Botany Bay

Botany Bay is a small hamlet in the heart of the National Forest with lots of public footpaths to explore in lovely surrounding countryside.

Unlike the nearby town of Melbourne, Botany Bay does not appear to have a common source with its better known Australian namesake. While Botany Bay in Australia was named for the quantity of botanical specimens found there, the history of the naming of the Derbyshire hamlet is unclear.

Despite the maritime reference in the hamlet’s name, the Ordnance Survey have also calculated that a point near Botany Bay, at Coton in the Elms, is the furthest point from the English coastline! Some sources say the area was completely covered by water many millions of years ago and hence the rich source of coal discovered in the area a century ago.

The nearest village of Rosliston is about a 15 minute walk away and has a range of facilities including a Co-Op store which is open 7 days a week from 8am to 10pm apart from Sunday, 8pm - 4pm. It stocks most food and beverage items that you’ll need during your stay. There is also a Post Office in the store, a great fish and chip shop, and a pub which serves Sunday lunch.

There is a lovely Honey Pot tea room situated at the local Beehive Woodland Lakes Centre which is very popular for cyclists. It opens Tues thru’ Sunday 8am to 2pm. Try some of their fabulous Victoria sponge cake! There's also a card shop selling a range of gifts, cards, second hand books and more...

'Penguin Wood' at Botany Bay lies between the villages of Linton, Rosliston and Coton in the Elms and its name comes from the major sponsor of the site, Penguin Books, who see their considerable involvement in the regeneration of the historical wildflower and woodland a way of putting back some of what they take out of the environment through the creation of their books.