Ride Finish: Rosliston Forestry Centre
Ride Length: 15.8 miles
Approximate time: Varies by ability and time required at memorials. Ride time 1 1/2 -2 1/2 hours.
Link to GPS of ride:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2964256
Brief Description
This ride is mainly rural, starting and finishing at Rosliston Forestry Centre with a small section in the urban core fringes. Most of the roads used are quiet but care should always be taken. The route is generally flat, though there are some specific exceptions to this.
Key points on Route
Rosliston Forestry Centre
Rosliston Forestry Centre is an ideal place to start a ride as it has parking available (for a small charge of approx. £2.50 all day) as well as toilets and a café. There are many trails within the forestry centre and cycle hire is normally available. Other activities include falconry and archery.
For more information, please click on this link:
www.roslistonforestrycentre.co.uk
Ride directions:
Leave Rosliston Forestry Centre by turning left onto Burton Road and follow it into the village. After the Bulls Head follow the road (which becomes Main Street) around to the left past the Church and School. Keep following the road past the Plough until the mini roundabout, then turn right onto Coton Lane (this will be approx. 0.9 mile from the Forestry Centre).
Follow Coton Lane (which becomes Burton Road) for just over half a mile to the village of Coton-in-the Elms.
Turn right onto the first street (Elms Road) and continue to it's end then turn right onto Church Street and the Church will be on the right hand side.
St Mary's Church - Coton in the Elms
Coton in the Elms is a small village in South Derbyshire. Church Flatts Farm to the south east of the village is the farthest point from the sea in Great Britain, being 70 miles from the nearest point.
http://derbyshire-peakdistrict-co-uk.leia.parcomweb.net/coton.htm
St Mary's Church was built in 1844 and replaced another church which had fallen into disrepair. The bells from the original church were taken to Lullington so that the residents of Coton could still hear them, provided the wind was blowing in the right direction.
More information about the church can be found on the below link:
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/coton-in-the-elms-st-mary/
The memorial is inside the church. There is also a memorial to Corporal Russell Aston, a local Military Policeman who was sadly killed in Iraq in 2003 and is shown below.
Ride directions:
Turn back down Church Street in the direction you came from but continue past Elms Road for 1/4 mile then take a left onto Mill Street. Watch out for the ducks!
Bear right on Mill Street at its junction with Main Street and follow Mill Street to its end before turning right onto Coalpit lane and out of the village.
Continue on Coalpit lane for another 1 3/4 miles to the Grange Wood area. Take the small lane on the right hand side before the Riding Stables.
Take the first left onto Hunts Lane and continue on Hunts Lane into Neatherseal (just under 1 mile). At the end, turn left onto Clifton Road then right onto Main Street.
Follow Main Street towards the church. As the road turns left, the memorial is on the right hand side.
Roadside Memorial - Netherseal
Netherseal is the southernmost village in Derbyshire and was also the final resting place of Sir Nigel Gresley. A blue plaque is positioned outside the rectory across the road from St Peters Church to note it as a place of residence for Nigel Gresley.
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| View from the war memorial towards St Peter's Church |
The village has an excellent website that tells far more than those brief 2 points above.
http://www.netherseal.btck.co.uk/
The war memorial is situated near to St Peters Church in an accessible roadside location.
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| Memorial situated between the school and village hall |
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| Sir Nigel Gresley plaque, Netherseal |
Once again, turn around and head back in the direction you came from, back down Main Street.
Carry on out of the village past the Seal Inn then St Peters Club on the left hand side. The road becomes Gunby Hill then Lullington Road as it meanders towards Overseal and the junction with the A444(just under 2 miles from the Netherseal Memorial).
At the traffic lights at the Robin Hood pub, cross straight over and you will see St Matthews church on the left hand side of what is now Woodville Road.
St Matthews Church - Overseal
Like it's near neighbour, Netherseal, Overseal has an excellent website with information about the village. The link can be found below:
http://www.overseal-life.co.uk
St Matthews Church is situated next to the A444 and has a prominent place in the village. The church, like most has an interesting history, though significantly one of the more recent developments is noteworthy. The Anglican church and the Methodist church formed a Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP) in 1998 to be based at St Matthews. More information about the friendly services offered by the church can be found on the below link.
http://stmatthewsoverseal.com/index.html
The war memorial is situated outside the church. There is also a memorial garden a little further down Woodville Road on the Right Hand side near the village hall.
