Sandiacre - Stoney
Clouds
w/e 05 January
2003
I had intended to start the new year with an update
from the controversial development of the Rutland Recreation
Ground but controversial or not, the building work is well under
way as these three pictures show. From left to right below, the
frame for the indoor tennis centre is now in place where the
terracing once stood on the upper rec; work continues on the
six lane athletics track on the lower rec and the path that separates
the two has been diverted to allow the frame of another building
to be put in place.
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A light dusting of snow and a bright afternoon tempted me to
change my plans and take a walk past St Giles' Church at Sandiacre
and visit the Stoney Clouds Nature Reserve.
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Stoney Clouds is a prominent rocky outcrop that owes its name
to the Saxon word "clud" meaning hill. With the temperature
hovering around freezing point all day, the snow on the north
facing slopes was still apparent but elsewhere it was quite muddy
underfoot.
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From the vantage point at the top of the "stoney hill",
the views overlook the M1 motorway here seen looking northwards
towards the Trowell Services.
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This is one of the few sites where the Borough of Erewash may
be seen as a geographical entity, where, as an information leaflet
states, the rural meets the industrial. The view here illustrates
this point admirably with the Erewash Valley Golf Club being
sandwiched between the motorway and the Stanton Industrial Site
with Ilkeston beyond and the countryside of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
on the horizon.
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Returning from the high point via a different route, the view
down the escarpment to the east revealed some coated horses grazing
below and the town of Stapleford on the other side of the River
Erewash. Bramcote Hills curtailed the view towards Wollaton and
Nottingham.
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And finally for this week, another view eastwards over the roof
of a barn at Cloudside Farm but in the foreground, although Christmas
is over for another year, what else could it be but a Yule Log!
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