Walking the National Forest Way: a stroll amid a transformed Midlands

[mercalia]

Walking the National Forest Way: a stroll amid a transformed Midlands

Is there any decent cycling to be had there also?

is the National Forest Way also open to cycles?

An interesting article from the Guardian on walking there

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/apr/12/walking-national-forest-way-derbyshire-leicestershire-staffordshire?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=221586&subid=7646217&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

[Si]

As far as I'm aware it's not open to cycles, but I may be wrong. There is some traffic free cycling in the national forest,for instance at Rosliston there are several cycle trails - family and mtb.

[tykeboy2003]

Sustrans route 63 crosses the National Forest from South East to North West and round Swadlincote (near the visitor centre Conkers) much of it is on old railway lines/canal towpaths.
There's a cycling centre at Hicks Lodge near Moira with bike hire and cafe.
There's the Cloud Trail (former railway) from Worthington to Derby.
There's lots of quiet country lanes to cycle on but you're never going to get completely away from traffic.

[honesty]

I remember growing up the new national forest was a bit of a joke in the area. Now going back to see my parents and it's coming along rather nicely. The cloud trail is nice definitely. Hicks lodge is nice but not too big.Calke abbey is near as wel as Staunton Harold. Melbourne is a good stop off.

Remember to go to Birds. Get the caramel doughnut.

[PH]

I'm a fan of the National Forest, it's done great things to improve several areas and I like trees anyway. None of us are going to be around to see it come to maturity, but it's impressive even as an infant. There isn't really a cycling equivalent to the walking route, but on a bike it's easier to zig zag around and pick out the bits you do want to see. There are several sections of off road, I think I've ridden most of them, great for a scenic amble, popular with families but not always practical if you want to get anywhere.
A bit more info here
http://www.nationalforest.org/visit/cycle_routes.php

[honesty]

I love the area. Grew up in Worthington, and only moved out when I went to university. I'm sure it's busier than when I used cycle all over NW Leicestershire as a kid but there's lots to see: the Beacon and Bradgate park, Breedon Hill, Staunton Harold, Calke Abbey, Ashby castle, Melbourne hall, Moira furnace, Conkers, Shackerstone, Market Bosworth to name a few.

The walking path used a lot of preexisting footpaths and isn't really cycleable. The canal path is open to bikes but isn't surfaced for it in most places, the Ashby woulds cycle trail, I've not been on since it got upgraded to a proper path and not just the old railway track behind my cousins house we used to walk. Same goes for the Cloud trail really. The work done to open it up to more people was done after I left, but we used to walk all up and down it and it was very nice. Have to say they've missed the best bit of it though by not following the line on as they've missed out on the tunnel that goes under Newbold. It used to be possible on a mountain bike though as the track bed gravel was still down. I think the farmer my have tried a sneaky land grab and plowed a bit of the line into his field at one point and the TNT centre has messed it up a bit, but probably still accessible. Are they ever going to put the foot bridge across the motorway that was originally proposed?

[millimole]

Sustrans route 63 crosses the National Forest from South East to North West and round Swadlincote (near the visitor centre Conkers) much of it is on old railway lines/canal towpaths.
There's a cycling centre at Hicks Lodge near Moira with bike hire and cafe.
There's the Cloud Trail (former railway) from Worthington to Derby.
There's lots of quiet country lanes to cycle on but you're never going to get completely away from traffic.

I'm more familiar with 63 at the Leicester end of the National Forest- it's a bit of a dogs dinner if you try to follow it slavishly, but with a bit of planning to avoid some of the strange loops it's a very pleasant ride, or set of rides.
The National Forest is certainly starting to mature, even if it's not yet well recognised nationally.


You can easlily remove the Tapatalk spam using settings on YOUR phone

[tykeboy2003]

I remember growing up the new national forest was a bit of a joke in the area.

My kids grew up in it as well (Albert Village and Pingle schools). We did a bit of tree-planting with them when they were at Albert Village (about 1999). My eldest lad got his picture on the front page of the Leicester Mercury and also appeared in a video in which was on continuous play in Conkers.

[honesty]

I'm old enough to remember when it was all pits (born in 77) and my granddad was the pit manager at Whitwick (I think) so when they started planting trees on all the old colliery sites we thought it would never look good and be massively patchy. I am happy going back to my parents now that it's better, they just need to put the other half of Breedon Hill back and fill in Worthington quarry...

[tykeboy2003]

I'm old enough to remember when it was all pits (born in 77) and my granddad was the pit manager at Whitwick (I think) so when they started planting trees on all the old colliery sites we thought it would never look good and be massively patchy. I am happy going back to my parents now that it's better, they just need to put the other half of Breedon Hill back and fill in Worthington quarry...

I first came to the area in 1983, I worked for the NCB at Bretby, I moved to Spring Cottage (Overseal) in 1990 and I had a lovely view of Rawdon Pit out the back, this is now the site of Conkers. My local was the Navigation (next to the railway line) this is now the site of a log-cabin development.

A lot has changed.

I'm originally from near Barnsley so I grew up with mining, my dad worked on the coal face for 40 years.

The quarry at Breedon is still working so there's not much prospect of that changing soon, not sure about Worthington though. There's a few opencast mines still working, including one near Measham.

[honesty]

My family is from the area (going back generations) granddad started off on the coal face and worked his way up through most of the pits in the area. My cousins lived in Overseal, so saw the conkers pit very regularly!

The biggest open cast I remember was by Ibstock, but there used to be one by Lount as well. The one in Measham caused a lot of resentment when it opened as everyone thought the area was over it all. Oh well, I suspect it'll be rolled into the national forest when it's closed.

Unfortunately Worthington quarry is still running. The blasting used to make our house shake when we lived near. It was much smaller then but still a blight on the countryside. The dumping of quarry waste into cloud woods appalling if you ask me.

[JayM]

I'm really interested in this thread.

As a whippersnapper I volunteered for some of the planting there and remember it fondly. Would love to see how it has changed.

But can't seem to find much about cycle touring there. There's the Hicks centre which has mountain biking trails but nothing on longer distance, tourer-style rides.

[TrevA]

I’ve ridden a few audaxes in the area. Some of the Tamworth ones go north into the National Forest. I also did a 200km one from Lichfield to Grantham and back that crossed the National Forest area. There used to be one that went south from Derby too, the China Teapot, but it is no longer run.

[Bmblbzzz]

I wasn't aware of the National Forest before but it looks well worth exploring. Glad I noticed this thread.

[tim-b]

Long-distance walking/cycling is possible using footpaths and bridleways but expect to use roads as well... https://www.choosehowyoumove.co.uk/cycling/cycle-maps/
Plenty to do in the area with other places of interest nearby like Market Bosworth, Shackerstone Railway, the canals network, etc.