The Walk In The Clouds - Part 03
w/e 19 September 2010
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

This concluding third of the walk from Risley Lodge Farm back to Sandiacre Library is, in truth, slightly longer than the opening two parts but the majority of it is across arable farm land so I have tried to pick out some of the salient points rather than just show one field that looks very much like another. After skirting the farm, the route crosses a bridleway and drops downhill to a footbridge over a brook. Here we turn left to follow the path between the hedge on the right and an electric fence to the left marked by a number of warning notices. After climbing over a couple of stiles the path runs around the edge of another field and turns back uphill. The path rejoins the bridleway and offers a good view over Risley towards Sandiacre, our ultimate destination.

Turning right to follow the bridleway the ever present Power Station at Ratcliffe On Soar once again is the main feature to be seen in the distance.

Before reaching the first house in Risley another path meets the bridleway and this is the one we must follow across the field heading for the prominent tree. From the footbridge over the brook to this point our Walk In The Clouds has been sharing the same route as the long distance footpath known as the Midshires Way.

From the tree the path swings round to follow the hedgeline heading for the rear of the properties near the church at Risley. You can see more of the village and the church from a previous visit in 2008 - click here.

At the corner of the field we enter Risley Nature Reserve which is leased by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and is part of the glebe attached to the church. The leaflet for this walk says that unusual plant species to be found here include marsh arrow grass, fleabane, lady's mantle and adder's tongue - but I wouldn't recognise them if I saw them! So crossing the brook we continue onwards and upwards.

At the end of Part 2 I said that the route continued downwards to Risley and Sandiacre but in this undulating country for every "down" there is also an "up"and after leaving the Nature Reserve we meet the second "up" in this section.

At the brow of the hill a property called The Nook comes into view easily identified by large letters on the gate. Dropping down again to The Nook, the path passes to the left of the property and follows the field boundary to Rushy Lane in the distance.

At Rushy Lane we briefly leave the fields to cross the road and follow the grass verge to pick up another footpath a little further down on the right.

This path crosses more of the rural landscape first with a hedge on the right, then both sides and finally an open field. This is a good place to pause and review some of the route already walked (above). Beyond The Hewarths, (the white building) is the high point of the walk on No Man's Lane. Centre left is Maywood Golf Course and Risley Lodge Farm is visible on the skyline directly below the left extremity of the tree.

Our walk is now nearing its end and the path soon leads on to Stanton Road where a right turn takes us over the motorway bridge. This section of the motorway has recently been widened to four lanes each way and the traffic noise is incessant but immediately after crossing the bridge another footpath takes us down some steps and along a path at the side of the motorway into a housing estate at Sandiacre from where the leaflet tells us to wend our way through the estate back to the library and "If you keep going downhill then you won't go far wrong." Back to Part 02

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