The Elvaston Circuit - Part 02
w/e 19 April 2015
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
As we continued
our walk around and through the Country Park at Elvaston Castle,
we turned away from the weir (left) on the River Derwent, leaving
the cycle and pedestrian path that leads to Derby and followed
instead the path indicated by the sign post leading southwards
(right) to Elvaston. The path turns one way then the other and
leads to the trees seen between the pylons (above).
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Turning again and continuing in a generally southerly direction
the path runs alongside the trees which provided a little welcome
shade on this unusually warm early spring afternoon.
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The other side of the path is flanked by a small water course.
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As we neared
the end of the trees, the path rises very gently (left) to reach
a crossroads in the paths where another signpost (right) points
to the centre of the park. Our route made a detour though turning
right to pass the white block seen in the distance in the tree
line. I was puzzled by what that block was when I looked at this
image but now believe it to be sight screens at the cricket ground.
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A little further along a paddock on the left contained a few
horses and one of them seemed intent on making friends with anyone
passing and found three young children willing accomplices.
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After the paddock, the path splits with the left fork going directly
towards the buildings in the centre of the park and the right
taking a more circuitous route. We went right.
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With the cricket ground across a ditch to the left our detour
took us to the gate onto an access road.
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Trees obscured clear views of the cricket ground from the path
but once on the access road the views were much better and revealed
one busy gentlemen with a hand operated mower (and his dog) hard
at work preparing the pitch for the coming season.
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Another gentleman a little further along the road seemed to have
an easier task as his mower enabled him to sit down on the job
as he tended to the grounds in the park.
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A bend in the road took us to the famous (even though they are
painted blue) Golden Gates. The gates have stood at Elvaston
since 1819 after their arrival from Versailles where Napoleon
Bonaparte had moved them from Spain. They were painted blue about
1850 and have remained that colour ever since but still retained
their original name. In the final part of this walk we turned
through the gates and headed into the centre of the park before
carrying on to the car park again.
To see a map/aerial view of the whole route in a new window follow
this link.
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