Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, The Three Amigos enjoyed an 11-mile walk taking in the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont and then walking beside the River Trent to cross over the ‘Waterside Bridge’ – the new £18 m pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Trent at Lady Bay (officially opened last week on the 2nd June). After walking across the bridge we returned via the Grantham canal and fields /roads to catch a bus back.

Arriving by bus to the start of our walk in Radcliffe-on-Trent on a cloudy and chilly morning, it was a nice walk along quiet lanes to reach Holme Pierrepont and the National Water Sports Centre. We walked along the road adjacent to the1-mile long rowing lake.

There were several rowing boats from Nottingham University practicing on the lake. A Coach was using a loud hailer to shout instructions to the crews.

I must say the crews all looked competent, rowing in sync. About half way along the lake we turned off and did a short walk by Holme Lock on the River Trent before returning to the water slalom section of the Sports Centre.

We crossed over a wooden bridge and walked along the course. There were no canoes on the water here today. After a brief stop for a break we continued on along the slalom course. There was less water than our visit a few months earlier when the course was flooded.

Shortly, we left the Sports Centre and joined the path along the bank of the River Trent. We passed the Nottingham Sailing Club and noted the sky was looking slightly sinister in the distance.

As we continued along we got our first glimpse of Waterside Bridge.

As we walked closer to the bridge we noted that the path had received a new surface dressing. This changed to tarmac the closer to the Bridge that we got.

Walking across the Bridge it was nice that it was quiet. Last week after the opening it had been very busy with people.

Pleased that we had been across the Bridge we continued along the river bank to join the Grantham Canal towpath.

We passed a nice sculpture.

We passed a swan with a couple of cygnets enjoying the sunshine.

Further along our walk we could that there was rain in the distance. Soon, we had thunder and lightning and the rain caught up with us.

Fortunately, Chris had suggested getting our wet weather gear on just before the deluge hit so that was fortunate. Good call Chris!

The storm passed over us and soon the rain had stopped. We had a walk across a few fields before arriving at the main road and a bus home.

A delightful and varied walk.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