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.

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.
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Church Path continues between the much larger Church Pond on
the right and even larger Tween Pond to the left.
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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.
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The sheltered Tween Pond on the other side of the path was as
calm as a proverbial duck pond.
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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.
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The Visitor Centre overlooks Coneries Pond - all the ponds in
the Reserve were former gravel pits.
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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.
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The bridge offers a good view over Coneries Pond of the Visitor
Centre.
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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.
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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.
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