Robin Hood Way Section 5 : Hucknall to Papplewick – 6.2 Miles

Yesterday was the start of Spring and the next section of the Robinhood Way for us.

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Leap Frog

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We start at the edge of Hucknall where we walk over the railway to Bestwood and walk round Mill Lake.

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Today the birds are in full song and the sun is peeping through. We love this place, just an area of peace and tranquillity. With living local we have been here a few times to feed the ducks or even paddle in the stream.

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We head off towards Bestwood along side the horse stables. It’s Saturday and there are alot of children around having lessons.

We take a slight detour into Bestwood Park.

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Some friends of Phil ‘ s volunteer at the winding house cafe.  A lovely cuppa and cake is always a good excuse to stop.

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We walk past the hut and walk along the colliers path. We find a sneeky geo hidden, and nearly get caught by some nosey dogs who hear us wrattling the box.

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Wild snowdrops.

We walk through the woods and walk up the lane towards the caravan park. Tom finds an interesting geo.

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Alot of wildlife and farms on today’s walk.

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Views to Papplewick Pumping Station

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We stop today’s walk early, as we decide to make a loop and walk back to the car. We walk back up the old Hucknall pit railway and rejoin Mill Lakes.

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Love to hold hands

Walk Stats
Weather – mostly cloudy sneeky bits of sunshine. A mild 12°C.
Time –  4 hours – (9.30m – 1.30pm)
Geocaches – 2 (Phil x 1,  Tom x 1, Tracey x 0)
Miles – 4.5 miles with an extra 1.5 to get back to the car.
Wildlife – Loads of birds singing, Squirrels, Ducks, Horses, Chickens.
Route Instructions – Guess who forgot today’s instructions, luckily we had checked out the route before setting out.
Distance on Route – 26 miles walked – 78 miles remaining.

Robin Hood Way Section 2 : Bulwell to Hucknall – 4.2 Miles

As we live locally we decide to finish the last stretch which we missed last time due to poor light.

We set off from Hucknall and head towards Bulwell.

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Farleys Lane Bridleway

A few people around, and we can see the start of spring.

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Tree Blossom

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The views across to Rolls Royce are ever changing at the moment with the housing works taking place.

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Tom thinks it’s funny to be taking photos of buds, when he is my buddy!!

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My bud!

We walk upto Bulwell Golf Centre where we start today’s Robin Hood Way walk.

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Jumping along the rocks.

We walk through the wood.

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Beautiful Owl
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Wild Garlic Growing

At the bottom of the stream we met the Hucknall Road where we end today’s Robin Hood Way before walking home.

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Enjoying sunshine.

Walk Stats
Miles – 4.2
Robin Hood Way Distance
Weather – 4oC
Quiet with the humming sound of traffic on the Hucknall Bypass.
Wildlife – A couple of dog walkers and horse enjoying the dry weather.
Time 1pm-2.40pm

Lake District – Silver How – 3.7 miles

Another dry day and another walk. After yesterday’s walk we thought we would take it easier but still challenge ourselves to another Wainwright Hill.

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Grasmere

We drive the short distance to Grasmere and park not far from A591 and walk the short distance into the village. We start the walk along Red Bank Road.

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Footpath

We take a public footpath, and follow the path along the side of a wood. We follow the path through a gate and towards a slate wall. After the wall we turned left and followed a stoney and icy path along the base of Silver How, but still climbing slowly.

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Icy

We follow the path to a small Tarn,  and to the right we see the accent to the top of Silver How. Here I count to ten and think I can do this!

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Last climb to Silver How

The wind has started blowing cold. We make sure we are wrapped up and start the climb, which thankfully turns to steps.

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Silver How

The wind dips a bit, and as it’s lunchtime we grab a quick sandwich for energy while enjoying a quick sit down.
My legs have turned to jelly so I decide to stay here while the guys continue.

From my seat, the views back to Loughrigg Fell and across the Valley are amazing!

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Grasmere
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Views across the Loughrigg

The climb, height, steps, and wind was enough for me, but it was great watching the specks of people on nearby fells.

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Silver How

The boys continued their journey. It was a bit blustery at the top, and a little bit of scrambling to successfully reach the summit.

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Summit of Silver How

The walk down was alot quicker.

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Walking down Silver How

We continue straight on at the bottom, and follow the edge of Wyke Plantation. They have been felling trees, but also lost some trees in the high winds.

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Fallen Trees

We turn left through a gate and follow the wood. Here it is wet and boggy as we are following alongside a stream.

