Orchid walk at Calke Abbey
This tranquil walk will take you through a varied landscape of grasslands, arable farmland and one of Europe's rarest habitats – wood pasture.
See more than 300 fragrant orchids at the Limeyards
Along the way you will take in the Ticknall Limeyards, which date back to the 15th century, managed now to allow calcareous grassland flora to thrive.
Map
Start:
Calke Abbey main car park, grid ref: SK367226
1
Begin at the northern edge of the main car park with your back to the ticket office. Use the gravel path then down steps to the pond. Turn right and follow the deer fencing to the top of the hill, until it meets the old park boundary wall close to an interpretation board.
Twayblade
Twayblade takes its name from the two large oval leaves that are at the base of the flower stem. The small yellow- green flowers look a bit like little people. Sometime the stem can become damaged by feeding frog hopper nymphs found in cuckoo spit.
2
Turn left for 22yd (20m) then go through the gate on the right. Turn left, cross stile and walk down the field to cross the lane leading to White Leys Cottage on the left. Continue ahead.
Fragrant orchid
This orchid, as the name suggests, is heavily scented. It is most perfumed in the early evening and the smell is often described as as being similar to mock orange blossom. The flowers vary in colour from pink to purple and grow in a compact spike on a straight stem. We counted over 300 fragrant orchids on this site in 2014 - a huge increase from the 62 we counted in 2013!
3
At the wall turn right and follow the footpath along the wall on the left. Go over a stile and now keep the hedge on the right to meet woodland at the edge of Ticknall Limeyards.
4
Continue ahead along the wide stoned track that bears right. Look out for a path descending on the left. This leads to a stile by a gate. For a slight detour to see the orchids in summer turn right after the stile. Return to the path and turn right.
Common spotted orchid
This is the most abundant of the British orchids. The flowers are pink with a purple pattern and the leaves are spotted - hence the name. These flowers peak from late June to early July at which time we expect to see more than 5,000 common spotted orchids on this site. When we first started counting orchid numbers in 1998 we counted 258 common spotted orchids.
5
Follow the path (a quarry face over on the left). Cross another stile. You are on the route of Ticknall tramway. This path weaves its way through the woodland. Walk under a bridge then through a gate; next admire the old limekiln with a bridge over it. Continue on the stoned path andcross another bridge as you progress. Interpretation boards give the history of the area.
6
Eventually you meet a tunnel. Go through it to another stile. Cross it and after 11yd (10m) turn left following a stoned path up to a gate. Turn right to walk along the stoned path by the hedgerow. This is the route of the National Forest Way marked by yellow topped posts with orange discs.
Wood pasture
These areas are grazed by sheep and longhorn cattle during the summer to suppress the growth of shrubs and saplings, encouraging a diverse grassland structure. The veteran trees - one of which is more than 1,000 years old - play host to an enormous diversity of invertebrates and fungi, such as the rare oak polypore.
7
Follow the route through open parkland, use the narrow gate and cross the open area aiming downhill to reach the next marker post at the edge of the woodland pasture. Walk on, cross a track to eventually pass between two ponds. Next ascend steps after a gate. A number of Calke's ancient trees (some more than 800 years old) can be seen on the left.
8
Keep to the upper path to return to the car park.
End:
Calke Abbey main car park, grid ref: SK367226
