26.1 road miles out, south of the city centre
Skylights & rooflights in Ratby
A commuter village west of Leicester, an Iron Age camp on its edge and a conservation area at its heart. Anyone commuting in winter leaves in the dark, and the roof can brighten the rooms they spend their weekends in. Even for a household that is out all day, the room people come home to matters.
Out before the light, home after it
Ratby is a commuter village, a mile from Junction 21a of the M1 and five miles from Leicester city centre. Someone commuting in December leaves and returns in the dark, so the rooms used at the weekend need to be bright on a dull Saturday.
Ratby, a commuter village with an Iron Age camp
Ratby is a commuter village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, with a recorded population of 4,262. It lies just south-east of the M1, near Groby, Kirby Muxloe, Glenfield and Markfield. The five chapters below start with the road, then the village's very old history, the planning position, the working week and the products. Our wider service is introduced under skylight installation in Nottingham.
01
A mile from Junction 21a, and 26 miles from us
Ratby is 26.1 road miles from Nottingham city centre, to the south, and the drive is about 37 minutes. That puts it near the far end of our 30-mile range, and we treat it like any other address in the range. Of the classified roads, only the M1 passes within about a kilometre, and Junction 21a is a mile off. The village is five miles from Leicester city centre, with frequent bus services into Leicester. No railway station or tram stop stands within 2 km of the village.
What the survey involves
We start in the room you want brighter and note the orientation, the existing windows and the ceiling height. Then we go up to the roof, or into the loft, and look at the covering, the structure and the way water leaves. We photograph everything and leave you with a clear idea of what could work. The written price follows, free of charge to ask for.
26.1miles
road distance to Nottingham city centre
37minutes
typical drive to the city centre
1mile
from the village to M1 Junction 21a
What the distance means
A survey this far out is planned as a proper visit. We read the room, the loft and the roof in one go, take the photographs and measurements we need, and order from what we have recorded. A second trip for a forgotten measurement is the sort of thing we plan out of the job.
The written quote that follows is fixed. It does not change when the fitters arrive.
Neighbours on the same map
Groby sits on the north-eastern side of the M1, and Field Head, Kirby Muxloe, Glenfield and Markfield all lie nearby. We cover them too, and the areas we cover page shows the full list.
Access
When you book, tell us if your road is narrow or if parking is limited, because that decides where we unload and how we get materials up to the roof.
02
Bury Camp, Ratae and a very old name
The oldest known human settlement in Ratby was at Bury Camp, on the edge of the village. It was an Iron Age encampment, around 3,000 years old. The village name is linked with Ratcliffe-upon-Soar and Ratae Corieltauvorum, the name given to the Roman ruins at Leicester, and compares it with the Gaelic rath.
The village has three pubs, the Bull's Head, the Plough Inn and the Railway, which stands at the other end of the village from the others. Three pubs, a camp and a Roman echo are the village story; what matters on the survey is the roof you actually have.
What age means for a roof
Old settlement does not mean old roofs. The centre of the village may hold buildings from many periods, and the outskirts will hold later ones. Rather than assume, we take the same steps at every address. We look at the covering, climb into the loft where there is one, check how the roof is framed and look for earlier repairs.
If the building is old, the timbers may be irregular and the opening may need more trimming. If it is recent, the roof may be made of trusses that cannot be cut freely. Either way, the survey decides the size.
Parks and the leaf fall
Ferndale Park lies 0.6 km from the centre and Kirby Firth Nature Park 3 km. Tree litter from open ground reaches roofs, so we set flat rooflights on a raised kerb and match a flashing to the tile or slate.
For a roof of any age, the same sequence applies: loft hatch, covering, framing, then the position that gives the room the most sky. That sequence, and not a guess about the street, is what sets the size of the opening.
If you have a trussed roof, the opening is usually planned between two trusses, which fixes the width of the window we can offer. A roof with hand-cut rafters gives more freedom, and we may be able to centre the window over the dim part of the room.
03
Hinckley and Bosworth decides, and Ratby has its own conservation area
The council that answers planning questions here is Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Ratby is in Leicestershire, and we put any question about listing or the conservation area to the borough.
The conservation area and the listed buildings
Ratby has a conservation area named after the village. Its edge is a mere 0.02 km from the village centre point, effectively on top of it, and was designated on 17 February 1987. Three listed buildings are recorded inside it: a single Grade II* and a pair of Grade II. Draw the circle out to 1.5 km and the national list shows twelve, made up of two Grade II* and ten Grade II.