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Wyke Plantation

At the bottom, we follow the drive, back to the Red Bank Road and back to Grasmere.

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Greens Café

All good walks end with tea and cake, and today’s was no exception, the staff and food were exceptional.

Walk Sats
Distance – 3.7 miles
Weather – 3oC with wind on the hills. Mostly cloudy with a bit of sun.
Wildlife – apart from tourists and dogs and one Blackbird nothing else.
Phil, Tom and me.
Interesting Fact – Tom enjoyed the climb and ice of today’s walk.
Wainwright’s fell – 7 – 207 to go
Time – 11.05 – 13.35 – 2.5 hours

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Silver How Route
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Cheese
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End of the walk, Park Time!

Gutted not to have made the top, but the boys are pleased with their success.

Lake District – Silver How – 3.7 miles

Another dry day and another walk. After yesterday’s walk we thought we would take it easy, but challenge ourselves to another Wainwright Hill.

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Grasmere

We drive the short distance to Grasmere and park not far from A591 and walk the short distance into the village. We start the walk along Red Bank Road.

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Footpath

We take a public footpath, and follow the path along the side of a wood. We follow the path through a gate and towards a slate wall. After the wall we turned left and followed a stoney and icy path along the base of Silver How, but still climbing slowly.

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Icy

We follow the path to a small Tarn,  and to the right see the accent to the top of Silver How. Here I count to ten and think I can do this!

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Last climb to Silver How

The wind has started blowing cold, we make sure we are wrapped up and start the climb, which slowly turns to steps.

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Silver How

The wind dips a bit, and as it’s lunchtime we grab a quick sandwich for energy while enjoying a quick sit down.
My legs have turned to jelly so I decide to stay here while the guys continue.

From my seat, the views back to Loughrigg Fell and across the Valley are amazing!

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Grasmere
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Views across the Loughrigg

The steps, climb and wind was enough for me, but it was great watching the specks of people on nearby fells.

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Silver How

The boys continued their journey. It was a bit blustery at the top, and a little scrambling to successfully reach the summit.

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Summit of Silver How

The walk down was alot quicker.

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Walking down Silver How

We continue straight on at the bottom, and follow the edge of Wyke Plantation. They have been felling trees, but also lost some trees in the high winds.

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Fallen Trees

We turn left through a gate and follow the wood. Here it is wet and boggy as we are following alongside a stream.

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Wyke Plantation

At the bottom, we follow the drive, back to the Red Bank Road and back to Grasmere.

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Greens Café

All good walks end with tea and cake, and today’s was no exception, the staff and food were exceptional.

Walk Sats
Distance – 3.7 miles
Weather – 3oC with wind on the hills. Mostly cloudy with a bit of sun.
Wildlife – apart from tourists and dogs and one Blackbird nothing else.
Phil, Tom and me.
Interesting Fact – Tom enjoyed the climb and ice of today’s walk.
Wainwright’s fell – 7 – 207 to go
Time –

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Silver How Route
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Cheese
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End of the walk, Park Time!

Gutted not to have made the top, but the boys are pleased with their success.

Lake District – Black Crag – 5.2 miles

You can’t help but love the Lake District in the sunshine, and today was a very bright 5oC. Love days like this!!

We started today’s walk at the National Trust car park at Tarn Hows.

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Views across Tarn Hows

The views here are gorgeous. We walk around the lake on the left, and soon come across a sign on the left towards Arnside. Here we left the busy visitors, and walked along an icy stoney track, through a kissing gate and along another stony track which started to climb. We take another left turn at a sign to Iron Keld Plantation. There has been alot of tree felling. At the top of the track we negotiate around some rather large local cows.

Through another gate and we take the track right towards the top following the carns.

The views from the top were amazing! Snow on the Old Man, and views across to Windermere and Ambleside.

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Black Crag.

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Bonus we even found a Geocache at the top!!

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Views from the geo and of Windermere

We take the same track down, and was suprised how quick this took. We returned to Tarn Hows and continue our journey around the lake.

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Tom was tired and found the last bit of Lake exhausting but all in all a good walk with what can only be described as WOW views at the top.

Walk Sats
Miles – 5.2

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Temp – 5oC
Wildlife – ducks, and cows
Phil, Tom and me
Parking – Tarn Hows

Robin Hood Way Section 2 : Wollaton Hall to Strelley – 6.5 Miles

As the sun is trying to peep through on another grey day we thought we would set off for part 2 on the Robin Hood Way walk.

