CALKE PARK WALK
CALKE PARK WALK
This is an exhilarating walk through lovely countryside, visiting Calke Park, which was designated a National Nature Reserve by English Nature in 2004 and a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1992.
Route Point 1 – Staunton Harold Reservoir was built between 1959 and 1964 to supply water to the Leicester area. It now provides opportunities for leisure and conservation activities.
Point 4 – Ticknall’s industrial past is revealed as the village is approached when the path passes through what were originally lime yards. They have long since become a home for wildlife.
Point 5 – The Ticknall arch was built by the Ashby Canal Company built it, 200 years ago, wide enough to accommodate a horse on the tramway footpath. It is connected with the old brickworks on the north side of the bridge and is one of the oldest railway arches in the world. The tramway was abandoned in 1915.
Point 6 – A horse-drawn tramway was built running from Ticknall to the Ashby Canal. It carried limestone in one direction and coal in the other. To comply with the sensitivities of the Harpur-Crewe family, its journey through Calke Park was hidden in a tunnel only about one foot below the surface.
Point 10 – For many the highlight of the walk is the discovery of Calke Abbey. Hidden away as it is in a hollow, you come across it quite suddenly. It was for many years home to the reclusive Harpur-Crewe family and is now in the hands of the National Trust.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 4 miles.
Start: Off the B587 Melbourne to Ashby road. Look out for the sign for the Ferrers Centre (depicted by an anvil). Take the first turn right after passing the reservoir. The car park is at the end of the cul-de-sac (SK378227).
Terrain: Easy walking, mostly through parkland with only gentle gradients.
THE ROUTE
- From the car park, take the path leading to the edge of the Staunton Harold Reservoir. Turn left and follow it around the corner of the reservoir, before gently ascending.
2. Continue with the deer fence to Calke Park on your left, until you go over a stile by a gate, where the fence bends to the left. Continue in the same direction for about 40 yards before going right through a stile into a field. Turn left immediately to reach another stile.
3. Cross the next field keeping to the right of a cottage and go over an access lane. Maintain the same direction, to reach the field boundary. Then follow the field boundary round as it gently swings to the right, before bending sharply to the left. In the corner of the field go over a stile by a metal gate and keep to the left of the hedge.
4. Ignore the first access track you come to, and follow the path as it bends first to the left around the wood and then to the right. Here a track is joined that winds its way through the former lime yards to the A514 through Ticknall.
5. Turn left and walk along the footpath, under the arch and past the drive leading to Calke Abbey.
6. Shortly afterwards turn left down Banton’s Lane, at the end of the lane, go through a stile and aim for the left-hand corner of the field, close to where the former tramway used to run through Calke Park. Go over a stile and continue straight ahead along an obvious track.
7. Keep to the right of a pond, passing a footpath coming in from the right. The path then swings to the left along a grass embankment. Where the path forks, keep straight ahead and go over a stile by a metal gate.
8. Walk alongside an area of woodland for about 80 yards, before turning left over two stiles which follow in quick succession. After crossing the second stile walk down a field, with the fence close on your right, then angle to the left to reach the road through the park.
9. Follow the road for a few yards, turning sharp left immediately after you are past the end of Betty’s Pool. Keep to the path nearest to the pool, to reach a stile where it ends. Go through the stile and turn right through another stile and then turn left to ascend a flight of steps.
10. Follow the path before turning right to enter a field that acts as an overflow car park (for the ticket office, café and shop go to the left). Keep straight ahead up the field, go through a stile and continue forward to reach the point where the entrance and exit driveways to Calke Abbey meet.
11. Follow the exit drive past the church and Home Farm, until you come to a ‘T’ junction of roads, with the Calke Village sign in front of you. Go to the left along the road, which takes you back to the starting point of the walk.