That leaves nine listed buildings within reach of the village but outside the conservation area. If your home is among any of these, listed building consent comes first. For a house in the conservation area, the council is asked, before a rooflight is ordered, if your street comes under an Article 4 direction.
3listed
buildings inside Ratby Conservation Area
12listed
buildings in the search out to 1.5 km
When the answer is a different slope
If the front slope sits over the wrong room, the back may sit over the right one. Without an Article 4 direction, either can usually take a rooflight. We pick whichever serves the room below.
The England-wide rules, and what we do locally
Which rooflights need no application, and what the Building Regulations ask for, is written up in our planning guide for rooflights. We keep the figures there only. On your job we confirm the council, the slope and the status of the address, and where the work is notifiable we file the paperwork for you.
04
A commuter's house in December
Ratby is a commuter village, and that detail changes how we think about light. Someone who leaves at seven and returns at six in December sees the house by daylight only at weekends. So the rooms that matter most are the ones used on a Saturday and Sunday morning: the kitchen, the family room, the landing on the way to a child's bedroom.
Brightness for a weekend
On a grey Saturday the question is how much daylight reaches the middle of a room. A window gives light from one side. A rooflight gives it from above, across the whole floor. In an extension that has been added to the back of a house, one large flat rooflight can lift the entire space.
Home working
Some people in a commuter village also work from home on certain days. A desk in a spare bedroom, or a loft room with a roof window, gets even light, without the glare of a low sun through a side window. Light from above spreads wider across a desk and a floor than light from a single wall.
Glare and blinds
A home worker will know that bright light on a screen is no help. A rooflight above and behind the desk is kinder than a window in front. For summer mornings, a blind fitted with the unit takes care of the rest, and in winter you leave it open.
Landings and bathrooms
On a winter morning, the bathroom is often lit by electric light long after dawn. A sun tunnel or a small roof window removes that habit. The change is small on the roof, and plain from the inside.
05
Choosing between the options for a Ratby house
We choose by room, not by street. These are the three we raise most readily.
A loft room or stair
A roof window turns a loft or a stair under the slope into a bright space. The outside photo shows a roof window in a grey slate roof under a pale sky, the sort of light a winter sky gives.
A flat roof over the back of the house
A flat rooflight set over the far end of a kitchen or family room fills the space with even daylight. The inside photo shows the view upward through one into a white ceiling. See flat roof rooflights for sizes, opening versions and kerb details.
Windowless spaces
Landings, cloakrooms and bathrooms with no outer wall suit a sun tunnel. The roof opening is small, and the diffuser blends into the ceiling.
Warm glass for a cold month
The glass in a rooflight is the coldest surface in the room. A double-glazed unit with insulating edge strips keeps the inner pane closer to the room's warmth, so drips are less likely to form on a damp January morning. If you want fresh air as well, choose a version that opens.
Guarantee and replacement
Whether it is new or a replacement, each unit comes with a written guarantee on our workmanship, valid for ten years. If an old rooflight has failed, the survey will show whether its opening can be reused.
Which one first? Walk to the darkest spot at three on a December afternoon and switch the lights off. Whatever you can still read by is the room's real daylight, and the product follows from what is missing: sky for a loft, depth for a back room, or a way in for a windowless landing.
Fixed or opening is a choice worth making early. A kitchen and a bathroom repay a sash that opens; a hall tunnel never needs one. The survey settles it, and the quote lists the exact unit, so what you agree is what turns up on the day.
Ratby residents ask before they book
Who decides on a rooflight in Ratby?
For planning in Ratby, the authority is Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Where a check is needed, such as a listed house or the conservation area, we put the question to them ourselves. Any Building Control notification is ours to file.
Is the whole village in the conservation area?
A conservation area named Ratby lies about 20 metres from the village centre point, with three listed buildings inside it. Whether your road lies within it depends on the boundary, which we check with the council for your address.
Is 26 miles too far for a survey?
No. Ratby lies 26.1 road miles out, so it falls inside our 30-mile range. The survey is free, we come to you, and you receive a fixed written quote afterwards.
Can a rooflight help a room I only use at weekends?
Yes. The room most worth lighting is the one you use in the daylight hours you actually have. A rooflight brings in sky light across the whole floor, which makes a weekend kitchen or family room feel bright even under heavy cloud.