We are going to try and walk more than the 2.8 miles in the book today. We leave our car at the Broad Oak pub in Strelley and walk to a nearby bus stop to catch a local 35 bus.

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We jump off near Wollaton Park, where we walk the short distance to the park. We buy cups of tea ready for the walk (ice cream for Tom) and set off in the direction of the lake.

Start of walk at Wollaton Hall.

We walk out of the park and walk through a residential area before walking through some nice local parks.  Hard to believe these areas are hidden amongst all these houses. Found this beautiful boundary sign hiding in the hedge.

Boundary Sign

 The walk takes us along a disused golf course before heading up into Bramcote Park. Along this stretch we saw our first Robin hooks way sign!!!!

Robinhoodway Sign

Today’s walk should really have ended here at Bramcote Park….

Bramcote Park

…..but we knew we could walk more than the recommended 2.8 miles.  

wpid-wp-1453586166404.jpegWe managed to take the wrong path by the Hemlock Stone, but we were soon on the right track.  Local fields were muddy,  but this just gave the walk a bit of fun and laughter.

Bridge crossing old Notts Canal
Bridge crossing old Notts Canal

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Tom was asking questions like why the canal had no water,  and we were all surprised to see an old lock.

We walked past Trowell Garden Centre and could easily see the M1 motorway from here.  We are started to get tired now, but keep pushing on.

5 Geo's found today
5 Geo’s found today

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Great views back to the city and of Wollaton Hall lit up at night.  The evening is drawing in,  and the light fading quickly.

We end our walk today meeting our friends at the pub for a well deserved tea. We can certainly recommend the Broad Oak.

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Section 2 – Walk Stats

  • Weather – mostly cloudy but a mild 10°C which meant that our hats were not on long.
  • Time –  3 hours – (1.43pm – 4.50pm)
  • Geocaches – 5 (Phil x 2,  Tom x 3, Tracey x 0)
  • Miles – 7.5 counting the extra walk from the bus.
  • Wildlife – Squirrels and Doves, walked around a farm, which hard the usual sheep, cows, hens but also lamas, and emu’s.  Not many birds but we did spot a bluetit,  robin , and as it was getting dark a family of magpies.
  • Route Instructions – Spot on again and fab to see the signs
  • Distance on Route – 12 miles walked – 93 miles remaining.
  • Section 1 – Nottingham Castle to Wollaton Hall can be found here
  • RobinHood Way link.
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Robinhood Way Sign

Robin Hood Way – Section 1 : Nottingham Castle to Wollaton Hall – 5.5 miles

Welcome to 2016 and our new year challenge.

Over the Christmas period we purchased the Robin Hood Way book, and wondered if we could complete the 105 mile walk over the year. The website robinhoodway. com gives information on the whole walk with additional information. We will be using the book along side each walk.

Sunday 10th January, we meet the inlaws (or should that be the outlaws) at Wollaton Hall where we leave one of our cars. We drive into the city, where we park our car ready to set out on our adventure.

Section 1 Nottingham Castle to Wollaton Hall.

Today is one of our coldest days of the year at 6°C however it’s also a bright sunny day too which makes all the difference.
After taking our first selfie, we set off from Nottingham Castle following the clear route instructions.

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Nottingham Castle

We pass by one of Nottingham oldest pubs, and have nice views of the castle before taking a pleasant if not busy route along the Nottingham canal.

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Tom is fasinated by the canal boats and asks many questions about the Castle Lock and how it works. Of cause the walk is not a walk if you don’t find a stick!!!

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We enjoy a lovely well deserved cup of tea at (the gallery) University Lakeside at halfway point into the walk. We can highly recommend the scones!

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After a quick look in the Dajongly Gallery we continue the walk along the beautiful University Gardens. Somewhere we all had not been before and hope to come back in the Summer. It was busy with people enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

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After walking through the University, the last of today’s walk is through the stunning Wollaton Park grounds.

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A beautiful day to start this series of walks. After finding our car in what is now a busy car park, we drive into the city to collect our second car. We can’t wait for the rest of this journey/walk,  bring on 2016.

Walk Stats:

  • Weather – Sunny 6°C
  • Time – 11 – 3pm with a stop of lunch and a cup of tea.
  • Geocaches – 4 ( Phil x 1,  Tracey x 1,  Tom x2) and 1 DNF
  • Miles – With the extra geocaches etc walked 5.5 miles.
  • Wildlife – Not many birds, but some ducks and two swans. Two squirrels in the Lakeside lake area.
  • Route Instructions – spot on but we didn’t see one robinhoodway signposts??
  • Distance 5 miles walked – 100 miles remaining.

