Attenborough - The Tufted Duck Route - Part 01
w/e 08 June 2025

All of this week's pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300

This is not the first time we have walked the Tufted Duck Route at Attenborough Nature Reserve but this time it was more by accident than design.

Ireton Pond

We approached and entered the Reserve from Church Lane to walk along Church Path by the Ireton Pond. Looking back over the pond it was just possible to make out the tower and spire of St Mary's Church through the leaves on the tree.
Church Path

Church Path continues between the much larger Church Pond on the right and even larger Tween Pond to the left.
Viewing Screen

A Viewing Screen, one of several around the Reserve, overlooking Church Pond allows visitors to view the waterfowl without disturbing them. A stiff breeze was causing some choppy conditions on the water and only a few birds could be seen.
Tween Pond

The sheltered Tween Pond on the other side of the path was as calm as a proverbial duck pond.
Visitor Centre Entrance

At the end of Church Path is the Visitor Centre and beyond that, on the horizon, is the recently decommissioned Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station.
Coneries Pond

The Visitor Centre overlooks Coneries Pond - all the ponds in the Reserve were former gravel pits.
Bridge

Another path from near the Visitor Centre, a continuation of Barton Lane, leads to a bridge over a channel between Coneries Pond and Tween Pond. Notices warn that the bridge is unsafe but people were walking across it and we decided to follow.
Visitor Centre

The bridge offers a good view over Coneries Pond of the Visitor Centre.
Barton Ferry Lane

We continued across the bridge where it became obvious why it is deemed unsafe but further along Barton Ferry Lane we observed a large van making its way towards it from premises on the bank of the River Trent.
Island

Looking the other way to the Visitor Centre from the bridge, the view over Tween Pond is a little deceptive. The water appears to be a continuation of the channel under the bridge but the trees on the right are actually covering an island in the pond and the water covers a much more extensive area than it first appears. From here we intended to pick up the Wet Marsh Path between Tween Pond and Clifton Pond to complete the circuit via Main Path. It didn't go exactly to plan - continued in Part 02.

Home
Miscellaneous Walks Index
Special Features Index

Terms & Conditions of Use
This website is copyright but licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence.
Please credit the photographer Garth Newton, or add a link to these pages.