Waltham, Bescaby and Stonesby, 25th April 2021

Another excellent turnout (24) for Steve's 7-mile walk from Waltham to Bescaby and Stonesby.

Steve briefs us at the start in Waltham

Coffee stop near the fish ponds

Fish ponds near the medieval village of Bescaby

Stonesby Quarry, a 3.2 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest is part of a 4 hectare nature reserve managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust

Not the first guided missile we have seen on our walks, but still a surprise

Lunch in the quarry

East Leake, Bunny and Gotham Moor, 18th April 2021

Rab led 16 VBR members on this walk north of East Leake, towards Bunny then across to Gotham, ending with a visit to the famous Cuckoo Bush, a 3000 year old Neolithic burial mound.

Coffee stop

Lonesome tree on Logan's Trail, a disused railway originally to the nearby gypsum works

VBR restarted Walks Programme - Ramblers covid advice

The covid advice from Ramblers remains as follows:

... Ramblers group walks and volunteer activities can resume, following Covid-secure guidance.

... Covid-secure Group walks are classified by the UK government as ‘organised physical activities’ and can take place in groups larger than six.

More detailed advice can be found on the Nottinghamshire Area website which you are advised to read to comply with the conditions of the Risk Assessment.

The VBR Committee therefore decided to restart Group walks on Sunday 4th April with a walk from Fardon.  More walks will follow in April.  Thereafter, the Walks Coordinators will draw up monthly programmes which might include more mid-week walks to avoid congestion at busy places.

Bingham to Cropwell Butler, 11th April 2021

Sue's 6-mile walk attracted a turnout of 18 and took us down the old A46 to Radcliffe Road and then the outskirts of Cropwell Butler.  A loop to the south took us towards Hoe Hill before returning to pass through the village and to the cricket ground for coffee before returning along good field tracks to the start.

Briefing on the old A46

Blackthorn in lane south of Cropwell Butler

Alpacas, Hoe Hill in the background

Notts Clockwalk– a new LDP circling Nottingham

 

The Notts Clock Walk was created quite recently by John Thurston, and is supported by Notts CC. This is a 60-mile route, circumnavigating the city of Nottingham, and divided into 12 sections. It celebrates the villages and countryside around Nottingham, and explores its rich tapestry of local history – from the rolling hills and industrial towns of the north-west to the alluvial plains of the Trent and Soar with its small villages in the south-east. The route is 60 miles, so each mile walked represents a minute on the clock face (so you could claim it is ‘a mile-a-minute walk’!). Each section has good links by bus or tram to get you to the start and from the finish so helping greener travel.

For more information go to nottsclockwalk.wordpress.com .

Approximate route

Farndon, River Trent, Queen's Sconce and Hawton, 4th April 2021

A good turnout (25) for the first of our walks after lockdown.  From the riverside at Farndon we followed the Trent past Staythorpe Power Station and under the A46 to reach Newark Marina where the River Devon enters the Trent.

From Newark Marina we followed the Devon for a short distance before entering Sconce and Devon Park and climbing up the earthworks of Queen's Sconce for coffee.

Queen's sconce, an earthwork fortification that was built in 1646 during the First English Civil War, to protect the garrison of King Charles I based at Newark Castle.

A stretch along the road took us to All Saints' Church, Hawton for a short halt ...

... and then more roadwork took us across the Devon, Car Dyke and the A46 back to the Willow Holt and the river in Farndon for (an optional) lunch.

The Farndon Willow Holt is one of the few remaining survivors of the working willow holts that were a feature of many Trentside villages.  See here a short video of willow coppicing here.

6.7 miles , 3 hours