| Event type: | Walking |
| Date: | 24th June 2026 |
| Time: | 10:15 am |
| Group: | Walking |
| Organiser: | |
| Booking: | Note that booking is required. |
This walk from Melbourne has been organised by Liz and Alan H - Thanks very much Liz.
Meeting and Start Point: 10:15 Meet outside the Parish Church of St. Michael with St. Mary on Church Street, Church Square, Melbourne, Derbyshire, DE73 8JH. for a 10.15 start to allow travel and parking time.
Details of walk: This walk is taken from the book: Walking in Derbyshire by Elaine Burkinshaw. It’s a lovely, easy walk with one short, gradual incline, mainly paths and bridleways and the few stiles are good. The book says that it is 5 1/2 miles. This involves walking along a short stretch of the B587 which was a bit busy when we did it, so we added a section across the road, through Spring Wood, which then picks up the Ivanhoe Way for a bit, before rejoining the route. This makes it just short of 6 miles. If the weather is bad there is an option to make it shorter to 4.1 miles.
The Spirit Vaults, 53 Church Street, Melbourne, DE73 8EJ. (previously the Bluebell Inn) is a microbrewery on Church Street, Melbourne. Parking is on the road (Church Street) so it’s probably a good idea to car share when possible.
The original building dates back to 1736 where it was built as a house for local farmer and property developer, Samuel Shepherdson. From around 1840 the establishment was selling wines and spirits under the name of ‘The Spirit Vaults’ until about 1855 when the name was changed to ‘The Blue Bell Vaults’ and then later on to ‘The Blue Bell Inn’. Fast forward to 2000 and the pub found itself in the hands of the Morgan family and has stayed within the family ever since. In 2019 the younger generation of the family became involved and embarked upon some significant changes. The pub was closed in June 2019 and a full renovation was carried out which included the installation of a brand new 2.5BBL microbrewery, five en-suite guest rooms on the first and second floors and a complete redesign of the downstairs layout. Paying homage to the pubs past, the family felt the right thing to finish the renovation was to change the pubs name back to its original version… ‘The Spirit Vaults’. The pub finally reopened in August 2020.
Food: 1.30 pm The Spirit Vaults, 53 Church Street, Melbourne, DE73 8EJ.
There are a maximum of 22 places for food so get your order in soon as the menu is published.
Emergency phone for this walk: 07891 871755