Ticknall to Foremark reservoir

Saturday 19th December
We hadn’t had the forecast snow at home but it was cold, frosty and bright sunshine so we drove to Ticknall and parked in the community centre. We followed the footpath beside the cricket pitch and into the new woodland where there was a smattering of snow on the floor. We found Bolt on By cache and then continued our walk towards Foremark. The views were good as it was so crisp and clear. We followed the footpath towards Bendalls farm and then walked along the road and into Foremark reservoir. We stopped at the visitor centre for a cup of chocolate, sitting on the snow covered benches - good job our trousers are waterproof! We then walked on to find a Cup of Tea beside the Sea cache. This was a bit strange as it was a sandy bay which looked like the seaside instead of beside a reservoir, although today the sand was covered in snow and white rocks in the water looked like ice-bergs! We continued through the reservoir park following a couple with a dog. At one stage the man climbed over the fence as the dog’s ball had gone over. As soon as the man got over the fence the dog jumped over and collected his ball himself!
We left Foremark and crossed the road to a footpath. We followed the path to The Scaddows and alongside strawberry fields (must remember this walk next summer!) where we lost the footpath for a while. A lady came out of her house and pointed us in the right direction. The last path was followed back to Ticknall. We walked through the churchyard which had several ruined arches standing in the grounds, the remains of a previous church. We had had a lovely walk of about 9.4km kicking through the snow and jumping in the icy puddles! Unfortunately I have mislaid my camera somewhere and so could not take any pictures.