Codnor Castle 20th December 2022

 A return to this peasant local walk needing only a short car journey to the start. Also, this is a nice distance to include Meg.

A gentle and enjoyable 4 miles.

Derby - Little eaton - Smalley 11th December 2022

 This is a variation on the walk I did with Ben early in the year. I caught the bus fom Smalley and met Ben in Derby.

Instead of heading out from Derby along the Northern Greenway we followed the Derwent Valley Hertage Way from Derby - Darley Abbey - passing under the a38 to the centre of Little Eaton.

It was bitterley cold and murky , so not many pictures taken. We stopped at Starbucks near the A38 to warm up with a hot drink. From the centre of Little Eaton there was a bit of road walking before entering the woods which lead to Brackley Gate (after passing under the A38 again). From there it is the same route back to Smalley asthe Horsley Castle route. 

Heading down Cloves Hill

Farm on Smalley Mill Road

This would be a good walk to do in Summer , adding a loop around Little Eatonto avoid some of the road walking and also picking up lunch in Little Eaton instead of carryig food.

Even with the cold , murky weather a nice walk involving no car use. Approx 8 miles.

Mam Tor 28 October 2022

 What a lovely walk - Taking my three of my Grandkids up a 'Mountain' - OK its a big hill , but it looks like a mountain !

I parked at the NT car park at the foot of Mam Tor and met Anne , Erica and the three kids there.

We took the track straight up the hill where we had glorious views and a very strong wind, so we didn't stay very long at the top.

After we droped back down to the car park we sat at a picnic bench and had a bite to eat and then we had a wander over towards the Blue John Mine and the 'Broken Road'.

A massive 2 miles. Brilliant Day

Shipley Park Round 7th November 2022

 I haven't done any 'set piece hikes' for some time so it was nice to make this local walk longer than I have been doing recently. I set off from Smalley with Meg and headed off across the fields to to junction with Bell Lane just above Manchester Wood.

At Mapperley Reevoir car park I met Anne who picked up Meg. Increasingly she has struggled with walking too far (she did seem to be full of beans when Anne picked her up but we went ahead as planned).Frm there it was along a footpath I haven't used before looping past the nature reserve towards the nutbrook trail cafe.

Stream near the Nature reserve

Magnificent beast near the Nutbrook trail

The footpath towards Shipley Hill was blocked so I had to traverse around Shipley Lake to the old car park for the American Adventure. Back then to Osbornes Pond. I stopped for a lovely cup of coffee and energy bar overlooking the pond. From there the Visitor Centre and then back across Woodland Trust tracks back to Smalley.

Building Site around the old American Adventure

Shipley Lake

Osbornes Pond

Cold , crisp clear weather. About 8 miles.