The community forest includes areas in:
- Amber Valley - Alfreton, Somercotes, Heanor, Ripley, Codnor
- Bolsover - Barlborough, Clowne, Bolsover, Shirebrook, Pleasley, South Normanton, Pinxton, Tibshelf, Glapwell
- Chesterfield - Birdholme, Boythorpe, Brampton, Brimington, Chesterfield, Loundsley Green and Newbold, Staveley, Whittington
- Derby
- Erewash - Breadsall, West Hallam, Breaston, Horsley, Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Sandiacre, Sawley
- North East Derbyshire - Aston, Clay Cross, Dronfield, Eckington and Killamarsh, Sutton, Wingerworth, Shirland
- South Derbyshire - Etwall and Repton, Hilton, Melbourne
Where to find Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest
More than 47,000 trees will have been planted by the end of our first planting season in March 2025.
This year we have planted trees on a range of sites owned by the county council as well as some privately-owned land, locations include:
Broadmeadows Estate, South Normanton
313 trees, 0.23 hectares
Species: maple, lime, scots pine, rowan
This site is a local green space for the estate with many access paths that are well used by the public. The planting area is surrounded by established woodland, so the creation of more woodland will increase connectivity. The planting replicates the species mix of the established semi-mature woodland.
Grassmoor Country Park, North East Derbyshire
2,346 trees, 1.46 hectares
Species: birch, maple, oak, hazel
The design of the planting aims to protect the view from the road to the north of the site while retaining the pathways informally made by many of the park users. The species planted follow those that are found in the surrounding parkland.
Grassmoor Country Park, Hepthorne Lane
161 trees, 0.11 hectares
Species: birch, oak, maple, scots pine
Hepthorne Lane is a site just outside of Grassmoor Country Park, connecting the Derbyshire Greenway and part of the Five Pits Trail. The planting design aims to protect the tranquil feeling of the site due to its seclusion and aims to retain many of the pathways created informally by park users. Many of the existing species in the surrounding parkland include oak, birch and sycamore.
Grassmoor Country Park, Orchard
42 trees, 0.2 hectares
Species: apple, pear, hazel, English walnut
The final site planted in the Grassmoor Country Park area is located adjacent to the east of Grassmoor Colliery and a railway station. The orchard has been planted either side of a footpath that runs through the centre of the site leading to a footbridge. Both formal and informal paths have been retained.
Newton Link, Blackmore, Bolsover
713 trees, 0.41 hectares
Species: oak, birch, buckthorn, rowan
This former railway track is a local greenspace for the village of Newton, connecting both the Five Pits Trail, the Silverhill Trail and the Derbyshire Greenway. The site is widely used by the local community, containing a footpath, cycle path and bridleway. An aim of the planting design was to maintain the open views of the adjacent field.
Pinxton Wharf
24 trees, 0.9 hectares
Species: crab apple, pear, plum, English walnut
During the 19th Century this site is believed to have been a yard serving both the Pinxton Canal and the adjacent Pinxton Colliery. The canal was once part of the old Cromford Canal network. The site is an enclosed grass copse adjacent to the towpath. The planting design aimed to retain the sense of openness by planting a small stand of orchard species.
Poulter Country Park, Langwith, Bolsover
823 trees, 0.44 hectare
Species: maple, lime, scots pine, willow
Poulter Country Park is popular with the local community and public access to the site has been retained. The planting design features large rides or corridors of trees that complement those which already exist in the area. The site sits within semi-mature woodland and the existing species include rowan, hawthorn, lime and maple.
Ripley Pit Top
1,876 trees, 6.07 hectares
Species: oak, maple, hazel, hawthorn, birch and more.
The site of the former Ripley Colliery is now a popular park, serving as a local green space and a wildlife corridor for the market town of Ripley. The planting design aims to retain the open views across the park as well as several open grassland areas for both ecological and recreation benefits. There will be three types of tree planting: an avenue of unique trees, groups of clear stems – trees with a long, clear trunk with a crown of leaves at the top – to help retain the view, and woodland blocks to provide dense woodland.
