Autumn Footprints
2009 - Week One
w/e 04 October 2009
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
The Autumn Footprints Walking Festival in Amber Valley
and Erewash followed the usual format and this year, its seventh,
featured twenty nine events over the sixteen days between Saturday
12th September and Sunday 27th. Of those twenty nine events which
including map reading and Nordic walking workshops, I managed
to participate in eleven of the guided walks whilst my wife accompanied
me on ten of them. We estimated that we had covered between forty
and forty five miles during the festival. Below are a couple
of images from each of the five walks completed in the first
week.
On the opening day of the festival, my wife was at another event
so I drove to Morley Hayes Golf Club alone to join a group of
people following the Morley Heritage Trail and the group is seen
here being closely watched as they walked along a farm track.
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This was a four mile walk across Morley Moor visiting several
locations to learn about the history of the village including
a refreshment stop at Morley Church where the Mausoleum was once
again open. For several of us on the walk this was a repeat of
the 2008 Festival
and even the weather with clear skies and a hot sun beating down
contributed to that feeling of déjà vu.
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On Sunday there were three more organised walks but it was on
Monday that we enjoyed two three and a half mile walks, one in
the morning and another in the afternoon. The morning walk was
with the Sawley Walking For Health group seen here passing under
the railway bridge at Sawley.
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The route picked up the Erewash Canal on Fields Farm Road and
followed the towpath to the canal's end at Trent Lock passing
in front of the Steamboat Inn before returning to the starting
point via Lock Lane. This was a brisk walk completed in good
time and we were able to return home for a bite to eat before
setting out again for the afternoon walk.
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There are walks in the festival to suit all abilities from gentle
ambles to energetic rambles and our afternoon walk fell into
the leisurely stroll category - not that that was any detriment
to the walk. We met at the Methodist Church, West Hallam near
the Bottle Kiln where our local historian guide gave us a brief
introduction to the industrial development of the area showing
us several examples of brick and earthenware produced.
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The route took us towards Mapperley Village before turning off
past Mapperley Castle to trace the horse drawn tramways and coal
mining activities. There were frequent stops as our guide pointed
out various places and items of interest and the title of the
walk "Stone Blocks - Iron Rods" began to make sense
as we discovered how the tramways were constructed. All in all
this was a most informative and enjoyable afternoon.
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Although there were longish walks on Tuesday and Wednesday, our
next involvement did not take place until Thursday morning when
we met at Little Eaton for a two and a half mile walk titled
"Packhorse Route and Hidden Gems". A recurring theme
throughout the fortnight was to be industrial history and this
was no exception as we followed local footpaths along the route
taken by pack horses to these cottages that once housed framework
knitters.
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Crossing the bridge over the River Derwent we turned to follow
the riverbank southwards before crossing again further downstream
and climbing back over Eaton Hill to our starting point. Although
listed as a two and a half mile walk it was actually nearer four
miles and the climbs certainly got the heart pumping.
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The weather for the week had been fine and dry and sometimes
quite warm for the time of year but generally speaking it had
been ideal for walking. Friday was no exception and another sunny
afternoon beckoned as we made our way to Codnor Reservoir for
the start of another delve into history to compare and contrast
the adjoining villages of Ironville and Riddings. Although both
grew to accommodate industrial workers, Ironville developed as
regimented rows of terraced houses for the Butterley Company
whilst Riddings was a much more piecemeal development being part
of the Oakes Estate. The old properties in both villages have
been modernised but many of the cottages in Riddings have received
sympathetic treatment and are much more photogenic.
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 Our route from the reservoir took
us through the streets of Ironville almost to the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire
border where we turned into Nottingham Lane for the ascent up
into Riddings. As we passed under a bridge the sound of a steam
engine was enough to cause the walking party to pause, turn and
wave (left) to the driver of Thomas the Tank Engine high above.
Our walk continued through Riddings but when we descended by
Bullock Road back into Ironville we again crossed the railway
line just in time to see Thomas making his way back to the station
at the Midland Railway Centre in Butterley. More
waves followed as the engine passed beneath us but then it was
soon time to wave goodbye to our walking companions.
It was not a final farewell though as we were to meet many of
them again the following week when we were booked in for another
half dozen walks in Week Two of the Autumn Footprints Walking
Festival.
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