National Memorial Arboretum
This peaceful circular walk takes you through the National Memorial Arboretum and its surrounding countryside in Alrewas, near Lichfield in Staffordshire. There are 30,000 trees in the 150 acre Arboretum, forming a unique living tribute to those who have served and continue to serve our country. There are also over 300 thought-provoking memorials, each with a story to tell.
This walk starts in the Arboretum car park and takes you through the grounds to Wychnor Viaduct on the River Trent. You will pass the pretty Croxall Lakes Nature Reserve. The reserve consists of two large lakes which attract various wildfowl and waders during the autumn months. It's a pretty area with reedbeds and the River flowing through it. Look out for otters and short-eared owls during winter.
From the nature reserve you continue to Catholme and Wynchnor Bridges where you pick up the Trent and Mersey Canal.
A nice waterside section along the towpath takes you into Alrewas before returning to the finish point at the car park.
You can virtually explore the National Memorial Arboretum using the google street view link below.
You can extend your walking in the area on our Alrewas and Fradley Junction Walk. The route takes you along the Trent and Mersey Canal to the attractive Fradley Junction with its locks, barges and classic old pub.
Postcode
DE13 7AR - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locationsPlease click here for more information
National Memorial Arboretum Ordnance Survey Map 
- view and print off detailed OS map
National Memorial Arboretum Open Street Map 
- view and print off detailed map
National Memorial Arboretum OS Map 
- Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking
National Memorial Arboretum Open Street Map 
- Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking
Explore the Area with Google Street View 
Dog Walking
The site is dog friendly with a designated doggy walking route for you to follow with your pet. Please stick to this path and keep them on leads at all times as dogs are not allowed to be taken onto the memorials. You can see more information and a route map by clicking here .
Further Information and Other Local Ideas
The Yoxall and Needwood Forest Walk passes Alrewas. It explores the ancient Needwood Forest area of the National Forest, using the National Forest Way long distance trail. On the way it visits Branston Water Park and the Football Association's St George's Park National Football Centre.
Just to the east there's the Rosliston Forestry Centre. The centre provides a wealth of information on the area and also has on site bike hire. The surrounding parkland is well worth exploring too with woodland trails, meadows, ponds, lots of butterflies and some interesting sculptures to see. The Woodland Trust's Badger Wood can also be accessed in this area.
Cycle Routes and Walking Routes Nearby
Photos
The National Memorial Arboretum. View towards Visitors Centre and Chapel.
Looking past the Bears Memorial
The Millennium Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness. An Act of Homage is observed every day of the year, once a day, when the Last post and Reveille is played, and a two minute silence is observed.
This photograph shows the Cloisters Area of the visitor centre at the National Memorial Arboretum. The area to the left of the photograph contains the War Widows' Rose Garden. Looking from the bottom left hand side of the photograph is the start of St Dunstan's Walk, a sensory garden for the blind or visually impaired. The sensory garden contains herbs and shrubs that form a scented pathway. The pathway in the photograph continues all the way to the Millennium Chapel, which is just out of sight, to the top right hand side of the photograph.
Armed Forces Memorial, under construction September 2007. This photograph shows a front on view of the Armed Forces Memorial, under construction at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire. The Armed Forces Memorial is situated within the 150 acre Arboretum site. The scaffolding protruding above the main area of the Memorial, is the obelisk that is part of the Armed Forces Memorial.
Armed Forces Memorial 2.
The Memorial slightly to the right hand side of the photograph is dedicated to the 49th West Riding Infantry Division. The Memorial is known as the Polar bear, it has a wooden Polar bear mounted on top, which weighs approx' two and a half tons. There are carved wooden crests and badges recessed all the way around the circular base.
The River Tame and the National Memorial Arboretum. Footpaths mean one can walk along the river bank.
Gravel pits near the Arboretum. Looking north from the edge of the arboretum across an old flooded pit to the conveyors piling up extracts from the current Whitemoor Haye working pit. Lafarge, who manage the site, sometimes find preserved skeletons in the extract material, including Woolly Mammoth, Horse, Bison, Reindeer, and a rather famous Woolly Rhino...