Trowell - A Walk In The Country
w/e 04 January 2004
We last looked at the Nottingham Canal between Ilkeston and Eastwood
on a glorious autumn day and we start this walk to the south
of Ilkeston at Trowell by the same canal but on a much cooler
and cloudier day. On this section of the disused canal as it
clings to its contour through the undulating countryside, it
is maintained as a nature reserve.
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Perhaps "maintained" is not quite the correct word
as much of the canal seems unkempt and overgrown. "Retained"
as a nature reserve would probably be the better word. Notice
the trees that have taken root in the bed of the canal and grown
to maturity since its abandonment in 1937. Nominal maintenance
only took place but this ceased in 1971.
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The remnants of some old lock gates can still be seen near this
bridge over the canal, a testament to the craftsmen who manufactured
them as they now stand in stagnant green water.
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The Nottingham Canal Society was formed in 1976 with the intention
of making the canal between Trowell and Langley Mill navigable
again but extensive opencast mining particularly in the Awsworth/Giltbrook
area put paid to that. Here too at Trowell the route of the original
canal (seen here from the bridge in the image above) has been
swallowed up by a garden centre.
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We made a detour from here to enjoy a coffee at the garden
centre but then returned almost to the bridge make our way home
via a footpath at the side of a hedgerow across the fields. The
road in the middle distance is the M1 and Ilkeston can just be
seen on the horizon.
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All went well until we were almost at the M1 when we had to pick
our way along a muddy track avoiding many deposits left by cattle.
With the light fading fast - this image makes it seem much brighter
than it actually was - the route back was difficult to determine
once we had crossed under the motorway as any semblance of a
footpath disappeared. We ended up scrambling through a hedge
and under a barbed wire fence before reaching our starting point.
The lengths we go to to bring you this web page!
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