Category: Medium Walks

Continuing our winter theme of local walks, 21 of us set off recently from that well-known landmark the Nabb Inn.

We headed west towards Watnall, where the work to create a ‘solar farm’ was well under way, before crossing the site of the old brickworks where the original chimneys used to be a distinctive landmark before they were demolished some years ago.

Continuing along Narrow Lane, we then headed north through the Forestry Commission woods, crossing under the motorway before returning to Hucknall via Whyburn Lane and the Misk Hills.

This was an enjoyable walk of 6 miles in dry conditions, not necessarily to be expected in February.

Our next walk will be on Monday 20^th March, starting from Southwell. New members are always welcome – if you would like to join this group, use the email tab below to get in touch.

John Tedstone

It was good to see 28 of us in Nottingham recently for our winter City walk. A bit chilly at the start, but one of our group remembered warmer days getting the train to Skegness from the now-disappeared London Road High Level station, when we paused to try and work out where the station had been!

The area around the Canal at London Road has mostly been redeveloped over recent decades and it is now quite difficult to recall the old buildings and structures. We also boosted Wetherspoons’ takings with our morning coffee stop! Our photo stop was near Castle Marina – spot the non-U3A person!

Our next walk be a local walk led by Mark Thornley, on Monday 20th February, 2023.

John Tedstone

Undeterred by the weather forecast, 22 of us set out recently on a Nottingham City walk. We started from the Forest tram stop and then headed uphill and around Waterloo Promenade, through the Park Estate and to the Castle for our coffee stop. While in the Park Estate, we walked through the impressive tunnel which was carved out of the sandstone by the 4th Duke of Portland, which brought us out on Derby Road.

We didn’t realise at the time, but Nottingham Castle was about to be closed as they had run out of funds, so we narrowly missed a chance to appear on the TV that evening.

After looking at the restoration work on the Nottingham Society of Artists building on Friar Lane, we continued down to the Canal towpath, then past the ruins of the Broad Marsh Centre and into the Lace Market. Our route then continued through Sneinton Market, where the latest rejuvenation of that area appears to be bringing results.

Finally, we headed into Victoria Park, where there is a striking row of Victorian-era houses, painted in pastel colours, which could (nearly) be on the Amalfi coast. We ended the walk in St Mary’s Rest Garden, where there is a memorial to the famous boxer Bendigo.

This was an interesting walk, with a number of features and buildings that many of us were surprised to see for the first time.

Our next walk will be on Monday, 16th January; this will also be a City walk, taking in parts of the Canal and River Trent.

October’s walk was led by Chris West and Mandy James and took place in the beautiful surroundings of Hardwick Hall Estate on a perfect, bright and sunny autumnal morning.

Twenty of us met up at the Miller’s Pond National Trust car park and set off around the pond followed by a steady ascent through woods and up grassland before following a flat and gravelled drive to one of England’s tiniest villages, Ault Hucknall, (not a hamlet, despite its tiny size, due to its Saxon church which was the worship place of Bess of Hardwick herself!) We then picked up a footpath crossing two fields followed by another leading to the pretty village of Rowthorne, where we stopped at the start of the Rowthorne Trail for our coffee break.

After continuing along the tree lined trail for half a mile or so, we turned off to take the path through woods and fields to Norwood, on the edge of the Hardwick Estate. Re-entering the estate, we walked through Lady Spencer’s Wood (where the ladies of the Hall would take their exercise) up to the Stable Yard where we stopped for lunch, making the most of the tables, benches and ‘facilities’, not always a feature on our walks- luxury! We admired the exterior of the Hall (currently undergoing repair work), the impressive home of the formidable Bess of Hardwick, the second most powerful woman in England in Tudor times, after Queen Elizabeth I, largely due to her outliving four, increasingly wealthy husbands, and hanging onto her inheritances….

The last leg of the walk involved a gradual descent across a grassy hillside down to the ponds and car park, followed by a well-earned drink, for some, at the Hardwick Inn.

Our postponed September walk was at Linacre reservoirs, which are a few miles west of Chesterfield. The walk had a good solid Peak District feel to it, including some of the hills, and started from the village of Cutthorpe.

We heard about some of the industrial history of the area, starting with an area which had been open-cast mined, but is now very successfully reclaimed. Near the three lakes, we heard about the way in which the water quality of each one determined who drank the water, and also read about the origin of ‘bodging’, originally a term for making items from wood.

We were joined by some local residents for our usual photo opportunity, and from our picnic stop, we could see across towards Hathersage and north towards Sheffield.

Our next walk, on Monday 17th October, will be around the Hardwick Hall estate. We always welcome more walkers to join us for enjoyable monthly rambles, usually of about 6 – 7 miles.

Many thanks to Mark and Linda for planning and leading our walk.