Category: Medium Walks

Annual Photo Quiz

28 members of our Medium Walks Group recently took part in our City Centre Photo Quiz.  This has become an annual fixture for our January walk and this year we had 4 teams who each set off with a list of 26 streets and 28 small photos, the object being to locate each of the building features pictured.  Some of these are quite small and can be 3 floors up in some cases.

This year, the weather was less cold, but also slightly damp after the start, and could have been a problem for writing down the locations; we had pencils, so we were prepared. One team suffered a slight delay when they found that their chosen Wetherspoons, for planning their route (and coffee), was closed all week!

Mark Jackson was in charge of the winning team, pictured, with 17 features located, and unusually we needed two tiebreaks to decide the team placings.

As in previous years, we retired to the Three Crowns pub opposite the Theatre Royal for a buffet lunch, while our organisers worked out the scores. Thanks go again to John Saunders and David Jackson for all the organisation and planning involved.

Our next walk will be on Monday, 16^th February, and will be another City walk, taking in areas around the City centre which people may not be familiar with. New members are always welcome, just make contact via the tab on our website.

John Tedstone

Our last walk of 2025 was at West Hallam on an ideal day for walking, after the deluge a few days previously. Our walk leaders Steve and Anne Lawrence had made a few adjustments to avoid a path which had become a stream over the weekend.

Starting from the Newdigate Inn, we followed a circular route taking in many of the walking routes within Shipley Park. Looking across the lake, new housing has taken the place of the American Adventure theme park of the 1980s, probably for the good! The park was looking attractive in autumn colours, and there are several cafes which have appeared, I think, since our group first walked this area some years ago.

Our next walk will be on 19^th January – this will be our Nottingham City Centre photo quiz, being organised again by John Saunders and David Jackson.

We always welcome new Medium Walks members – to get in touch, just use the contact email on the Hucknall U3A website. John Tedstone

Our October walk took place recently in South Nottinghamshire, following a circuit from Cotgrave to Tollerton and Clipston on the Wolds. Walk Leader Greg Umney had organised ideal walking weather, in an area that we have visited less frequently over the 15 years or so of this group. 

Our final walk of this season will be at West Hallam on Monday 17th November.

During 2025, we have walked in these areas, with only one cancellation, which was due to forecast gale force winds in September:

Nottingham City Centre – Annual photo quiz

Nottingham City walk – Dunkirk pond, Nottingham – Beeston canal and University campus

Bestwood Country Park

Elvaston Castle, near Borrowash

Tansley, near Matlock (our steepest walk)

Hathersage, Peak District

Ollerton and Rufford

Bunny and East Leake

Cotgrave and Tollerton

West Hallam

New members are always welcome to join us – just use the contact email on our website.

John Tedstone, Group Leader

For our July walk we ventured north to Ollerton village, and followed a circular route, pausing at Wellow for our coffee stop, and to hear about the history of the famous Maypole which stands in the centre of the village green.

The photo stop was on the steep steps at the side of the old railway line which we crossed – we recreated a similar photo of around 7 years ago when we last used that particular path.

Although it was not yet August, the large field of wheat which we crossed looked ready for harvesting. We then walked around to Rufford Country Park, where the ford across the road became briefly famous on YouTube, before being closed on safety grounds.

Finally, we made our way back to Ollerton village, avoiding the forecast thunderstorms, which appeared as we were heading back home.

Our next walk will be on Monday 18^th August – new members are always welcome to join us, just use the contact form on our website.

John Tedstone

After battling with the ‘Ring go’ roadside parking app (other parking apps are available), 15 members departed from the café at Grindleford Station, suitably fed and watered, in ‘period surroundings’. We headed upwards towards Hathersage, in our second foray into the Peak District this year, stopping to look at some relics of the area’s industrial past.

Enjoying perfect walking weather, the walk began with an exhilarating escalation of elevation that was eminently worth the effort, as the views were super.  After descending into Hathersage we passed the popular open-air lido before proceeding to the lunch spot at the side of the Derwent and the final push back to the café to complete the 6 mile walk.

Along the way, we were entertained with Mark Jackson’s ‘guess the house price’ competition (answers of at least 7 figures), and also gruesome information about the abandoned riverside chapel, now grade 2 listed.

Our next walk will be in the Ollerton area on Monday 21^st July.

New members are always welcome to join this group.

John Tedstone and Mark Jackson