Autumn Footprints 2012 - Week Two (Substitute)
w/e 23 September 2012
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
The injuries sustained
by both myself and my wife during the final Autumn Footprints
walk that we undertook in Week One of the Amber Valley and Erewash
Walking Festival have steadily improved but disappointingly,
not sufficiently quick enough to enable us to take part in any
of the walks we had hoped to do in Week Two of the Festival.
The closest we got to one of the organised events was on Wednesday
when we met up with some fellow walkers on the "Breaston
MacMillan Walk" as they broke into their circular route
at Draycott to enjoy a coffee morning (right) in aid of Breast
Cancer Week. The curtailment of our planned walks has meant that
the originally intended images from Week Two have had to be substituted
by a further selection from the first week of the Festival.
* The coffee morning raised £380 for the MacMillan appeal
with possibly a little more still to add. *
So returning to our first walk of the Festival titled "Denby
Heritage" the route concluded at Denby's St Mary's Church
which we approached by crossing a field that dipped in the middle
to pass through an area known locally as "Soggy Bottom"
before rising up to the church. It is with some justification
that the area has acquired this nickname for in parts, as some
of the party found to their cost, it was ankle deep in mud. It
didn't appear to concern the horses in the field although in
hindsight it could well have been a warning of the forthcoming
mishaps that occurred later in the week.
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Earlier in the Monday "Little Eaton Round" we had paused
briefly and been treated to the Tour of Britain cycle race near
Duffield but when we later had a thirty minute break for lunch
it was at the edge of Breadsall Priory Golf Course and we were
able to watch the golfers passing by as we ate our sandwiches.
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On the same walk as we neared our destination back at Little
Eaton a small diversion was called for to bypass a land slip
that had uprooted some small trees on the hillside and obliterated
the footpath.
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Tuesday took us from Alfreton on the "Romans and Revolutionaries"
walk to Pentrich and Oakerthorpe passing Wingfield Manor on the
way. After starting through the park at Alfreton we skirted another
golf club before turning off to follow a weaving path through
a small wood. A delightful little pond in the wood was inhabited
by a couple of resident ducks who according to a notice on an
adjacent fence rejoiced in the names of Mac and Mabel.
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There was another delightful little glade in a valley near Oakerthorpe
where a simple wooden footbridge over a brook prevented a repeat
of Sunday's mud exploits at Denby.
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Wednesday's Walking For Health stroll from "Horsley Woodhouse
to Denby Pottery" started in fine bright weather but by
its conclusion the sky had considerably more cloud in it than
at the beginning. This view of the landscape over Denby and to
the north from near Horsley Woodhouse shows the start of the
transition.
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A possibility of thunderstorms was forecast for Thursday and
although there was a fair bit of cloud at the start of our "Spondon
and Locko" circuit, it soon cleared and we were treated
to a lovely middle part of the day. Our first objective was Ockbrook
and we passed close to the Royal Oak which had a fine display
of flower filled tubs, pots and planters on the cobbles and between
the tables in front of the pub.
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The walk continued to Dunshill and into Locko Park for another
picnic lunch and returned to Spondon around the edge of Locko
Lake.
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Many of the walks we had planned for the second week of the Festival
were of a similar nature to the terrain like this near Lower
Hartshay and with a swollen and sore knee I thought it unwise
to be attempting five mile treks across open countryside on uneven
ground and over numerous stiles. This view was captured near
the start of the "Lower Hartshay and Heage Windmill"
walk, a route that included about fifteen of those said stiles.
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It was
near the four mile mark of the same walk that I fell and caused
the damage to my knee and half a mile later that my wife was
kicked by the pony, the incidents that prevented our participation
in the Festival's second week. The final two miles of the walk
were along the route of the disused Cromford Canal and only parts
of the canal are in water. I suppose we should be grateful therefore
that part of the section between the mishaps was one of those
where the banks were separated by water otherwise there's no
knowing what fate may have awaited us as we passed this beast.
Suffice it to say, it only gave us an inquisitive look.
Obviously disappointed at only experiencing half of this year's
Walking Festival we are already looking forward to Autumn Footprints
2013.
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