Ride directions:
From the church, turn left back onto Woodville Road and follow it down the hill past the village hall and school. You will leave South Derbyshire briefly as the next village is Spring Cottage which is North West Leicestershire.
Approximately half a mile after St Matthews Church is a bridge over the railway line (the disused Navigation pub is on the right hand side). Just before the railway bridge is a park followed by the entrance on the left hand side to NCN63.
Turn left and follow the cycle path, through the first A gate then follow parallel to the railway line. After 3/4 mile the path will head up a sharp gradient to Park Road and this will be a challenge to non-regular cyclists!
Negotiate the A-gate then cross Park Road carefully and follow the path into Swainspark Wood after another A-gate. The path is narrower through this section and be careful to keep to the main path as there are other paths. Due to the woodland setting it is difficult to put signs up but the route is easy to follow.
After an uphill section the path comes to a junction with the new Tunnel Woods path but keep right and follow route 63 down hill, through the next A-gate. At the bottom of the next incline is a junction. Bear left to follow the route parallel to Gresley Woods but not the small path leading back upto Gresley Church.
After another 1/2 mile there will be a junction with NCN63 signposted left with the pink section of the Conkers circuit and NCN (63) signposted straight ahead. Take the left turn, then proceed through the A-gate and the route joins the road at the bottom of Thorpe Downs Road. NCN 63 is still signposted.
At the top of the climb of Thorpe Downs Road, turn right onto Common Road past the Tesco Express, then turn Left into Market Street before turning into Maurice Lea Park.
Follow the path past the bandstand and just before the gate at York Road follow the park path to the left and the gate at the junction of Market Street and York Road.
Carefully cross the road to the war memorial.
Maurice Lea Memorial Park and Memorial Garden - Church Gresley
Maurice Lea Memorial Park is a key community focal point in Church Gresley and has attained Green Flag Status for several years. The park itself is a memorial to Maurice Lea, who was killed in France During World War 1 and was presented to the district by his father Herbert Lea.
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| Bandstand in action at Maurice Lea Park |
For more information about the park, please see the link below:
http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/leisure_culture_and_tourism/parks_and_outdoor_recreation/mauriceleamemorialpark/default.asp
The war memorial garden across the road is a very well preserved memorial and also another focal point within Church Gresley. As well as the memorials for the 2 World Wars there are also poignant memorials for those killed in more recent conflicts. The annual remembrance parade is well attended by several generations. The excellent link below shows some very interesting photographs as well as a roll of honour.
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| Main Church Gresley memorial |
http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Derbyshire/ChurchGresley.html
There is also a war memorial outside the Rising Sun pub in Queen Street*.
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| Memorial outside the Rising Sun Pub in Church Gresley |
Ride directions:
Turn left outside the war memorial and turn left at the end of Market Street onto York Road.
Follow York Road past the old school where is becomes Gresleywood Road and follow Gresleywood Road until its junction with George Street.
Bear left onto the Old Hall Drive then bear right onto the small track on the land to the right. During wet periods, this may be difficult to pass. At the end of this stretch of public footpath is Wyedale.
Turn left onto Wyedale and follow until the second left, Wolfescotedale and a path link to Newman Drive. Continue onto Stockton Close and another path link, then cross over Reading Avenue and follow the path to Salford Way. Some of the sections of path are not quite 3m wide and dismounting may be necessary.
Turn Left onto Salford Way then right onto Keele Drive then Left onto Brunel Way before taking a right turn via the roundabout into Westminster Drive.
At the end of Westminster Drive turn left onto Edinburgh Road. Bear left onto Merton Close then turn right and head onto the path towards the lagoon. Take the righ fork and cycle around the Lagoon before taking a right turn up to the A444 opposite the Toons furniture store.
Carefully Cross the A444 and head to the left, proceeding on the footpath towards Castle Gresley.
The road into Castle Gresley is Burton Road and at the junction of Linton Road, Bridge Street and Mount Pleasant Road is the War Memorial.
