Getting lost in the woods at Allestree Park

One thing about walking through woods, particularly at this time of year, is that they're all different.


We were trying to find a new route at Allestree park, hoping to follow the purple path as seen on this map, photographed from a sign board in the car park, but we got lost!







The old hall - a brown rectangle on the map - was easy enough to find further up the drive, but from there we followed the wrong path and had no idea where we were heading.
A dog walker recommended following a path through the beech woods that border the golf course, so we went that way hoping to eventually meet our intended route - we did, but not at all as we expected. Instead of heading for the park boundary at the top of the map, we were going off the to left!









The woods were very interesting and pretty though.

A lot of the trees are strangely twisted and warped, looking like something out of a fairy tale or horror story. I'd guess, though, that once, long ago, they were part of a laid hedge which has over time grown wild.

I'm not sure I'd like to encounter them for the first time at night; they could be quite scary.

There are lots of beech trees here with leaves already falling to cover the ground, although those remaining aren't wholly turned golden yet.






















I've noticed back in the summer that there seems to be more fungi here than in, say, our local wood, and being autumn there were lots to be seen.

From a distance I thought this was a vast spreading of mushrooms, so I went off the path to investigate - and found hundreds of crab apples.

At this point we'd been slithering down a hillside following a muddy path which led us out on to the golf course and one of its gravel paths. Remember we were looking for the purple path? Well, after a little while, we found a purple marker with an arrow, then another, and another. Obviously we were back somewhere on the proper route, just not where we imagined. Before long we were back at the spot by the hall where we'd obviously gone the wrong way. The markers are only noticeable from one direction, and we'd tried to walk the path 'backwards'.
Argh. At least we found the car again.

Another sunset - Allestree Park

It's been too hot to go for a walk (and keep up my Fitbit steps) during the day, so a brief outing in the evening has had to do. There's the advantage with that of catching the sunset. So we found ourselves one evening out at Allestree park, by the golf course, wandering around waiting for the sun to set.














Out previous visits there have always been at the lower end of the park, where there's a lake, but I expected the sunset to be masked from there by the slope and trees. Instead we parked at the higher end and walked through woodland to the golf course from where there's a wonderful view over Derby and beyond.

We still weren't in a good 'sunset' spot, so returned to the car park up a steeper hill than I was expecting and past some interesting fungi - artist's fungus according to my Twitter friends - then crossed the road and followed a public footpath through a harvested field which had good all round views - and a lovely sunset :)

Weekend wanderings

I've got to admit that I go out and about more - and put up more steps on my Fitbit - when my youngest daughter's home for the weekend.

To be honest 'more' doesn't take a lot of  effort, but we do go out even if just to somewhere on the doorstep, like our first walk - Locko Park.

It's a pleasant short walk, down the main drive to the lake, then across a field uphill to a wood. We turned round at this point, and ambled back, spending more time by the lake before heading back as the sun began to set.

On Sunday (after a morning shopping in town!) we headed out in the afternoon for another lakeside walk - this time at Allestree Park.











 It's a busier, less relaxing spot somehow than Locko, but pleasant enough. We walked down through a wooded area to the lake, then round it and back through the golf course. Walking near golfers always makes me nervous (I'm convinced the golf balls are heading my way rather than any sensible direction) but I was pleasantly surprised to find no one playing on a sunday afternoon.

Both days I managed to clock more than 10,000 steps on my Fitbit. I should definitely try to do this more often. I might try to skip the cake eaten over the weekend though - extending my birthday for a second weekend maybe wasn't a brilliant idea :)

Birthday week

We all like birthdays, don't we? Cake and presents, and cake, and possibly more cake. But I never quite think a single day of celebration is enough, especially when it's a huge round-number birthday as mine is this year. So I've managed (yet again) again to drag things out over a week or so.



To start, we packed the car with adults and baby grandson, and headed north to youngest daughter's flat for the first of my birthday lunches.  There's an odd mix of beverages on offer when everyone's gathered together but the cake looked more traditional - and tasted delicious.

On my actual birthday the rain came down, so elder daughter came round (with baby) and prepared 'high tea' for lunch - three sorts of delicate, crust-free finger sandwiches (including smoked salmon), with scones and cake to follow.  The only thing we lacked was a fancy cake stand to serve things on, and maybe some pretty china tea-cups would have looked better than mugs, but neither would have improved the taste :0














Next day, to prove its total disregard for the calendar, the sun came out. Although we had 'chores' to do, I managed to sneak a few hours outside at Allestree park on the edge of Derby. It's mainly laid to golf course but the walk around the lake is attractive, especially with blue sky reflecting in the water.

Still not finished with this birthday ... Friday evening saw us at Nottingham's JT Soar listening to George Gadd, Helen Chamber, She Makes War, and Ben Marwood.

Then at the weekend, my youngest daughter came home, and we had another day out - this time to Chatsworth.
















It's been a lovely week, and I think I've done quite well with my celebrating, but maybe now it's time to get back to normal ...