Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The National Forest
This “forest in the making” (www.
nationalforest.org) was established in
1990 to convert a 200-square-mile area
of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Staf-
fordshire into woodland, and in doing
so create forestry and tourism jobs.
Linking the ancient forests of Need-
wood in Staffordshire and Charnwood
in Leicestershire, it stretches west from
the outskirts of Leicester to Burton
upon Trent and beyond.
Though it's still far from a true for-
est, the 20 million trees slated to be
planted over the next 30 to 40 years
will cover a third of the area, with the
rest given over to farmland, villages,
and open land. But it's already a great
place to visit, especially with kids. The
focal point is
Conkers
(near Swadlin-
cote in south Derbyshire;
&
01283/
216633;
www.visitconkers.com), where
indoor and outdoor zones and activities
include an adventure playground,
woodland discovery center, and
Enchanted Forest with a simulated
treetop walk and rope walkways. It's
open daily 10am to 6pm (5pm in win-
ter), and admission is £8.50 for adults,
£6.95 for children 3 to 15. Also near
Swadlincote, the
Rosliston Forestry
Centre
(
&
01283/563483;
www.
roslistonforestrycentre.co.uk) is another
hive of activity, including bike rental,
birds-of-prey sessions, archery, laser
games, astronomy walks, and wood-
land playgrounds. You can stay in
lodges on-site or camp nearby at
Bee-
hive Woodland Lakes
(
&
01283/
763981;
www.beehivefarm-woodland-
lakes.co.uk). Early summer 2011 also
saw the opening of the National Forest
Cycling Centre with its off-road trails.
To the east, in Coalville in Leicester-
shire,
Snibston
(
&
01530/278444;
www.leicester.gov.uk) is a former mine
with an interactive museum in the for-
mer colliery buildings, a historic mining
railway, and a country park and nature
reserve with trails and play areas. The
park is open daily January 8:30am to
4pm, February 7:30am to 5pm, March
to October 7:30am to 6pm, and
November to December 8am to 4pm
(museum Apr-Nov daily 10am-5pm,
Dec-Mar Mon-Fri 10am-3pm, and Sat-
Sun and school holidays 10am-5pm).
Admission is £6.95, £4.75 children 3 to
15 (colliery tours and train rides extra).
The National Forest embraces the
western part of
Charnwood Forest,
with
its craggy landscape dotted with volca-
nic rocks. A popular walk is to the sum-
mit of
Bardon Hill—
at 278m (918 ft.)
Leicestershire's highest point. But
Charnwood's highlight is
Bradgate Park
& Swithland Wood Country Park
,
Newton Linford (
&
0116/236-2713
), a
medieval deer park with the ruins of
Bradgate House, home to Lady Jane
Grey, queen for 9 days before being
beheaded in 1554, and an 18th-century
hilltop folly, Old John Tower. The park
is free to enter, dawn to dusk.
Other attractions within or on the
fringes of the Forest include
Twycross
Zoo
(
&
0844/474-1777;
www.twycross
zoo.com),
Ashby Castle
(
&
01530/
413343;
www.english-heritage.org.uk),
the summer
Maize Maze
(
&
01283/
533933;
www.nationalforestmaze.co.
uk), and even
llama-trekking
at Burton-
on-Trent in Staffordshire (
&
01283/
711702;
www.nationalforestllamatreks.
co.uk).
14
Walking back toward the center brings you to the timber-framed
Leicester
Guildhall,
Guildhall Lane (
&
0116/253-2569;
www.leicester.gov.uk), built in
stages between the 14th and 16th centuries and the city's first town hall. Inside are
one of the oldest public libraries in Britain and period rooms including original police
