Ilkeston -Manor Floods
w/e 22 January 2023
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490 or
a Nikon D3300
Manor Floods is one of three Local Nature Reserves straddling
the Nutbrook Trail on the Ilkeston/West Hallam border, the other
two being Straw's Bridge and Pewit Carr.
There are several access points to Manor Floods and on this occasion
we chose the one from the Manners Industrial Estate. Years ago
a lane stretched all the way down from near Victoria Park through
the former Manners Colliery but most of the lane was swallowed
up by the Industrial Estate and only a little remains at the
entrance to the Nature Reserve.
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The lane opens out to a vehicle parking area - you would be hard
pressed to call it a car park - but again in years gone by, it
would be used by football players when they turned up for matches.
There were no vehicles when we visited but I think it is still
probably used by anglers. We walked through the entrance to the
site.
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There are two paths on entering the site leading north and south
of the lake. We carefully took the ice covered one to the north
and followed it to the distant trees. The football pitch has
long since disappeared but it would have been to the right of
this path.
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We reached the trees and also the edge of the lake where we were
greeted by a family of swans.
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There were more birds dotted on the water but they were too far
away to be identified.
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We followed the path to where it joined the Nutbrook Trail and
turned left to continue with the lake on the left and the Nut
Brook, which is just visible through the trees, on the right.
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There are several fishing platforms along this western edge of
the lake and from this one it was obvious why there were no anglers.
The majority of the lake was covered with ice.
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At the southern end of the lake "No Fishing" notices
warned about the overhead electric power lines.
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We turned left off the Nutbrook Trail to follow another path
beneath the overhead lines from where it appeared that the whole
length of the lake beyond the bulrushes was ice covered.
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The path returned us to the entrance to the Reserve in what appeared
to be almost spring-like conditions but the freezing temperatures
still told a different story. To see Manor Floods and more of
the site in entirely different weather conditions, there's another
selection of photos, taken in May 2015 when the site was first
designated a Local Nature Reserve, that can be viewed by clicking this link.
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