Nottingham - Lakeside & Rhod-side
w/e 14 May 2017
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
Excuse the play on words but on our latest visit
to Highfields Park at Nottingham we started our short walk by
the lakeside but returned via University Boulevard between the
road and the park. This was in order to get a closer look at
the rhododendrons that line the edge of the park - hence Lakeside
and Rhod-side.
We squeezed into the only remaining parking space on either of
the two car parks and before beginning our stroll enjoyed the
view along the lake whilst drinking a cappuccino from the Pavilion
Café.
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After our coffee we began our walk by passing the boat hire kiosk.
A sign declared "Boats Open" but customers were absent.
To the left of the path by the lake here, some building work
was in progress but we shall see more of that later.
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We were amused by another sign on the fence near the boats which
warned of deep water and also of thin ice. On a lovely spring
day thin ice was the last thing we expected to witness so apparently
it's a "Sign For All Seasons".
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We continued along the lakeside and where the path turned could
see the two pillars through the trees where we would later access
University Boulevard. Also by the edge of the lake opposite the
pillars are two statues.
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These statures are of Chinese Dragons and what you may ask is
their significance here.
An inscription on the plinth shows that they were given by Ningbo
City, China and on the other side of the plinth are some Chinese
characters which presumably say the same thing. This makes much
more sense when you realise that Nottingham University has strong
links with China and has a campus in Ningbo, a historic city
near to Shanghai. The aforementioned pillars and statues frame
the Trent Building at the University when viewed from the University
Boulevard entrance.
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We continued along to the western arm of the lake which is flanked
by a lovely avenue of trees but turned here and made our way
back to the dragon statues.
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Turning right we made our way towards the exit from the park
passing the lawns of the Nottingham Croquet Club on the way.
The lawns are bordered by trees and rhododendron bushes along
University Boulevard.
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As we walked along University Boulevard on the cycle and pedestrian
path we had the dual carriageway road on the right and rhododendrons
of various hues on the left.
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A lot of the rhododendrons are still coming into flower but some
are now fully open.
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We turned into the park and could once again see the Trent Building
in the distance as well as the boating kiosk at the side of the
lake. Between that and our position here we could see more on
that building work I mentioned at the start of the walk. The
work is to created an Adventure Golf Course and from what we
could see, looks as though it will be a wonderful attraction
to visitors.
The Golf Course is just one of several projects in the Highfields
Park Restoration and a nearby banner shows where more of the
work being is being carried out. No doubt we'll be back to see
the result of that at a later date.
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