Sue's 8-mile walk started in the Idle Valley Nature Reserve, created from a former gravel quarry and abandoned power station settling lagoons and now managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. The walk took us around the nature reserve, beside rivers and lakes to Lound Village and back.
 |
Thirty to forty years ago, fly ash from nearby coal-fired power stations was trucked into the Idle Valley and formed into the hills and lakes seen today. More than six million tonnes of it. Then, with help from the European Regional Development Fund, the Alliance SSP and the Heritage Lottery Fund, it was carefully rewilded into what is now one of England's most important wildlife reserves, home to vast over-wintering flocks of wildfowl and many rare species, and popular with birdwatchers, fishermen, walkers, foragers and families. Now they want to dig it all up again, so watch this space! |
 |
| Idle Valley Visitor Centre (on a brighter day) |
 |
| The start at the Visitor Centre |
 |
| Entering the Reserve on boardwalks |
 |
| River Idle |
 |
| River Idle catchment |
