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| Bottle Kiln |
It was a beautiful, warm, sunny morning. We started our journey at the 'Bottle Kiln'. This is a tastefully laid out gift shop to the west of Ilkeston with its own restaurant. (
http://bottlekiln.co.uk/index2.html) The shop areas could be described as being cluttered, but elegantly done.
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| Christmas Decorations |
Some of the art work was a bit over priced, but then you could be the unique owner of some unknown artist for £495. The restaurant area was fitted out very tastefully and it would seem that they would take special dietary requests, particularly if dairy-free is asked for.
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| Coffee Art |
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| Straws Bridge |
We back tracked to Straws Bridge pond car park. This was large and free and edged right up to the pond, which was had a large number of water birds enjoying the titbits from the human visitors.
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| Heron Spied onWalk |
Then we started the walk.It was disastrously documented from the start, but we did use our common sense and find the beginning of it. The trail (on old railway line) followed the Nut Brook and passed other lakes.
Following the instruction we turned off the trail, which was then a path which went on and on without us finding any more confirming landmarks. At last we arrived at the road into Mapperley village, where we discovered that we were going the wrong way around the loop. Just before we reached the village there was a welcome bench which gave us a stop for lunch.
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| The Trail Map |
Back tracking proved equally difficult and we never approached anywhere near 'Head House Farm' that it ever could have been a useful landmark. At one point we were fortunate enough to find an 'electric style', but even then the best we could do was exit the field by climbing over the gate.
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| Feeding Frenzy |
Eventually we got back to the car to find a feeding frenzy of birds, before we set off back home.
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