Anyone been in there? Looking to expand some local family rides in that direction on the bridleways/towpaths, and wondering how mud/child friendly it is?

Happy to exchange info for details of the cafes the other side of the Ilkeston Gap 😆

Cheers

No idea,book-marking the thread really.
Have a good ride,

APF

If the constant drizzle eases off I may be forced to go and investigate for myself!

APF – where are you based then? And what are the cafes like?

We popped in there for a bit of brunch not long after it opened. Probably not fair to judge them completely on the strength of one visit but it’s fair to say we weren’t overwhelmed by the service or food served and it all seemed a bit overpriced for what it was. The surroundings and decor are nice though and seems set up for walkers, cyclists and a bit of mud.

Might be worth a look then, just wanting to expand the kids riding horizons beyond Shipley/Nutbrook/Pines and Hicks Lodge

Dunno about the cafe (even though I only live a couple of km away) but the bridleways over here are perfect for taking your kids out on, I did it with my 3 and they grew up to be riding gods who wouldn’t dream of riding with their useless old dad any more

never been to mulberry cafe but: used to ride a lot around strelley lots of bridleways and paths to go at even the old nottingham canal towpath still has a few miles of good track on it, you can get over to the erewash canal as well which is a good few miles of towpath. Used to stop at the Broad Oak in strelley village which always had a good pint on and some pub snacks. lots of out door seating too. bit further north is bestwood country park, another old haunt and loads of miles of path to ride. Big best western hotel in the middle at bestwood lodge is good for a snack and pint too.

My mate runs his design/branding company from there.
Say ‘hi’ to Moz at three rooms 😉

There’s not much mud these days since most of the bridleways have been surfaced over the last couple of years. That area’s my regular winter fall-back when everywhere else is filthy. You can cover a lot of ground without the need for much road action.

Sorry I’ve not been in the cafe, though. Prefer the Stag at Kimberley or the White Lion if pushed 😉

Went out today. Chips in Wollaton and a pint in Kimberley.

So not much help. Again.

From Basford.

APF

Simon1975 – our fallback winter/night riding routes as well. Started using CX bikes since it got resurfaced. Was looking at a route round there from Trowell services for the magazine when Jenn first got ill and it fell off the radar.

I’m the far side of Ilkeston. It’s great to use the bridleways, towpaths and Nutbrook trail to link out towards Nottingham, Derby and beyond. It’s not gnar or technical, but it’s nearly all off road and family friendly, a great resource.

Moved back to Notts a couple of years ago but with kids and house moving/buying I’ve barely been out on any form of bike.

But have they really resurfaced all the bridleways that criss cross the M1? It seems derbyshire has money to spare when it comes to roads.

I’m still upset they knocked the four chimneys down…

Lots of resurfacing in the last 2-3 years. To be fair, a couple were pretty much unrideable half the year, and improvements were also put in when the towpaths were upgraded for the Erewash Trail.

Most of the work is on the wrong Nottingham side of the border.

And the first path to be resurfaced – from Strelley down to Cossall – is now just starting to break up a bit with use and weather.

Aah that makes sense. My geography has gotten a bit muddled in the intervening years, and thought the border was further fast. Living in long eaton means having a derbyshire location but with a Nottingham address just adds to it!

Must get out that way soon now I’m managing to get out occasionally.

Give me a shout – email in profile – if you want some bimbling company

Late update – decent enough, not phased by walkers and cyclists. Somewhere nice to take my mother. More expensive than Ramblers, not quite the Nutbrook Coffee Shop.