In the final stage of one of Malcolm Sales' "100 Walks In Nottinghamshire", a compilation published by the Crowood Press, we move out of the park to pass through the village itself.

Crossing the brick bridge over a dry ditch, we turned left and headed for a wooden gate as described in Malcom Sales' book. Unfortunately we should NOT have crossed the bridge before turning but had we not done so, we probably would not have caught sight of these two stags across the ditch, part of the herd of red deer for which the park is well-known.

Our mistake was soon rectified and we picked up the route again after our detour, passing through a patch of boggy ground, to leave the park and reach the residential road of Parkside (inset). A right turn led us to Bramcote Lane where a small cemetery is worth a return visit in another season to enjoy the rose garden that lies within.

Time was against us on this occasion though, so we headed straight up Bramcote Lane to the centre of Wollaton. The old village water pump is now located in a shelter in the middle of a traffic island opposite the Admiral Rodney Public House.

Another right turn took us past St Leonard's Church back towards the park.

Entering Wollaton Park again via a small pedestrian gate brought us close to the rest of the deer that reside there. I was quite suprised by the numbers. I was expecting to see 20 or 25 but there were at least twice as many and probably even more. The angle of the low sun made a good photo of the deer difficult but this is the best of several that I took.

Concluding our walk we headed back towards the car park with one last look up the hill towards the Wollaton Hall. The Elizabethan hall built by Sir Francis Willoughby was completed in 1588 and purchased by Nottingham City Council in 1925. There are various sites on the internet giving details about Wollaton and the Hall but click here for the Nottingham City Council site.