Egglington, Derbyshire

Monday January 18th
As it was still dry we decided to go for another walk before the snow comes back in. We drove to Eggington (Derbyshire) and parked. We walked out of Eggington finding a few caches as we went, and then walked along the busy road, beside Eggington common. Everywhere was very wet and flooded. We walked along the Etwall road and then took the footpath that followed a lane past a farm. We were heading towards a cache called Shall we play a Game, which had been quite a fiendish puzzle. John had solved the tricky bit this time. We crossed a field with a stream running though it, although it was difficult to see where the stream really was as it had escaped it’s banks a bit and then we crossed a bridge and found the cache – being surprised to find we were only the second people to find it. We continued across the field and emerged onto the new Sustrans cycle path. We diverted along the path to look for a cache –we were unsuccessful this time, and decided not to continue along the path as it was so smelly – there is a nearby composting unit which may have been creating the pong, or it might just have been farming smells. We walked past Derby airfield and were treated to a light plane coming into land and then taking off just before it set down. We decided someone was having a flying lesson.
We had a bit of a problem finding the next footpath but eventually found the path and headed off across more very muddy fields before arriving back in Eggington. We walked through the village and visited the church, which has a working gaslamp outside. The church was locked but we did get to look around Wilfs retreat, a peaceful area which had been created from the BBC Breathing spaces scheme. We followed the road from the church towards the A38 but took a footpath just before we reached it. We had a bit of a problem deciding where the path went, but eventually found a stile which led into a field of sheep with new-born lambs. I bet they were pleased they hadn’t arrived last week. We had more trouble with the footpaths – they don’t mark them well around here, but eventually found one which led through the garden of a rather posh house. John decided the footpaths needed mapping correctly so we took a further lap round following all the paths. The paths were either not marked or had stiles which were very high and with no cross pieces. Not easy for people with short legs! They are obviously trying to dissuade walkers but John will now have all the footpaths on Open Street Maps. We had walked 9.3km.

Sunday January 17th
It was dry and all the snow had gone so after ages without a walk we had the opportunity to stretch our legs. We drove to Etwall, Derbyshire and parked near the church. We started off by getting lost, we followed a path which led through school grounds. We didn't think it was right but it was leading where we wanted to go and there were other people walking there. We got onto what appeared to be a path but we soon realised it was a path running above the path we wanted, and there was a fence separating us. We followed along the ridge and eventually found a way to get down onto the cycle path. We followed the lane and emerged into a different part of Etwall and then headed along a footpath across a very wet field leading to the busy A516. We took our lives in our hands as we crossed the road and headed into a field full of sheep. We were amused by the sheep as they all lined up to cross over a bridge, stand at the top to admire the view and then walk down again. We found a cache and then left the field and climbed up onto the disused railway. We diverted a little from the track to find some caches – one of which was hidden in the pocket of a scarecrows dungarees! We returned to follow the disused railway for a few miles, finding several caches as we went. There were several stretches of the path which were still very icy and slippery. The railway path eventually finished at Mickleover, where we walked around the roundabout and then followed very muddy fields to Burnaston. We eventually left the fields, with heavy boots clumped with mud, and walked along the lane back to Etwall. We had walked 12.7 km and found 14 caches.

First walk of the Year -Frisby on the Wreake

Sunday January 3rd
It was a cold but bright day and as heavy snow is forecast over the next few days we decided to go for the first walk of the year while we can. We drove to Frisby on the Wreake, which is on the Leicestershire / Rutland border, and parked opposite the pub. The pavements were very icy and we had to be careful as we got out of the car. We slipped and slid up Bell Lane and then found a footpath between two houses. We passed through the gate, and were intrigued by the way the gate was hung; it was too close to a tree, and so a large chunk had been cut out of the tree enabling the handle to pass through, and the gate to open. We crossed the field which was frozen and covered with a light dusting of snow. A couple of horses were huddled under their coats looking very cold. As we approached the first cache site there were suddenly walkers appearing from all directions, so we had to admire the view until we could hunt for the cache. It was quickly found and we continued our walk. Several large fields were crossed until we emerged into Kirby Bellars. We diverted to find a cache and then walked down a small lane to a bridge where there was a lovely view of the church. We walked along an embankment, though a field containing lots of black sheep with curly horns, and then over a bridge which had crossed an old canal and then onto an icy lane, which led to Ashfordby Valley. We had planned this to be just a diversion to get some caches but studying the map we discovered we could use a different footpath to make a small circular walk. John is putting all the footpaths from our walks onto Open Street Maps so using new footpaths helps build up the database. We walked along the road at Ashfordby and eventually found the footpath, leading back over the fields towards Kirby Bellars.
At the church we turned right and followed the paths in the snow towards the lake. The lake was frozen but was covered with birds, lots of swans, ducks and geese. We were treated to the sight of a flock of swans taking off. The noise of their wings was incredible as they took off from the frozen lake. We were surprised to see that the footpath went straight through the middle of the lake, it was built up on a small embankment, and we then walked beside the River Wreake and the railway until we got back to Frisby. As we were signing the log book of a cache by the church, two people came towards us, they were also cachers and had been doing a similar walk but in the opposite direction. We had walked 10.5 km and found 11 caches.

Last walk of the Year - Breaston

Thursday 31st December
It was a lovely day today –cold crisp and bright and after the excesses of Christmas we needed a walk. We drove to Breaston which is close to Long Eaton. On the way we drove past a spot where we should have emerged on a path during the latter part of our walk, only to discover that the path was within a Severn Trent water works and meant that we would not be able to do that stage. We parked opposite the church and set off across the fields. Our path was quite dry but the rest of the field was under water and the next field which was also flooded had a horse standing in the water. Our field contained a couple of rams, with very impressive horns, who decided to take an interest in us, luckily we were quickly over the stile, as I think they could have done quite a bit of damage! We crossed the railway and walked along a pleasant lane to a new plantation known as Orchid wood. There was a cache in the nature reserve so we diverted off the path and did a lap around the reserve, finding the cache on the way. A lady passed us with two dogs one of which was very bouncy but after a stern “Sit” from John he promptly obeyed. We continued along the footpath and arrived at Church Wilne. There was a lake here called St Chad’s Water and after finding a cache we decided on a complete lap of the lake, to make up for having the latter stage of our walk cut short. There were lots of birds on the lake, which was frozen at the edges, including swans, moorhens and cormorants. We continued our walk along the road and then crossed a bridge into a field and followed the footpath to Great Wilne. We checked the map to see how the walk should continue and found that we could do a little more and then use the MidShires way to head back towards Breaston. It was a lovely walk even though it was a series of small circles. We found 5 caches and walked 10.5km.
We managed to walk 1276 km this year, a slight improvement on last years 1208 km.
The camera was found (left in the caravan) so Ican now start adding pictures again!