Cossall

Cossall itself has no hotels, being a hamlet of only a few hundred residents, so most visitors staying overnight base themselves in nearby Ilkeston, Trowell or Nottingham, all within a few minutes' to half an hour's drive. Nottingham offers by far the widest range of accommodation, from budget and mid-range chain hotels close to the railway station and Broadmarsh area to smarter boutique hotels around the Lace Market and Old Market Square, as well as serviced apartments for longer stays. This makes it easy to combine a night or two in the city with a day exploring the quieter Erewash Valley villages, including Cossall's canal towpaths and literary connections.

Those who prefer to stay closer to the countryside will find a smaller number of guesthouses, inns and B&Bs scattered through Ilkeston and the surrounding Erewash villages, generally at lower rates than central Nottingham and better placed for early starts on the canal towpath or for reaching Trowell Country Park. Travellers arriving by car will find Cossall convenient for the M1, making it a workable stopover for journeys between the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, while those without a car can rely on Ilkeston and Langley Mill stations for rail links into Nottingham and beyond, with local buses covering the short final leg into the village itself.

Cossall is a small place, but it rewards a slow look, and it makes an easy base for exploring the wider Erewash Valley and the western fringes of Nottingham.

• St Catherine's Church — the hamlet's parish church, built of local sandstone, is the focal point of the village and is closely tied to Cossall's literary connections.
• D.H. Lawrence associations — Cossall is widely thought to have been the inspiration for the fictional village of Cossethay in Lawrence's novel The Rainbow; the writer knew the village well through his one-time fiancée Louie Burrows, whose family lived here.
• Erewash Canal towpath — the canal runs along the valley floor below the village and gives an easy, level walking and cycling route, with connections towards Ilkeston, Sandiacre and the Erewash Valley trail.
• Cossall Marsh — the low, wet ground beside the canal and River Erewash forms a pocket of marshy meadow and scrub that attracts wetland birds and is a pleasant spot for a quiet walk away from the road.
• Ilkeston — the nearest town, a mile or so away, has a Victorian market place, independent shops and cafes, and the Erewash Museum, which covers the local lace and coal-mining heritage.
• Trowell Country Park — a short drive or cycle away, with woodland and meadow trails and views back across the valley towards Cossall.
• Nottingham city centre — around 20 minutes by car, with its castle, Lace Market, and wider shopping and cultural offer for a day trip.

For food and drink, most visitors head into Ilkeston, which has a good spread of independent cafes, takeaways and pubs around its market place and Bath Street. The Erewash Valley more widely has a number of traditional canalside and village pubs serving classic British food, and Nottingham, a short drive away, offers a much larger choice of restaurants, bars and street food, from its long-established Lace Market venues to newer openings around Sneinton Market.

Cossall has no campsite of its own, and as with anywhere else in England, wild camping without the landowner's express permission is against the law, so any camping trip in the area needs to be booked at an official site. The Erewash Valley's gently rolling farmland, criss-crossed by the Erewash Canal and River Erewash, means the terrain around Cossall is generally flat to gently undulating, with the canal towpath offering easy, level walking and cycling straight from a tent or pitch rather than the steep climbs found further north or west in the Peak District. That makes the area well suited to family camping and to visitors who want a low-effort base for exploring on foot or bike.

The wider Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire borderlands around the Erewash Valley have a scattering of small campsites and caravan parks, typically set on working farms or in paddocks a short drive from Ilkeston, Trowell and the motorway network, making them convenient for one or two-night stopovers as well as longer stays exploring Nottingham and Derby. Facilities tend to be simple rather than luxury, with a mix of grass pitches for tents and hardstanding for caravans and motorhomes.

Spring through early autumn is the best window for camping here, when the canal towpath and surrounding meadows are at their most pleasant and evenings are long enough for a walk after pitching up; the flat ground can turn heavy and wet after sustained winter rain, so many local sites reduce services or close over the colder months. For anyone who would rather skip the tent, a handful of glamping options in the wider Erewash and Derbyshire area offer pods, shepherd's huts or yurts, giving a taste of the countryside around Cossall with a proper bed and, usually, a wood burner for cooler nights.