Category: Medium Walks

Our April walk was at Attenborough nature reserve – starting at the main visitor centre car park, we followed a figure of 8 route, taking in much of the river path, as well as Attenborough village and the church yard.

This was an easy walk, and there were some signs of Spring approaching, although the weather was still a little on the cold side. We paused in the churchyard to look at the memorial for the workers who died in the Chilwell armaments factory explosion in 1918, not long before the end of the war.

We stopped at the picnic benches near the centre for our lunch break. Several of the birds were taking an interest in the sandwiches, in particular a persistent swan!

Our May walk will be a bit further afield at Calke Abbey, and will be led by Dave Kay and Kevin Varey. We are grateful to members who offer to plan and lead our walks, and more members are always welcome – use the Medium Walks tab on our website to get in touch via email.

John Tedstone

22 of us braved the wet weather for a 7 mile walk around Rolleston and Fiskerton.  After an hour or so the rain eased off and the sun tried its best to warm us as we had coffee at the Southwell Racecourse.  As we continued, the going was definitely “soft” and one of the walkers had a muddy slip, narrowly avoiding a lie down in a puddle. 

After lunch at the side of the River Trent the sun definitely showed itself as we headed back to the Southwell Garden Centre and post walk refreshments in Southwell.

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.