Wollaton - A Walk
In The Park
w/e 14 January 2007 All
this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
It's been quite mild for the time of year and this last week
has been rather wet and windy but we chose probably the best
day of the week, Wednesday, for a brisk walk in Wollaton Park.
Surface water from the rain had created a few muddy patches on
the route we were about to follow and here, adjacent to the lake
in the park which can just be seen to the right of the path,
there was enough standing water to interest some of the park's
waterfowl.
We started our walk with quite a bit of cloud cover but the stiff
breeze not only rippled the surface of the lake but also blew
in some blue skies as well. It did however add to the wind chill
and despite the mild temperature, it felt really cold as we walked
along the edge of the lake.
We turned away from the lake just after some flowering gorse
that added a welcome bit of colour to the scene to follow the
avenue of trees (left) up to the Hall (middle) which is still
shrouded with scaffolding as it has been for some time while
major restoration work is carried out. It is due to be completed
by Easter this year. Work is also being carried out on other
buildings and the hoardings around the Stable Block are enhanced
by boards decorated with pictures by children from local primary
schools.
The benches near the Stable Block would have been inviting on
another day but with the wind still blowing we passed them by
and went down the hill. The wind had however blown away most
of the cloud and in the sheltered conditions as we descended
the hill it became very pleasant in the winter sunshine.
Wollaton Park is of course a deer park and in the distance we
noticed some movement among the trees.
Employing the zoom lens on the camera showed a number of stags
and this one was kind enough to turn and face me. Further away
the hinds were busy grazing and the black dots on the grass in
between turned out to be members of the crow family.
By the time we had reached the lake again it seemed
much calmer but before we reached the car, the wind had picked
up again and it had started to rain. And it stayed wet and windy
for the rest of the week.