Autumn Sunshine at Shipley

Last week was written off due to tiredness after my covid booster, but a sunny day on Monday tempted me outside, for a late autumn walk at Shipley Country Park

Messing about doing things at home meant it was quite late in the day before we arrived. The sky was still clear, but with the sun almost setting it was dropping decidedly chilly.

Heading up the drive to Horsepool Hill took us back into the sunshine for a short while. Shadows were long and spindly, and the last rays of the sun turned the fallen beech leaves red.

There were so many fallen leaves piled up beneath the trees. Excellent for stomping and kicking!

I'd planned to walk further but having mis-estimated the time of sunset decided to cut things short by staying on the west sunset-facing side of the hill.

For a while I sat and watched the sky turn to red, then dim again, but cold drove me on, bacl down the hill to the reservoir and the warmth of the car

 

Colliers Wood Country Park

Colliers Wood is one of those 'back home' places I've been intending to check out for a while, just down the road from DH Lawrence's home town of Eastwood.

When I was young, this area was Moorgreen Colliery, a pit-yard with mounds of coal and waste, with winding gear, and all the necessary surface offices and repair shops. Earlier than that, my granddad drove trains moving coal from pit-head to the main line junction, but I only remember heavy lorries thundering along narrow streets and making windows shake.

At some point after I moved away, the pit closed, a new industrial estate was built on part of the site, and this new community woodland created. All that now remains of all that industry are the renovated coal-truck and winding wheel by the car park.





I chose a bad day to visit, as this pond had recently been drained to remove goldfish! Presumably they once lived in a tank or a garden pond, but they'd been let loose here a while ago, and were upsetting the eco-balance of the pondlife.

There are two way-marked trails around the park, named Barber and Walker after the original pre-NCB owners of the mine - the longer has a short road section, so we took the shorter (it was also easier on Dylan)















Walk round the park at a smart pace and it wouldn't take long. I'm an ambler though, and like to stop and investigate flowers and trees along the way - and at this time of year there's plenty to be seen, from flowers to blossom.