Wilderness on our
Doorstep - Between West Hallam and Ilkeston
w/e 16 June
2002
A few weeks ago I walked across the fields
through a rural landscape to West Hallam but if you go the opposite
way from High Lane East via Lewcote Lane towards Ilkeston you
enter an entirely different scenic world - a world that is fast
becoming a wilderness on our doorstep.
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The lane leads to this little used footpath
surrounded at this time of year with burgeoning growth.
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The path soon opens out into an area criss-crossed
by many more paths and tracks. I was following a guide produced
by Erewash Borough Council for this walk and it would be quite
easy to take the wrong route here. My advice would be to follow
your nose in the same direction as the original overgrown path
without deviating and ignore all the others.
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Eventually as the guide says, a disused
road is reached. In fact the "road" at this point is
a wide expanse of tarmac. Ilkeston and much of this part of the
East Midlands is situated on the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
coalfield. There were many mines in the area until fairly recently
and this area above, less than half a century ago, was the site
of a coal mine. Evidence of this can still be seen - I believe
there are still some open shafts nearby - but nature is doing
its best to reclaim the land.
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The guide becomes easier to follow from
here on and points you in the direction of a small coal tip.
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And beyond the tip the walk takes on a
much more pleasant aspect as the path leads through the trees
alongside a water course that is called Nutbrook. From here the
route heads by the Nutbrook towards Pewit Carr.
Continued
in Part 02 - "By Nutbrook"
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