Welcome Back

Well after nearly two years of zero posts, I am now back up and working on my original harwoodonline.com site. This time I will be blogging with WordPress, lets see how it goes.

2015 Update

  • We had lots of fun this year and I was hoping to document Project 12, but with little success, I think I managed three months……

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I have also learnt how to crochet over the year and will be adding a separate post for this.

2016 Ideas

  • I have been lucky to receive Project Life accessories and album for Christmas which I will be documenting during the year. You will be able to follow my progress on the site.

I can’t wait and it’s great to be back. x

December Daily : Day 22 – 28

Phew all that preparing and I cannot believe that Christmas is over and New Year is just a day away – where has the last year gone??

Well I have to admit it I have fully enjoyed December Daily and Project Life and l’m looking forward to scrapping a new project for next year.
 
The run upto Christmas this year has been energetic and fun.
 
 
 
  • Monday 23rd  – Tom and I spend the morning at the cinema in the city watching Turbo. The cinema was empty with just us and one other family. We spend the rest of the time last minute Christmas shopping before meeting Phil after work.
  • Tuesday 24th & Christmas Eve – We visit great gran and head out to the local pub for brunch. Such a nice way to start the day. We pack our clothes before travelling to my sisters. My sister has cooked us a lovely tea before the Christmas Elves drop off an early present for Tom, new PJ’s and a Book to read. We shower and then a couple more Christmas stories by the fire. We prepare Sherry (Jack Daniels) Mince Pie, Reindeer Dust and a Carrot all ready for Santa. Tom manages to wake 6 times during the night, but luckily doesn’t get up before 7.30am. 
  • Wednesday 25th & Christmas Day – Tom is so excited that he rushed down the stairs and takes a breath when he sees all the lovely presents under the tree. My sister is up preparing dinner already. Tom is amazing and takes his time opening his presents until my other sister Clare and hubby Matt arrives to open more presents. Its a shame that dad is not around to share in this with us today, but enjoy Skyping him to wish Merry Christmas instead. Clare and Matt leave and we enjoy a very yummy dinner with all the trimmings. Tom loves crackers and this year is it racing Santa’s, which is good fun. After lunch we settle down to watch the lovely movie the Polar Express. We play games with Tom and enjoy a buffet tea. Somewhere in between the movie and tea Santa returns to leave Tom another Present, which he was very grateful for and said made his Christmas fantastic!!.  
 
This photo of tom is one of my favourite of the day and is taken on my camera phone.
 
  • Thursday 26th Boxing Day –  We travel back to Nottingham to enjoy the day with Phils family. Its great to see the two cousins soo excited about opening their presents. We had another fun day.
 
 
 Friday 27th – With Phil back at work, I meet with friends to take our kids to Rollerworld and after to Markeaton Park in Derby. The kids lovely the roller skating, something we hadn’t tried before and great to wear them out.
 
Saturday 28th – With Phil still at work, Tom and me stay in our Pjs and relax. Tom plays with his toys while I do some housework and catch up with Project Life and Scrapbooking. When Phil gets home we relax with chocolate and watch Arthur Christmas.

Useful facts of the week…..My week goes from Monday to Sunday (22nd December – 28th December 2013). I am using a combination of Camera Phone and Camera Canon Isis Photos.

I am continuing the December Daily through to the 31st December, so please return to read about our last few days. I intend to include a couple of extra pages to hold Christmas paper, tags, a couple more photos and a list of Toms many Christmas Presents.

Thanks for looking, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  x

Project Life 2013: Week 47 & Week 48

Week 47

Page 1 – Its start to feel a lot like winter with some of the first frost on the ground and having to scrap the car, brrrrrr. Phil and Tom head into the city for the turn on of the Christmas lights. Tom has worked hard all week preparing his Egyptian costume for school. he looks the part.

 
Page 2 – Friday night is for chilling so Phil enjoys a BIG pizza from Morrisons for tea. Saturday Tom is out with his friend Frankie’s for his birthday. They watch Nottingham Forest play football and win. Phil and I enjoy a day in the city xmas shopping. Nigel comes up to visit and on Sunday we head to Sherwood Pines to enjoy a day watching the Dukeries Rally. Its lovely in the forest with the colours of the late Autumn.

 
 

Week 48

 
See my write up for Week 48 HERE.

Useful facts of the week…..My two week goes from Monday to Sunday (18th November – 1st December 2013).
I am using a combination of Camera Phone and Canon Isis Photos.

Thanks for looking, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  x