Starting at the East Leake Village Hall, this 5-mile walk led by Rushcliffe Ramblers took us through the outskirts of the village, across the Great Central Railway and up by Rushcliffe Golf Course to Fox Hill. We then dropped down to St Helena's Church in West Leake for coffee before returning through the outskirts of the village to arrive back at the Village Hall in time for lunch and the Nottinghamshire Area Ramblers AGM.
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| Rushcliffe Halt on the Great Central Railway, near the gypsum works |
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| Regrouping near Rushcliffe House after a short climb by the golf course |
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| Still steaming after all these years - you'll miss it when it's gone |
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| St Helena's Church, West Leake and snowdrops |
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| Recrossing Kingston Brook just behind the church |
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| St Mary's Church, East Leake |
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| VBR's poster at the AGM |
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| Part of VBR's contribution to the Annual Report |
The AGM was followed by a talk by Graham Woodward, Chair of Nottingham Civic Society, entitled Canals – 18th Century Highways, looking at how they were built, why they were built and how they work. The talk looked at the history of canals, different methods of raising and lowering boats using locks and lifts, different styles of bridges, tunnels and aqueducts, the development of canal boats and the goods they carried.
The talk included a detailed account of a devastating explosion at the side of the Nottingham Canal in 1813 but also looked beyond the Nottingham area at some truly magnificent modern technological and artistic wonders linked with canals.
Information about the author's other talks, books and photographs on local history can be found on his website at http://www.gwoodward.co.uk/ .
