Sunday, March 16th 2025
An easy walk of around 7.5 miles with no steep climbs and, although there are several stiles, they are well-maintained. Starting from the Spring Wood car park, we follow the footpath through Spring Wood. Leaving the wood, we cross the road and follow footpaths and tracks through undulating farmland, reaching the benches by Melbourne Pool for a coffee stop. The parish church, described by Pevsner as the 'most ambitious surviving Norman parish church in England', is worth a visit before we leave Melbourne and reach the Tower Windmill picnic area in the Staunton Harold NT estate for our lunch stop. We then keep along the shore of the reservoir, eventually reaching the grounds of Calke Abbey. After passing by the NT centre, we walk through parkland to join the Tramway Trail. Finally, we enter the Dimminsdale Nature Reserve, where the path follows the county boundary, past lime pits and pools, up to and along the road a short distance to our starting point. An ideal walk on a bright early spring day.
Leader: Tom and Di Halstead
Number of walkers: 21
Distance walked: 7.5 miles
Time taken: 4 hours 20
Map: Tom Halstead
To download the route, click on icon in map below
Photos by: Tom Halstead ,John Twort, Rob Halley
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