I is for Ingleby
With dry weather forecast we decided the last day of our Christmas/New Year break was perfect for continuing our Derbyshire A-Z.
Today we set out for the Derbyshire hamlet of Ingleby which sits on the River Trent just south of Derby. Whilst there isn't necessarily a lot to see it is a pretty spot and the perfect jumping off point for exploring the area.
A short walk along the Trent is Anchor Church (Grade II listed), a series of interconnected caves, allegedly once home to St. Hardulph around the 6th/7th century. With the river running high we eventually ran out of path but not before getting to explore the caves.
From the church we tracked south to the hamlet of Foremark home to Foremarke Hall (Grade I listed), an 18th century Manor House, now used by Repton School.
We continued our route south east through Heath Wood which contains 59 Viking burial barrows (Scheduled Ancient Monument), unique for being the only Scandinavian cremation site in the British Isles.
South of Heath Wood is Foremark Reservoir, one of several reservoirs owned and run by Severn Trent. This 230 acre site was built in the early 1970s to serve the population of Leicester and is a thriving nature reserve.
After a spot of lunch we retraced our steps and followed the National Forest Way heading east to the small village of Ticknall near Calke Abbey. The village was mentioned as early as 1000 A.D. and had variously been home to thriving limeburning, brick making and coal production.
The last section of our walk took us north through the pine trees of Robin Wood, part of the National Forest looked after by Forestry England, before swinging west to arrive back at Ingleby and a 'finishers pint' at The John Thompson Inn, formerly a 15th century farm house.
Beautiful scenery and history in a simple 17km loop.
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