Ockbrook Walk No. 1
w/e 16 June 2013
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
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The starting point for all three Family Walks in Ockbrook is the Queen's Head public house on Victoria Avenue and this first one is particularly suitable for younger children as it is only about a mile and a quarter in length. An aerial view of the route is available here and it may prove useful to answer the questions that are a feature of the leaflets that describe the routes.

Queen's Head

The Queen's Head stands on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Bakehouse Lane and the route runs in a clockwise direction returning along the latter.
Victoria Avenue

Cricket GroundCricket GroundThe first part of the walk though is along Victoria Avenue passing the Ockbrook and Borrowash Cricket Ground on the way. A gap in the hedge not only allows pedestrian access to the ground but also enables a good view of the impressive pavilion (left). The ground was renamed in 2008 after Arthur Honeybun who died aged 81 in 2005 having been a member of the club for 57 years.
Track at 267

At the side of number 267 Victoria Avenue a track leads off to a stile into the fields behind the properties.
Buttercups

Keeping to the hedgeline on the right the path leads to another stile and into the next field which was awash with buttercups.
Distant Traffic

It is at the next stile at the top of the buttercup field that the leaflet poses the first two questions. Question 1asks you to identify the road on the left where distant traffic can just be seen in this image. (This is where the map could come in useful). Question 2 asks for the name of the power station (inset) that has the same name as a nearby village. It is worth noting here that the leaflet was published in 1996 and there are now alternative answers (which you will find below) to both questions.
Through The Crop

After crossing the next field the route turns to the right to follow the track through the young crop heading straight for the tree on the other side.
Tree

That particular tree is the subject of the third question which is to identify the type of tree. The inset of the leaf should help with the identification.
School

Another right turn at the tree then follows the footpath towards the Moravian Settlement where the building seen here is part of the Ockbrook School, this building catering for the younger students.
The Settlement

The path expands into a track at the side of the school building and soon reaches the end of Bakehouse Lane. To the left is The Settlement which we explored in greater detail in the Village Trail around Ockbrook elsewhere on this site. Briefly the Moravian Settlement was established by the congregation of the Moravian Church during the eighteenth century, the church being formed by followers of John Hus in 1457. Hus was a Bohemian Christian reformer who was burned at the stake in 1415.
Bakehouse Lane

Bakehouse LaneBakehouse LaneThe Settlement makes an interesting detour but the route of this Family Walk is to turn right and follow Bakehouse Lane. This is predominantly a residential area (left) but after passing the vehicular access to the Arthur Honeybun Cricket Ground where a large board proudly displays the name just inside the gate, it is only a short walk (right) back to the Queen's Head.

Now for the answers to the questions. The answers given in the leaflet are: Q1 The A52; Q2 Spondon Power Station and Q3 Oak. Since the leaflet's publication though the A52 has been named Brian Clough Way after the legendary football manager of both Derby County and Nottingham Forest, the A52 being the road that links the two East Midland cities. As for the power station, the former Spondon A and Spondon H stations were demolished and replaced by the gas-fired Derwent Power Station which opened in 1995 on the same site. The chimneys visible across the fields are part of the Derwent Station.

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