New Cycling Hub planned at Calke Abbey

One of South Derbyshire's most popular tourist attractions is Calke Abbey.  Set in an estate of woodland and parkland around Ticknall, the estate, house and gardens are on of the biggest local attractions managed by the National Trust.  To find out more about Calke Abbey visit the Calke Abbey page on the National Trust website.

The National Trust, along with English Heritage, are supportive of Sustrans and the National Cycle Network.  On both of their websites, directions to the attractions feature a link to the local cycle network via the Sustrans website.

Further to this, the National Trust are looking to expand the existing tramway paths through the Calke estate to create an outdoor hub to attract families wanting to enjoy outdoor activities.  The National Trust are great advocates of ensuring children enjoy active lives - most notably via the book "50 things to try before you are 11 and 3/4 - An outdoors adventure handbook", one of which is to go on a long bike ride.

The former tramway was used to transport goods from the quarries at Ticknall through to the canal basin at Willesley on the Ashby Canal, not far from the current route of NCN63 near Donisthorpe.  The tramway closed in 1915 but some sections have been restored for walking and cycling purposes within the Calke Estate.

Calke Abbey features in some of our longer rides in our mapped rides page.  The rides feature the entrance drive through the estate as opposed to the tramway tracks.  The local terrain and road network makes it more suitable for adult cycling, hence why this cycling hub will be very valuable for families wanting to cycle.  That said, Calke is quite close to Melbourne and access points to the Cloud Trail (NCN 6)

We wish The National Trust and Calke Abbey well with the new hub and look forward to seeing it develop. We will post updates on this exciting new project - learn more about the proposed outdoor hub.

The plans can be seen in more detail on the National Trust Website - see the plans for the new hub.

Updates on Derbyshire Cycling Plan and local perspective.

Earlier in the year the blog featured an article on the launch of the Derbyshire Cycling Plan.  Thid ambitious plan has the aim of making Derbyshire the most connected County in terms of sustainable transport.

Further blog articles have highlighted some of the work done locally via the cycling legacy here in South Derbyshire.

Whilst we are now away from the summer months the work continues here and in the rest of Derbyshire.  Recently an update was published and this can be found on the Derbyshire Sport website.

Click here to read about updates to the Derbyshire Cycling Plan

An important part of the updates is the publication of the South Derbyshire Cycle Action plan.  This exiting and detailed document highlights the current scenario, the aims and an idea of how the plan will be achieved.  One of the key aspects is involvement of those who have a passion to make the plan work and advocate the benefits of walking and cycling around South Derbyshire.

Click here to read about the South Derbyshire Cycle Action Plan (and link to download)


If you have read this article and the Action plan and feel that you can contribute, you cn contact South Derbyshire District Council on the followng email: communityandplanning@south-derbys.gov.uk

Ferry bridge over the River Trent now re-open

As recent posts have stated the last year of commuting into Burton from South Derbyshire has been more difficult due to the closure of the Ferry bridge over the River Trent.  The pedestrian Victorian bridge and viaduct over the Trent washlands form a key part of the route into Burton avoiding the busy A444 St Peters Bridge.

The bridge and viaduct were originally built solely for pedestrians and cycling incurred a fine, which I am reliably informed was regularly enforced!  Common sense prevailed in the early 1990's when the bridge was opened to cyclists.  To read more about the bridge and it's history, click here to access the Wikipedia page.

The early morning hue over the Trent once more visible from the Ferry bridge

In recent years the bridge had been showing it's age and some of the original decorative features had been long since removed.  The deck in particular was falling apart.

Significant funding was required to bring about the repairs required to make the bridge structurally sound and further funding was raised by a group called Friends of the Ferry bridge to address the decorative issues.
An article on the Staffordshire County Council website explains in more detail the work done on all aspects of the bridge and show before, during and after pictures.

The improvement to the finish is clear

The deck and new railings are a vast improvement

Click here to read more about how the bridge has been repaired (from Staffordshire County Council website)


It may have been a long time coming but the result was certainly worth waiting for!