Pear Tree Fields

Ratby is a long-settled Leicestershire village with real history behind it — the Bury Camp earthworks on its fringes point to Iron Age and Roman occupation, and the older lanes around the church still give the place a distinctly village feel rather than a suburban one. Day to day there are independent shops, a handful of pubs and a village hall that keeps a busy calendar. What sets the setting apart is the woodland: Martinshaw Wood, Pear Tree Wood and Burroughs Wood knit together into the largest continuous stretch of woodland in Leicestershire, part of the National Forest, and spectacular under bluebells in late spring. Groby Pool, Leicestershire's largest natural lake, sits a short drive north, with Bradgate Park and the rocky heights of Charnwood Forest beyond. Leicester is close enough for city shopping, theatre and sport, and the M1 runs just west of the village, with the M69 and A50 feeding onwards. Ratby Band, founded in the 1840s, still rehearses and performs in the village.