A neglected area of South Derbyshire - Sutton on the Hill, Thurvaston, Osleston and Longford

In this bush is a footpath sign. This is on Back Lane, Sutton on the Hill. This very pleasant area (about 5 miles south of Ashbourne) has some of the worst footpath problems I have encountered in the county. On a day's walk I came across ten problems that I felt had to be brought to the attention of the DCC PROW team. The sad thing is that most of the problems were here five years ago and I have the photographs to prove it.

To be fair to Longford, their paths were in better condition than the others.

More recent photos are here.

First the Old Plough has gone and now the footpath is being moved!

This is all that's left of the Old Plough at Weston: an attractive old pub flattened to make way for a housing estate. That's bad enough but now the footpath is going to be moved from stone wall it used to follow to a pavement through the estate. It looks as if there's not much that can be done now. This is just a further degradation of our Right of Way system.

More on Elvaston

I have just found this on one of my favourite blogs.

Unmitigated England: Creaking Oars

Friends of Elvaston Castle 1of 3

An eye-opening video. A bit shaky in places but worth watching.

It claims that some ROWs will be lost. I'll have to contact them to check the facts out.

Blissful Walk on the Leicestershire Round

It's been sometime since I have walked in High Leicestershire and yesterday was the perfect day to do it after so much dismal weather.



This is an unspoilt part of the country, moderately high for the region (600 to 700 feet) and with glorious vistas from the hill top villages. Walking is easy on the whole as route marking is very good with those friendly yellow posts. I was also lucky to find a decent pub in Somerby, the Stilton Cheese and will have to visit Grant's in Burrough on the Hill soon which has its own brewery.

Route: Thorpe Satchville (Bakers Lane) - Burrough - Somerby - Leicestershire Round through Dalby Hills - Burrough hillfort - Thorpe Satchville via Bakers Lane. About 8 miles.

Fancy Walking from the Peak District to London?

This was the request for a route to the capital from Edale on the Walkingforum this week.
So I got to thinking about this using Long Distance Footpath routes.
Here's what I wrote, though I can't see me doing it for some time!

=================================================
I live in the East Midlands so can vouch for that bit.
So you could try:

The Limestone Way (starts at Castleton - not far from Edale) to Tissington
Tissington Trail to Ashbourne
Bonnie Prince Charlie Way (Ashbourne) to west of Derby (Lees)
Derby City Nomads Circular (South) to Swarkestone
Easy footpaths from Swarkestone through Melbourne to Heath End (Staunton Harold) to pick up the Ivanhoe Way (towards Ashby).
Ivanhoe Way through to Leicestershire Round
Leicestershire Round to near Market Harborough
Link your way through to Hobblers Way
Hobblers Way to Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal Walk to London
Thames Path
Thames Down Link
North Downs Way to Canterbury

Obviously there are hundreds of variations of this route you could take.
You could do much of it by canal from Heanor Derbys to London but that could be boring for the whole length.

Also the Midshires Way from north of Derby goes a long way south and is quite well marked.

The Derwent Valley route goes roughly Sheffield to Derby.

Best starting websites:
http://www.ramblers.org.uk/info/paths/region/pathsregion.htm
http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/public/ldp_public_home.php

Donington path saga continues

Still no news about whether the path (L87) was legally closed during the Download Festival in mid June.
Why are Leicestershire County Council dragging their heels on this matter?
We need an answer!

Robin Wood Meeting

Committee members of Melbourne Civic Society and a local Ticknall resident met Alan Dowell and James Williams of the Forestry Commission at Woodside Farm to discuss the future of Robin Wood and access issues.

We were shown the recently cleared area and sections of the wood which had recovered after thinning out and the removal of conifers five years ago. The Forestry Commission, as well as removing conifers, was planting oaks and cherry trees. We were also given copies of the impressive 50 year development plan for the wood which describes how the wood will return to a mainly deciduous state (as it had been before World War Two). The habitats of raptors, owls and bats were also being protected. A tall dead tree has been left as a lookout post for raptors.

Mr Dowell assured us that access to the bridleway and footpath through the wood was protected and that they would both be better signed in the future. In all, a very positive morning's visit.

Offa's Dyke Photos

I have uploaded some photos of the first section of Offa's Dyke walk here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/histman/sets/72157624445144569/

I am hoping to add them as a slideshow in this blog when I work out how to connect Flickr to Picasa!

Slow walk on Offa's Dyke

On unfamiliar territory this week, as I have been walking my first section of Offa's Dyke, a path I have wanted to walk for years. The weather was not great on the first day and the walking is strenuous compared with around here! However the scenery along the Wye is glorious and both Chepstow and Monmouth are towns worth spending some time in. The villages of Redbrook and Brockweir also have a great deal of charm. It took me two days to walk the 18 miles from Sedbury Cliff to Monmouth. I was pretty tired at the end of the second day!