Gallows Inn Walk - Part 02
w/e 23 November 2014
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
  A few days after
the first part of this walk we picked up the route again on the
Market Place on a much brighter day. The mist had cleared, rain
had come and gone and the sun even put in an appearance but before
we had completed the walk, the sky had clouded over again. For
late November though it was still quite mild as we made our way
from the Market Place (left) along Anchor Row (right) to the
Museum entrance.
From the entrance to the Erewash Museum, the Walking for Health
route follows the slope down and around to pass under Chalons
Way. Being the rebels we are, on this occasion we took the steps
down instead.
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On the other side of Chalons Way the path down to 'Illy 'Oleys
is crossed by another path which forms part of the circular route
we followed in the first Walking for Health walk. We however
continued straight on along the route of one of the first major
projects we undertook on this site beginning in 2002 - the Ilkeston Town Walk.
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Since 2002 several trees on 'Illy 'Oleys had been felled, most
recently probably the largest one on the park. It's always sad
when such a magnificent specimen is removed from the landscape
but thankfully some new young saplings have been planted for
future generations to enjoy.
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  Leaving the
park (Chaucer Old Park to give it its official name) we crossed
Cantelupe Road to continue past the Park Cemetery into Park Crescent,
down the footpath (left) to Heathfield Avenue, Winchester Crescent
and into Monks Close (right). This is not as far as it sounds
through this residential area and by taking the track off Monks
Way, we are soon in a more rural area at Potter's Lock.
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At Potter's Lock we crossed over the bridge, turned right and
followed the towpath along the Erewash Canal all the way to Gallows
Inn Lock passing Green's Lock on the way.
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It's always a surprise that it feels so rural along the canal
and yet is so close to the urban streets of Ilkeston. The mainly
residential properties of the Larklands area lie to the right
on the other side of the canal and the railway line through the
Erewash Valley is close to the left along of course with the
River Erewash itself. These distractions though are easily ignored
especially when the autumn colours are there to be enjoyed.
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At Green's Lock we passed under the footbridge as the canal continues
now with the Furnace Road Industrial Site on the left.
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Approaching Erewash Square we spotted a number of swans on a
bank across the canal.
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Through a gate in the fence between the canal and the industrial
estate several ladies appeared and one of them called out to
the swans who waddled down the bank, jumped into the water and
swam across to this near side.
The ladies, who were apparently on their afternoon break from
whatever work they were engaged in, threw food to the swans and
one climbed out of the water to be hand fed. Even the approaching
dog did not disturb the birds and they carried on with what appears
to be their regular afternoon feed.
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I could have chosen many more views along the canal to illustrate
this walk but the autumn colours and feeding of the swans just
shows that there is always something different to see on a familiar
path. 
We no longer walk with the Monday Strollers, taking the dog out
daily instead, but believe the Walking for Health route now terminates
at the Gallows Inn for morning coffee. The original idea however
was to pass under Nottingham Road at Gallows Inn Lock (left)
and rise up on the other side (right) to catch a bus back to
the town centre.
Back to Part 01
To see a map/aerial view of the whole route in a new window
follow this link.
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