Vicar Water wander

My first wander post for a while covers a rather impromptu 7-mile stroll to Mansfield to collect my car from work after a boozy evening out in Nottingham. A series of trails kept me off the roads and made for a pleasant walk in the sunshine, taking in Vicar Water along the way, a little Country Park moulded frrom the now defunct Clipstone Colliery's reclaimed spoil heaps. Anyway, enough blather, on with the wander...

1) Setting off from Edwinstowe

2) Stray dummy

3) Overgrown path down by the riverside

4) Emerging from the trees and following the river

5) Across the bridge

6) Close encounter with a pylon

7) Clipstone West signal box

8) Crossing the road past the fabulous Dog & Duck, sadly with not so fabulous website: http://www.thedogandduck.info/index.html. My eyes! It hurts my eyes!

9) Swivelling round, in a field opposite the Dog & Duck lie the remains of King John's Palace: http://www.britannia.com/tours/rhood/kjpalace.html

10) Mooooo. And Baby Mooooo

11) Quick shot of some interesting typography...

12) ...then panning out to reveal feeding troughy thing (official term) and a glimpse of the grade 2 listed headstocks at what remains of Clipstone colliery, which closed in 2003. They're the tallest in Europe, headstock fans.

13) Gerrof moi laaand. Can't disagree with the sentiment

14) Passing some graffitied industrial buildings

15) Along the trail past the back of the Clipstone colliery site

16) Onwards through an old railway bridge

17) A little further on down the path I arrived at Vicar Water Country Park, once a spoil heap of Clipstone colliery, now reclaimed as a beauty spot with walking and cycling routes aplenty. And fishermen. Lots of fishermen. Clamber atop the old spoil heap for a nice view or stroll around Vicar Pond, a Victorian fishing lake: http://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/ppimageupload/Image16472.PDF

18) The Golden Hand overlooks the lake. Must have been upgraded as, curiously, it was silver last time I saw it!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/captaindoodle/473894112/in/set-72157594582713623

19) Quick trip to the visitor centre at Vicar Water

20) After cutting back to the main road through Clipstone to grab a bottle of pop, I wander along past this old half mine shaft wheel, one of many such monuments in the region, testament to the area's mining history

After this bit it's all uninteresting industrial estates and car dealerships leading to my workplace on the outskirts of Mansfield, so that's all folks. Thanks for wandering with me :)

Cliff Road wander

I'm been planning to do this wander for months, but had to wait until the leaves were off the trees. Unfortunately that means winter, and the light isn't great so the photos aren't as vibrant as I'd like.

Still, let's begin. This is Cliff Road, as viewed looking East from the tram bridge. It runs parallel with High Pavement, but about 3/4 storeys lower. It runs East to West from Middle Hill to Malin Hill - ancient entrances to the city, and incorporates Long Stairs which are said to date from pre-Roman times.

Down on the ground, the height of the cliff becomes a little more obvious...

...and it becomes apparent how many times this area has been build and rebuilt.

Even a close-up of this doesn't shed much light on what was originally here.

A little further along, a car park stands below several bricked-in archways.

This one features a heavy duty grille. I wonder what is behind there.

And this one seems to have featured both a doorway (right) and a fireplace (left) at some point - though presumably not at the same time.

Moving along, this is the back of the Shire Hall, the old court and gaol on High Pavement.

The windows at the top must have a great view over the South of Nottingham...

...but these lower windows - double barred - probably had a far bleaker prospect.

It was said that in Victorian times that the Shire Hall was "The only site in the country where you could be arrested, sentenced and executed."

Moving on, we can see the back of 26-28 High Pavement (left) which has it's own cave cut into the cliff. The elegant looking building on the right, isn't visible from High Pavement, except through a gate into its courtyard.

Moving on, we come to the rear of some of the buildings that form Commerce Square...

...featuring a balcony...

...odd high doors...

...and buttresses.

Moving further along, the road moves away from the cliff, but it can still be seen between private houses.

Just visible on the left photo are the Long Stairs, and on the right, Malin Hill beneath the bricked-in windows.

As the road loops round, we face the cliff to the West behind some houses - the walled Malin Hill forming a diagonal line from top left to bottom right beneath its bricked-in windows.

A close-up reveals the ancient Long Stairs.

Walking along Malin Hill back up to High Pavement - the wall to the left, bricked-in windows above.

The remains of a carved brick doorway in the wall.

Heavily weathered brick beneath.

Carrying on up Malin Hill...

..there are more signs that this was once a rather busier and more important thoroughfare - now blocked off.

And finally, the view down Long Stairs. I know I've covered them before, but their age and their sad neglect - demolished at one end, gated at the other - always intrigues me. The tree stump barely visible in the centre of the picture is probably one of the half-dozen fig trees that once clung to life on the cliff.

That is all - I hope you have enjoyed this rather un-glamorous wander.

A Farnsfield wander

On a recent day out to meet family living at Farnsfield in Nottinghamshire, I took the opportunity to #wander down the main street. It is a beautiful village.

Here is my mum, my son and my cousin.

I'd love to live here one day... surprise lottery win permitting.

I love the mix of elegant Georgian houses with these rather rustic, functional farming buildings.

Even pretty little villages have damp little alleyways - they just have rather more charm than the ones in the city.

And there you have it... my mum and my little boy walking home.

I hope you enjoyed my rare foray outside the city limits of Nottingham.