It was cold. My fingers were cold, and my phone was cold too. The OS map was totally failing to find my location, and the more I prodded it the less feeling I had in my fingers, so I gave up, shoved both my phone and my chilly hands into my pockets, and set off. After all, I knew where I was. This was Wollaton Park.
And the path was very obvious. Just follow the avenue of trees...
Crossing a busy road brought me into a neat little housing estate with unusual round street signs. This was built when Wollaton Park was sold to Nottingham City Council in 1925.
The old gatehouse, Lenton Lodge, is now estranged from the rest of the park, and stands by itself next to Derby Road. The bridge used to go over the Nottingham Canal, which has now been turned back into the River Leen. The unfortunate river got shoved out of the way whenever someone came up with a new building project. This is not its original course.
My hands were warming up slightly now, and I was just thinking that a hot sausage roll would finish the job nicely. As if by magic, a sign appeared: Fresh Food & Drink Behind This Wall. And so there was. The flowery trailer you can see in the background was called Duck On a Wall, and the nice lady inside it sold hot sausage rolls. Lovely.
A large roundabout was easier to negotiate than it looked, thanks to generous provision of cycle paths and pedestrian crossings. A short stretch of road brought me to the serene surroundings of Highfields Park.
Sadly the River Leen exhibition at Lakeside Arts was closed. I'll have to go back another day. A burst of sunshine, however, showed off the rest of the park to its full advantage.
As I wandered up through the university, the sky clouded over, and by the time I reached Wollaton Park again, the rain was starting to fall. Small children stomped around in woolly hats and welly boots, attended by coffee-clutching parents. A funfair was setting up outside the grand hall and equally grand stable block.
The rain was getting heavier, so I decided now was a good time for lunch, and joined a couple of families in a shelter with picnic benches.
Whoever landscaped Wollaton Park really liked avenues of trees. I followed yet another one past yet more deer. Some of these had impressive antlers, and I began to see why there were warning signs about not getting too close - I wouldn't want to tangle with a head like that!
I wiggled through a housing estate and found my way up to part of the Bramcote Hills. This bit is a narrow strip of green known as Sandy Lane Nature Reserve. Probably quite nice when it's not drizzling.
Crossing Thoresby Road, I followed a path alongside another strip of green. It had been roughly fenced off with rebar, but seemed to have several unofficial access points and a few derelict buildings, leading me to conclude that it had lapsed from its former ownership. I later discovered that it used to be a golf course.
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| spot the squirrel! |
I turned right onto a long straight path. The field to my left was marked on the map as Playing Fields, but looked destined for housing development.
At the end, a patch of woodland announced itself to be the Nottingham Canal Nature Reserve. The old line of the canal was quite clear through the housing estate, with a footpath instead of water. This sculpture, I think, is meant to be a boat turning into a tree.
I was delighted to find St Leonard's Church in Wollaton open, warm, and friendly. I took off my muddy boots and padded around in my socks, looking at the carved reredos, the tomb of Sir Henry Willoughby with his four wives (Margaret, Elizabeth, Ellen, and Alice) shown half-size to fit them all in, the children's corner and the notices and all the little things that give an impression of the congregation. There was a very good guide to the church available for a donation, too.
Wollaton Hall was now just around the corner. I'd parked in the main car park - a little expensive at £5 for the day, but very handy for this walk.
8.9 miles / 14.4 km
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