Watch: Son of conspiracy theorist David Icke exploring remains of 11th century church in north Derbyshire

Gareth Icke, who lives in Alfreton, presents The Walk channel on YouTube where his latest contribution focuses on the medieval village of Lund (also known as Lunt or Lound) which features in the Domesday Book of 1086.

His video shows how the remains of the church, near Heath, have survived the building of the motorway in the 60s and also the recent HS2 proposal which would have taken out the site. On the HS2 topic, Gareth says: “It’s shelved but you know what Governments are like, they change their minds every 20 minutes, fingers crossed it doesn’t happen and this can survive still.”

On his wander around the remains of the church, Gareth gives a potted history of Lund whose community later joined with Heath. He said that in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, six dwellings would constitute a village. He comments: “It doesn’t take much to decimate that village – it can be one huge hit of illness that can take out the village or even an invasion. Take out two or three families, the ones that are left may be looking for work and will end up leaving.”

In 1852 a new church was built in Heath and the old one knocked down, with the land remaining as a burial site. Headstones from the 18th and 19th century are still visible and Gareth is moved by an inscription for a woman of 24 who died in 1800, leaving a 12-day-old baby. Another headstone shows a child of 12 who was buried in 1834. Gareth says in the video: “Looking at graves like that the life expectancy was not great.

"I tend to look at the old days, Victorian times and stuff, with quite an affection, I feel that they had it right in so many ways in history - I think we’ve forgotten who we are as human beings quite a lot in terms of how we try and have communities and look out for each other. I don't think there's enough of that now.”

Gareth, 42, who originates from the Isle of Wight, has compiled 137 episodes for his walking channel over the past 16 months. He said: ‘Living in Derbyshire, the county has been the main focus with over 60 videos in Derbyshire alone. “I’ve been in Derbyshire for around 13 years now and had no idea how much history was still preserved. I would walk and run in the countryside and find remains of structures, or brickwork in woods and fields, and never knew what they were. Then a friend suggested a website called Side by side maps, that takes maps dating back to the 1880s, and puts them alongside current maps so you could see what the remains actually were.

“I was looking at walking the Stockley Trail, into Bolsover, along the old colliery branch, and looked at Side by side maps to see what may remain en route. I saw some structures that appeared to be nestled between the M1 and the Chesterfield bound dual-carriageway at junction 29, and thought there was no way anyone would want to build a modern building at such a location. And that’s where the research started. Next thing I was on various local historical groups on Facebook reading all about the history of Lund.”

Gareth first started filming walk videos on his phone just for fun. He said: “The channel seemed to interest people, so I upgraded to a decent camera, and a drone and haven’t looked back.

"I was contacted by a local man called Phil Langham who had been watching the videos, and had extensive knowledge of the area, and so we often head out together and have even travelled across the country filming videos of lost history in England, Wales, and Scotland. His neighbour Ande Kirkland, and work colleague Nikita Zubov then joined us, and we've built a bit of an exploring team.

“We've been deep under Matlock and Bakewell, climbing into lead mines, and finding old railway tubs, and even miners’ shoes that have been abandoned since Victorian times. We have sought the assistance of trained caving guides for these explores.”

Gareth runs a publishing company and is a lifelong Derby County fan, moving to Derbyshire so he could watch more games. He said: “Now I’ve got two kids, I don’t get to any!”

His dad, David, was a professional footballer before achieving notoriety in 1991 with his son of God claim on TV’s Wogan show. David Icke’s views on Covid resulted in him being barred from the Netherlands in 2022.

David has written many books, with his latest publication ‘The Reveal: The next stage of human awareness’ due out this month. He will give a talk in Nottinghamshire on October 18, with the location to be disclosed 24 hours in advance.