Denton, Harlaxton and the Grantham Canal, 29th June 2021

Another good turnout (17), despite the football on TV for Elaine's 4.8-mile walk starting outside the closed Welby Arms in Denton.

The route took us past Denton Church, up the fields to Harlaxton and down The Drift to Harlaxton Wharf and the Grantham Canal.  Leaving the canal at Denton Wharf we walked across to the reservoir and back to Denton.

Church Street, Denton

St Andrew's Church, Denton

The only hill, up to Harlaxton

Casthorpe Hills and Surprise View

St Mary and St Peters's Church, Harlaxton

Harlaxton village cross

Grantham Canal

Denton Wharf - drinks stop

Click here for an iteractive OS map

Old Dalby, Wartnaby and Grimston, 27th June 2021

 

Knigh Hospitaler                                Noel family Coat of Arms
Duncombe family Coat of Arms         St John the Baptist Church

Fifteen on Paul's 8-mile walk starting at St John The Baptist Church in Old Dalby before climbing up the Leicestershire Wolds escarpment (for the first time) then descending by the side of Queensway Old Dalby, now a housing estate but once a camp to serve the ordinance and maintenance depot that was built nearby at the outbreak of the Second World War .  Passing through Bouverie Lodge Bison and Deer Farm we climbed up the Leicestershire Wolds again to reach Wartnaby for lunch.

Relive the experience by looking at John J's blog.

St John the Baptist, Old Dalby

A bison objecting to being called a buffalo

Up Broughton Hill

Owned 1231-1540 by
Knights of Jerusalem

Lunch at St Michael and All Angels Church, Wartnaby

A good track then took us to another St John the Baptist Church at Grimston before descending through Old Dalby Wood and back to the start.

Old Dalby Wood

Woodborough and Lambley, 22nd June 2021

Twelve VBR members ignored the football on TV to walk with Anny on this fine walk from Woodborough Village Hall over hills to Lambley, along Cocker Beck and back through Ploughman Wood.

The start next to Woodborough Village Hall

Setting off across the playing fields

Holy Trinity Church, Lambley

J W Stones Nursery

Leaving Ploughman Wood.  This is one of Nottinghamshire's few remaining ancient woodlands and dates back to the 13th century

Attenborough Nature Reserve from Beeston Lock, 20th June 2021

Phil led six VBR members and a dog on a 9 mile walk from Beeston Lock around Attenborough Nature Reserve and back along the River Trent. The sky was grey but the rain held off. Coffee was taken at the Reserve’s Visitor Centre that displays information about the many birds, insects and flora to be viewed on the Reserve. There is also a busy family water sports centre nearby.

The start, Canal Side, Beeston

Beeston Lock

Approaching the Attenborough Nature Centre

Not much evidence of the advertised variety of birds

Spring Lakes Watersports and Leisure Centre

Carrie's lunch stop

Trent south bank near Barton in Fabis

Phil ignores Scott's calls for help to get rid of the goose .... from his shoes

Keyworth and Widmerpool, 16th June 2021

Just eight of us on this 5½ mile walk from Keyworth to Widmerpool and back via the outskirts of Stanton exploring the fine countryside of the Nottinghamshire Wolds.

The  start near the playing fields in Keyworth

Wolds Lane, part of the 26-mile Notts Wolds Way which we completed in July and August 2017

Birdholme Glamping near Stanton on the Wolds - "luxury glamping among rich woodland"

St Peter and St Paul's Church, Widmerpool - a welcome drinks stop

Cropwell Bishop, Cropwell Butler and Tythby, 13th June 2021

Marion took 15 of us on this 6 mile morning ramble from Cropwell Bishop to Cropwell Butler and Tythby using a short section of the Grantham Canal but mostly field paths and tracks.

Approaching Cropwell Butler

Coffee stop at Holy Trinity Church, Tythby

St Giles' Church, Cropwell Bishop

Southwell, Potwell Dyke Meadows and the River Greet, 8th June 2021

 A fine turnout (16) on a fine night for this first Evening Stroll of 2021, a 5.4 mile circumnavigation of Southwell led by Elaine.  The route started in the Minster car park before exploring the orchids in Potwell Dyke Meadows, the last natural remnant of the Archbishop of York's deer park and hunting ground.

Then it was over Cundy Hill, through Norwood park to reach the River Greet, returning through Southwell town centre.

Thanks Bill for the photos.

Group passing in front of the Minster

Potwell Dyke Meadows

Southern Marsh, Common Spotted, Bee or Pyramidal orchids

Download an information leaflet from here

Distant view of the Minster from Cundy Hill

Crossing Potwell Dyke upstream of Southwell

Starkeys Fruit Farm strawberries in Norwood Park

Approaching Maythorne Mill (1785) on the River Greet, a cotton mill which later became a silk mill and operated until the middle of the 20th century

Crossing the Greet at Maythorne Mill

Miscanthus fields in May, June and February

Along the River Greet, part of the Robin Hood Way

Cauldwell's Mill from the River Greet

Caudwell's Mill on the site of Southwell's medieval Burgage Mill