Allestree Park
Wednesday 29 December 2021
7 ¾ miles Leader: David d.
Weather 12° C. Rain at first, brighter later.
No. on walk 13
These six pictures by John H-T
Many thanks today, for those stalwarts, who turned out to support this, the last walk on our listings of this, rather uncertain year. The only thing I could guarantee for this walk, was plenty of mud and still they followed! I knew, when I did the recce’ before Christmas, that there would be a couple of muddy places, but since then a lot more water had fallen from the clouds, even as we set off, it was still quite showery.
Quite a simple walk on paper, leaving the park via the water tower, north west through Quarndon to Cocks-hut-hill Farm, turning south west to enter Kedleston Park near Blind Brook Bridge. A wander through some of the wooded areas of park land, Hay Wood and the Wilderness, leaving the park by the Lodge gate on the Kedleston Road. A short walk along this busy road, crossing just past the Gold Club entrance to pick up footpaths which led us back into Quardon. At the top of a rise, just through the village, I decided to change the route a little, for I knew the way ahead would now be flooded and the rising ground extremely muddy, the sort that sticks and doesn’t come off very easily. It was quite bad on the recce’ so, after all the rain in the interim, I presumed it would be near impassable. The detour, added about a quarter of a mile to that which we set out to do, no one complained and we were back at the cars, slightly ahead of the predicted time of two fifteen. Brighter later? Yes, it was, as the sun broke through the clouds for the last half hour of the walk, so pleasant that we almost forgot the travails of the past hours. Thanks to all for your patience and kindness. d.
Pictures by James W.