I have just added this to the map of places to fly your drone at Drone Scene:
Land owner permission not required.
Located in Derbyshire, near to Derby and Nottingham, Elvaston Castle Country Park encompasses approximately 321 acres of open parkland, woodland and more formal historical gardens. It’s also the venue for our popular woodland festival.
At the heart of the estate lies Elvaston Castle, a gothic revival masterpiece (not open to the public) designed by James Wyatt in the early 1800s based on the original house dating back to 1633.
Today both the buildings and gardens are registered (Grade 2 and Grade 2*) as being of special architectural and historical interest.
The gardens are locally renowned for their rockwork structures and fine examples of topiary, originally introduced and designed by William Barron in the 19th century.
There’s lots to be see and do in and around the park - walking, cycling, horse riding, bird watching, picnicking, kite flying, photography, exploring the park and nature reserve… but they don’t like drones!
There is no bylaw or FRZ preventing flight but some of the pathways and bridleways that riddle the estate have ‘no drones’ signs. The Park is vast and I visited on a quiet day and the only witness to my flight was a young lad, and I presume, his mother who were both really excited to see my mini 3 Pro fly…so the choice is yours!
The estate entrance, and only car park for visitors arriving in vehicles, is off Borrowash Road between Borrowash Village and Thulston. Just follow the brown tourist signs from either direction and they’ll direct you right to the park.
Some sat navs direct vehicles off the A6 Derby bypass into Elvaston Castle Country Park via a slip road to Bridlegate Lane, Alvaston. There’s no access to the park via this route (nor turning room along its length should you commit to it). The lane is clearly marked off the by-pass with a ‘dead-end’ highways sign.
Your sat nav may direct you into the estate by a sealed bridle path off Borrowash Road, which also leads to Elvaston Cricket Club’s grounds. This access route is for authorised vehicles only, with no visitor parking permitted.
There is little parking outside of the park but the closest I’ve found is on the B5010 near Elvaston Lane where there is a layby. A short walk up the lane will take you to one of the Park entrances. I did see people had parked on the B5010 but it’s very narrow where it runs around the park and I wouldn’t risk it.
UPDATE @ 28/03/23: Post flight information revealed a Derbyshire City Council bylaw may apply to the Park. See full details in the discussion thread for this entry.
The originator declared that this location was not inside a Flight Restriction Zone at the time of being flown on 15/03/2023. It remains the responsibility of any pilot to check for any changes before flying at the same location.