Riverside Way Hedgerow, Bolsover
94 trees, 0.39 hectares
Species: hawthorn, alder, holly, hazel
Historically, this site would have been sandwiched between Sutton Mill to the west and Bolsover Station to the east. The road of Riverside Way used to be a railway line. The Stockley Trail runs alongside the site, just within the adjoining and well-established deciduous woodland which is classified as a ‘Priority Habitat’. Planting this hedgerow allows for the increase in species diversity in the local area and becomes an extension of the existing Priority Habitat deciduous woodland.
Shipley Country Park, Hufton’s Field
410 trees, 0.85 hectares
Species: birch, hazel, oak
This site is part of Shipley Country Park in the middle of two woods: Hufton’s Coppice, which is an ancient woodland, and Newcastle Plantation. One of the main planting design aims was to increase connectivity and to deliver new woodland predominantly through natural regeneration, supplemented by larger trees. The planting is low density to blend the two woodlands into one another. The trees planted replicates the mix of trees in the surrounding woodland.
Sleetmoor Plantation, Somercotes
1,556 trees, 1.36 hectares
Species: willow, birch, alder, hazel
Sleetmoor Plantation is an area of open grassland next to an established woodland called Sleetmoor Woods, planted in 1981. The site is well used by local communities. A public footpath runs parallel to the planting area, often used by dog walkers and the site acts as a local green space. An aim of the planting is to help mitigate some of the flooding on the site that can impact the surrounding industrial estate.
Tibshelf Greenway
560 trees, 0.266 hectares
Species: buckthorn, maple, elder, birch
Located at the southern end of the Five Pits Trail at the centre of the Phoenix Greenway, this local green space was part of the former Tibshelf Colliery. It is now used by local communities predominantly for walking and cycling. The planting design aims to retain the open views of the country to the north east of the site. The proposed species are mostly woodland edge species. This is to benefit the local wildlife, particularly butterflies.
Tibshelf Ponds
1360 trees, 0.74 hectares.
Species: alder, hazel, birch, buckthorn, oak
Another site which formed part of the former Tibshelf Colliery, located at the intersection of three railway lines. The site is in a clearing surrounded by semi-mature woodland, with many footpaths that are used by the local community of Tibshelf. The planting design aims to increase tree density and support the existing woodland.
Markham Vale
25,259 trees, 23 hectares
Species: Maple, Birch, Hazel, Oak
Once home to the former Markham Colliery, this site has been reclaimed and developed into our flagship regeneration site turned business and logistics park Markham Vale. Much of the planting will take place on the area known as the Pit Top, which would typically be a more difficult area to develop for other uses. The planting design aims to create species rich woodlands and hedgerows across the site while conserving some of the open space. This increases the nature connectivity of the area.
Bondhay Golf Club, Worksop
1283 trees, 0.72 hectares
Species: birch, oak, maple, hazel
This site is a former agricultural field, now owned by Bondhay Golf Club. The proposed plan ting area is to the south of this popular golf club. It is a slowly regenerating grassland with boundary hedgerow to the highway on two sides. The planting design aims to infill an area between individual mature trees to the east and hedgerows to the south and east.
Drake’s Wood, Denby
9060 trees, 6.55 hectares
Species: birch, oak, pine, hazel, buckthorn
The site is a privately-owned agricultural field, located to the north of Denby Village. The landscape is generally agricultural with irregularly shaped fields, divided by mature hedgerows. The planting design aims to fill the open space with a combination of woodland block planting and copses.
Spital Lane, Chesterfield
353 trees, 0.35 hectares
Species: apple, pear, cherry, hazel, maple, oak and more
Private landowner site which is land between rear gardens and Spital Brook. Planting will cover approximately 50% of the field and include native woodland and orchard trees.