*To visit the Rising Sun memorial, follow Market Street back to Common Road and turn right. The road then becomes Church Street. The Rising Sun and Queen Street are on the right hand side after around 1/4 mile. To rejoin the rest of the route, continue down Church Street to the Church and roundabout and either turn right and follow George Street to the far end or cycle down Castle Road to the A444 and through to Castle Gresley. Care should be taken down Castle Road due to it's steepness and business and also crossing the A444.
Castle Gresley War Memorial
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| The main WW1 memorial is situated between 2 small gardens. |
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| The latest memorial is in the left hand garden and was unveiled as part of the centenary commemoration |
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| The WW2 memorial is in the right hand garden |
Castle Gresley formerly had a Motte & Bailey Castle. Although the castle has long since been destroyed the hill on which it was built still exists in the form of Castle Knob.
The well kept War Memorial is situated at the heart of the village and a small link is shown below. There has been a dedication of a new memorial to commemorate the 100 years since WW1.
http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/ConMediaFile.640/ofConMemorial/60116/fromUkniwmSearch/1
There are also 2 memorial tablets inside Linton Heath Methodist Church, one of which lists those from around the Linton Heath area and the other which lists those associated with the church itself**.
Ride directions:
Turn left up Linton Road from the war memorial and continue through Castle Gresley upwards and towards Linton. There are a number of shops in Castle Gresley including a Post Office.
This road becomes Hillside Road through Linton then Cauldwell Lane through the countryside before becoming Linton Road again approaching Rosliston. after 2 1/2 miles from Castle Gresley War Memorial, follow the road to the right when passing Beehive Farm, then you will come to the same mini roundabout in Rosliston where you headed towards Coton-in-the-Elms earlier.
Follow Main Street back through Rosliston until the church entrance on the Right Hnd side after the Fish & Chip shop and Co-op.
**To visit Linton Heath Methodist Church continue up to the top of Mountpleasant Road. It is recommended to keep to the pavement on the right hand side at the top rather than use the busy A444 and negotiate the roundabout. Turn right at the roundabout and follow the road towards Linton Heath. The church is approx. 1/4 mile on the left hand side.
To rejoin the route, follow the road into Linton where it becomes Main Street all the way to it's junction with Hillside Road, then turn left. The diversion is approx. 2 miles.
St. Mary's Church Rosliston
A link to the church can be found below.
http://www.derbyshireuk.net/rosliston_church.html
There is an outdoor memorial and also a newer memorial inside which was unveiled in 2011.
Ride directions:
Turn right back onto Main Street and follow it back the Forestry Centre around 1/4 mile away on the right hand side.
Places to eat / drink
Rosliston Forestry Centre, Bulls Head & Plough (Rosliston), Seal Inn (Netherseal), Robin Hood (Overseal), Youth Hostel Conkers*, Andy's Fish Bar, Travellers Rest, (Church Gresley), Toons Coffee Shop, Honey Pot Tea Rooms Café at Beehive Farm.
*At the junction of NCN63 in Spring Cottage, a small diversion in the other direction along the cycle path for 1/4 mile will pass the Conkers Youth Hostel. This has a café but is advisable to check opening times.
If the optional memorials at Church Gresley and Linton Heath are visited, the following places are en route: Rising Sun, Miners Arms ( Church Gresley), Drum & Monkey and Mountpleasant pubs (Castle Gresley), Red Lion (Linton).
There are also several takeaways en route but most likely to be open on evenings only.
Shops
Co-op (Rosliston), Post Office (Neatherseal), Post Office (Overseal), Tesco Express, Sweet Shop, George Food & Wine & Sainsburys Local (Church Gresley), Post Office & Nisa (Castle Gresley). There are also shops in Linton if the diversion via Linton Heath is taken.
National Cycle Network (NCN) on this ride
The section between Overseal and Church Gresley uses NCN63 which is off road between Spring Cottage and Thorpe Downs Road via Swainspark Woods. Most of this section is also the Conkers Circuit.
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| A tranquil part of NCN 63 snakes its way near Church Gresley Wood |
http://nationalforest.org/visit/images/location/pdfs/Conkers_Cycle_Route_Map_web.pdf
Toilets (not including pubs)
Rosliston Forestry Centre, Overseal (Woodville Road near Village Hall), Maurice Lea Park.
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