Starting at the overflow car park on Bestwood Lodge Drive, Dave's 5½ mile walk took 14 members and guests through the woods of the Country Park past Alexandra Lodge and round Bestwood Village to the Mill Lakes on the River Leen. After returning to the park, we passed the magnificent Bestwood Colliery Winding Engine House before stopping for an early lunch and coffee at the nearby Dynamo House.Further excellent tracks in the park took us round and then up the landscaped colliery tip for views in all directions before descending through the woods to Bestwood Lodge and the start.
Thanks John and Terry for the photos.
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| The start at Bestwood Lodge Drive |
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| Bestwood Country Park |
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| Alexandra Lodge (1877), now the base for the Park Rangers and a study centre |
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| The Old Rectory on Park Road |
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| Headstocks and miners' cottages |
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| Mill Lakes - now a nature reserve but once the site of a water mill, one of several in the Leen Valley |
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| Coffee stop near the lakes |
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| Some of the advertised wildlife |
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| In the 18th century, a series of leats were built along the River Leen east of Hucknall as part of the famous Robinson cotton milling empire. These channels took water from the River Leen and used it to power a number of water mills along its course. |
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| Returning to the park on the part of the National Cycle Network |
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| The Winding Engine House is the last remaining part of Bestwood Colliery - one of the busiest coal mines in Nottinghamshire and the first in the UK to produce over a million tons per year. The winding engine lowered colliers into the mine shaft, and winched mined coal up to the surface. It houses a large winding engine, originally powered by steam. At its peak, the mine employed 2000 men |
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| The headstock and winding house of Bestwood Colliery, 1875 to 1967 |
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| Inside the Engine house, a diagram of how it used to work |
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| Exhibition created by local volunteers |
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| On the recce - a scary trip up to see the winding gear in action |
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| The Dynamo House is the former electrical sub-station serving the colliery and is normally open only between 10am and 12 noon on Saturdays and Bank Holidays. Tours of the Winding Engine House are run from here |
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| Interesting display of the history of Bestwood dating back to the early days of coal mining in the area. Other displays go back to the middle ages, the Doomsday Book and the Iron Age |
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| The top of the old tip (124m) with excellent views towards Hucknall and Nottingham |
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| Bestwood Lodge, now a hotel, is a large 19th century country house originally a medieval Royal Hunting Lodge set within what was once a part of Sherwood Forest |
