Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, Mick and I enjoyed a 9.5-mile circular walk which had two aims. Firstly, to see the new pedestrian bridge across the River Trent and secondly to avoid muddy fields.

We caught a bus to Radcliffe which was the start of the walk. The bus was full of passengers so it was squeeze to disembark – especially carrying large rucksacks. Well, it was rush hour so what did we expect!

We headed to Holme Pierrepont and The National Water Sports Centre. It was a chilly morning – we are currently receiving an Arctic blast following the ridiculously warm weather of the previous two weeks. Sleet/snow is forecast for tomorrow.

The last time I had visited the Centre was during the summer and there had been a Regatta in progress – it was very busy on that day. Today was entirely different -it was very quiet. There were a few people practicing on the water but generally the ducks, swans and herons had the water to themselves. The clouds overhead looked intriguing.

We made our way to the slalom course and could see immediately that there had been flooding from Storm Claudia and the path was inaccessible.

We took a walk to Holme Lock and went around the flooding. The Colwick Sluice gates were scaffolded out. Following extensive flooding in Nottingham in 1946 and 1947 these gates were constructed in 1955 to reduce water levels in flood conditions and to maintain water levels through Nottingham. There are five sluice gates which are triggered by ultrasonic detectors which monitor the water level.

Continuing on we crossed over a wooden bridge above the Slalom course – the water was rushing fiercely past.

We stopped for a drink and a breather- we both had hot Bovril in our flasks – ideal for a chilly day.

Warmed from our hot drinks we passed the empty car parks for the Water Centre and joined the bank of the River Trent heading towards Nottingham.

The new pedestrian bridge is the first bridge to be built across the River Trent in 60 years. The bridge was assembled on the bank and lifted into place by a very large crane on the 10th November. The bridge is not due to open until spring next year – we will be back to walk across it!

As we continued along the river bank we got tantalising glimpse’s of the bridge – however we could not get closer because the riverbank path is closed for the construction works. I wonder what name will be given to the bridge?

Nottingham’s new Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge – Transport Nottingham

Having achieved this objective we set off for the Grantham Canal and a towpath walk out of Nottingham. I was pleased to see that there was water in the canal. When I walked this stretch in the summer it was dry.

There were plenty of Ducks enjoying the water- they are so cute.

Before too long we were away from the canal and heading across fields towards Radcliffe – our destination. Thankfully, the fields were not too muddy.

So, we arrived at the bus stop to catch the bus back – the bus was almost empty, a complete contrast to our earlier trip!

We had enjoyed a good walk and achieved both of our objectives..

Happy Walking! 😊🚶