaston. I was mostly hoping they would be shady! I was expecting to park at Elvaston Castle Country Park, where there is pay and display parking, but I spotted a large layby in Elvaston village, which was not only free, but also shaded by a large hedge. This meant that I didn't walk through much of the country park. Instead I skirted the edges, passing the village hall, with its decorative windows, and approaching Elvaston Castle itself along an avenue of yew trees. Elvaston village hall yew avenue Elvaston Castle was built for the Earls of Harrington and sold to Derbyshire County Council in 1969. Unfortunately the council is struggling to find enough money to keep the building in a state of repair. The castle isn't open to the public, but the gardens are well worth a walk around. The estate church, St Bart...
Post a Comment
Read more

Greece is the word! Part 2: Epidaurus

For the first part of our Greek holiday, see here . Day 4 - continued After much waiting around, we acquired a hire car and set off for the second part of our holiday. I am so glad that Graham can get into a strange car in a foreign country and drive away with no problems. I would be a nervous wreck. Even Graham was a little spooked by the Athens traffic - very narrow lanes crowded with cars and buses, and mopeds zipping in and out of every available gap. I had left Google Maps set to "avoid tolls", which meant that we stayed off the fancy new highway and took the old road towards Corinth instead. There was practically no traffic, so although it was slower, it felt very relaxed. We passed hills, hotels and oil refineries. Along the way, we stopped at a supermarket for supplies and drank Green Cola at the beach over the road. Crossing the Corinth Canal at Isthmia, we started heading south through the mountains of the Peloponnese. The sky had been growing darker and darker, and...
Post a Comment
Read more