Shipley - Woodside Nature Reserve
w/e 22 November 2015
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
It's been mostly another dark and dismal week in Ilkeston and
when storm Barney blew through it left a trail of rubble in its
wake. Barney? Rubble? As the saying goes "Sorry, I'll get
my coat." The winds blew a panel out of the greenhouse roof,
another from the door which was blown off completely, it demolished
a fence at the bottom of the garden and even toppled a tree in
Park Cemetery. But on Friday the weather brightened up and it
felt a lot colder but we took a walk in the afternoon with the
dog through the Woodside Nature Reserve at Shipley anyway.
A few weeks ago I had walked across Shipley Common to the Nutbrook
Trail, again on a Friday afternoon, and had seen some livestock
in the distance. On that occasion I had cut short the walk due
to the threat of heavy rain and returned to the car on the Shipley
View Estate. This time we returned to the Nutbrook Trail and
followed it back to where I had met it last time passing much
closer to that livestock.
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Continuing past that point the Nutbrook Trail turns first to
the left and then right where a raised boardwalk over a water
course leads to a footpath up and over the mound ahead.
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  Not having walked that way before I followed
the path to the top but the views towards West Hallam (left)
and Mapperley (right) into the sun shining through the dramatic
sky produced only a couple of views in silhouette. That could
be a walk for another day but today we had a different objective.
Turning back down the slope gave a good view though of the bends
in the Nutbrook Trail.
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Before heading for that objective there was time for a shot of
a giant hedgehog in the trees at the side of the boardwalk.
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We continued along the Nutbrook Trail and soon reached our objective
Lodge Farm, or to be more precise the Nutbrook Coffee Shop where another wooden
sculpture, this time of a mole, stood at the side of the path.
Note too another raised boardwalk opposite the sculpture which
is the route I took later.
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First though we entered the courtyard at the Coffee Shop and
joined several more at the tables there. Despite the cold it
was quite pleasant in the sheltered area.
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And to ward off the chill, a couple of hot chocolates were just
the job.
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Leaving the Coffee Shop I crossed the boardwalk opposite the
mole sculpture and climbed the slope up to what I took to be
a viewing platform at the top. Sadly it looks as though the vandals
got there before me as there was evidence of a fire on this side
and access to the steps on the far side was also barred. I can't
believe that a fire here was started accidentally.
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It's such a shame as the view from the platform would have been
much better with that little extra height but the eagle eyed
among you may just be able to pick out St Mary's Church tower
and the URC spire in Ilkeston on the horizon. Look just to the
left of centre.
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There was nothing else to do except return to the wife and the
dog who were both patiently waiting on the Nutbrook Trail below
and retrace our steps back to the start.
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