Category: Medium Walks

Ticknall and Calke 15^th May 2023

By following the RAW MILK signs, or otherwise, fourteen members arrived at the starting point for the walk. Encouraged by the sunny weather and fantastic views over the Staunton Harold reservoir we set off in a southerly direction towards Dimminsdale, proceeding with caution as we passed the 200 pound crocodile!

Dimminsdale Nature Reserve is an SSSI; in it’s heyday during the 18^th and 19^th century it was a quarry yielding limestone and lead. The path led us to a high point where we could look at a quarry face and only visualise the ores being extracted using picks and shovels.

Moving on through the woodland and emerging near Staunton Harold Hall we learnt about Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, the last earl to be executed, for murdering his steward; method of execution- hanged, using a rope made of silk.

Proceeding north through Calke Park, lunch was taken at the café area. Continuing through the Park towards Ticknall, but we had to stop off to greet, ‘The Old Man of Calke’. A pedunculate oak; a quick calculation of the sum of all the ages of the group was made- conclusion: – at 1000 years old, the oak tree only just won! Once through the Anglo- Saxon village of Tichenhalle we turned south to pass through naturally reclaimed woodland that again once housed limekilns returning to our starting point via boardwalks around part of the reservoir. A pleasant and varied walk of 6.5 miles in good company.

Dave and Kevin

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