Attractions and Places To See around Peckleton - Top 20

A great place for a simple circuit of the lake or to hook up to other nearby walks. Owned by the forestry commission, the car parks are no longer free . Card or payment by app only (cash not accepted).

Sence Valley Forest Park is a significant area of woodland planting which has transformed the former opencast coal mining site, in north-west Leicestershire, into a haven for wildlife and visitors. The coal mine closed in 1996 and only two years later 98,000 Corsican pine, larch and poplars trees were planted. Another 100 acres of land was bought in 2018 and this was planted with a range of coniferous and broadleaved trees, as a sustainable forest for the future.

The main path through the nature reserve (i.e. the one marked on komoot) takes you nowhere near the ponds or bird hide. You have to take the path off to the right near the Severn Trent Water station.

Unfortunately the priory ruins are on private land and are not open to the public. The scaffolding around some of the buildings is also a bit of an eye-sore. The priory was founded by Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1139, as a hermitage for eremites of the Order of St Augustine. Before 1174, following a papal order, it became an Augustinian priory. Ruins of the priory church and tower remain. The prior's lodging and refectory are incorporated into a farmhouse constructed on the site. The priory's door was reused at Thornton Church. The site was purchased in 1927 by Sir William Lindsay Everard, preserving the decaying ruins from total destruction.

Shackerstone steam railway station, stands as a preserved railway station and a distinguished heritage museum. Serving as the terminus and headquarters of the Battlefield Line Railway, this location boasts the Shackerstone Railwayana Museum, a tea room, a well-stocked shop, and houses both the locomotive shed and main rolling stock.

Bradgate House is one of England's great 'lost country houses', a once-magnificent Tudor mansion and the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey, the tragic 'Nine Days Queen'. The story of Bradgate House goes back long before Lady Jane's birth, however, and is intertwined with the history of Bradgate Park, a large country park in which the ruins stand. Bradgate Park began as a hunting ground in the early 13th century. It was enclosed by an earthwork bank and ditch, topped by oak timbers. In 1445 the park passed by marriage to the Grey family, who owned it for the next 5 centuries. The first grey owner was Edward Grey, whose son John married Elizabeth Woodville. After John's death at the Battle of St Albans in 1461 Elizabeth married King Edward IV. One of Elizabeth's sons by her first marriage was Sir Thomas Grey, the 1st Marquess of Dorset.

A relatively new nature reserve that is being taken back by nature. The waters meander in a natural way, the land is allowed to flood in heavy rain, and as you walk through you’ll feel like you’re leaving the rest of the world behind. Loads of birdwatching - it's a great site for Warblers, Whitethroat, Rereed and Sedge warbler. Also Grey Partridge, Little Ringed Plover, Snipe, Little Owl and Kingfisher have been spotted too. Add to this birds of prey including Osprey, Merlin, Buzzard, Kestrel and Peregrine have all been seen, along with the more locally rare marsh harrier, hen harrier and Montagu’s harrier. They've even had a red-footed falcon! Best pack your binoculars and start working through that list.

Shackerstone Station is at the northern end of the "Battlefield Railway" line, and features a museum, Victorian tea room, souvenir shop, and the main loco shed. Steam, diesel and railcar train services run along a single track line. There is a bike park at the station, or it is possible to take your cycle on the train for a small fee.