Wollaton Park - Along
The Edge Of The Golf Course
w/e 26 January
2003
Wollaton Village has long since been swallowed up
into what is now the conurbation of Nottingham but it lies only
five or six miles from Ilkeston and is well known for its deer
park and Hall. During this visit we followed the route (mostly)
as described in Malcolm Sales' compilation of "100 Walks
In Nottinghamshire" published by the Crowood Press. We skirted
round the Hall and enjoyed a walk through the park, around the
lake and into the village before returning to the park. This
first stage takes us along the edge of the golf course to the
lake.
From the car park just inside the main entrance to
the park, it was straight on along this tree lined path. The
golf course soon appeared on the left and the view across it
was to the distant tall buildings in Nottingham's city centre.
It was also possible to make out the outline of the Castle while
up the hill to the right stood Wollaton Hall.
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Keeping the golf course on the left, the route turns
right , then left to rise up towards the Hall and then follows
the dried-up moat by the walled garden of the Hall.
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As we made our way towards the water fowl on the
lake, these golfers on the green that is nearest to the Hall,
were looking for a birdie of a different kind.
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With our backs to the golf course, we could look
across the moat and into the gardens. A glimpse of one of the
turrets on the Hall was visible from here along with some of
the more exotic plants in the garden. But much closer on the
bank in the bottom left hand corner of this picture, early growth
of some spring flowers could be seen.
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We departed from the route and instead of heading
down another tree lined path to the southern shore of the lake,
we went straight down the hill to the north eastern corner. Looking
back gave us a good view of the western elevation of the Hall.
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This corner of the lake is a very popular spot with
the many people who visit the park to feed the birds. Armed with
a bag of corn we were no exception and spent some time here before
moving on to continue the
walk around the perimeter of the lake.
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