The Three Parishes Walk - Part 02
w/e 02 February 2014
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
This second mile of the walk picks up the route on
Shipley Lane at the northern end of Mapperley Reservoir and continues
heading north into Shipley Country Park.
A footpath that I passed at the southern side of the reservoir
can be followed right around the water and returns to Shipley
Lane where the second mile starts. For those less inclined to
walking, there is a car park and picnic area at this northern
side of the reservoir and the building in the trees, which is
under the jurisdiction of Derbyshire County Council workers in
the park and has toilet facilities for visitors, stands between
the reservoir and the car park.
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Turing right at the car park I entered the park proper and passed
through the gate to continue up the hill along Shipley Lane.
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The lane is lined with solid looking wooden fences but grassy
ares on each side provide alternative areas for the passage of
horse riders and even dog walkers. The gated lane prevents ordinary
traffic using this route as a rat-run but as I neared the top
of the hill, a fire engine approached (slowly) heading for Mapperley.
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I've always called the hill Shipley Hill but a sign at one of
the entrances to the woodland at the top now proclaims the name
"Horsepool Hill Woodland".
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I could have entered the woodland and walked around the site
of Shipley Hall but I decided against that and continued along
Shipley Lane past the reputedly haunted Gardens House which is
now home to the Green Health Enterprise for people recovering
their mental health.
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Having also passed the former Home Farm which has been converted
into some very desirable residences, I continued down the hill
towards Osbourne's Pond.
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On reaching Derby Lodge however, I made a short detour through
the garden and part way up the hill again towards the Hall site,
the sun streaming through the trees highlighting the mist that
was still hanging about in the late morning.
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The reason for the detour was to view the bank near the Beggars
Walk which is a favourite place to see snowdrops but although
there were plenty of green shoots it was too early in the year
to see the white flowers.
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Turning away from the snowdrop bank the view across to the cricket
ground showed that the sun's rays still hadn't got through the
trees to the frosty ground below.
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So I went back down the hill and this time passed to the right
of Derby Lodge instead of going through the garden to resume
my walk along Shipley Lane. The original plan was to walk from
West Hallam to Osbourne's Pond in Shipley Park but it didn't
quite turn out like that as we shall see in Part 03.
See the conclusion of the walk in Part 03 but to see an aerial
view of the whole route click here.
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