Discovering something new is always exciting and with the amounts of walking that I have been doing throughout lockdown, inspiration was definitely flowing. Yesterday however was just one of those days in which I had in the back of my mind a voyage of discovery and decided to find somewhere new. I had previously visited Shipley Park a few weeks back and walked past something new, a new location that simply said the following,
“Young People’s Forest at Mead”
I had also picked up a pamphlet for it as well, and after that walk at Shipley Park a few weeks ago had a little read of the pamphlet, it looked interesting, but somehow it was yesterday that I decided to go back to Shipley Park and find somewhere new, this new location was….. Young People’s Forest at Mead.
A slightly oddly named place for an area of woodland trust, but this location is new, and it was just asking to be explored, of course the weather though was threatening to rain and completely drench me as I arrived at the visitor centre at Shipley Park. Still though my coat was donned - and the humidity was something else, the back of my mind was thinking “should I continue to wear the coat or not?” In the end I took my coat off, and carried it around my shoulders. Well, it was Humid and the risk of rainfall was pretty low at this point, even if the distant skies looked slightly threatening.
Still from the visitor centre at Shipley Park, it is a short walk to the entry point for the Young People’s Forest at Mead and to get to the entry point you literally walk up a pathway that leads in the direction of “Flat Meadow Farm” - at one point you could walk straight up to Flat Meadow Farm, now you have to take a different way through a wooded area that leads you on a new path away from the farm but still in view of the farm. However this time I had eventually reached the new entry point to the Young People’s Forest at Mead. Instead of going straight on, a right turn leads me to a new path, but the question was “where does this path lead to?” Either way I was now somewhere completely new yet familiar, the gate closed behind me and I was not within Shipley Park, I was now on woodland trust land that felt new and exciting, still a sense of discovery lay ahead and I could not wait to start walking this unexplored and new area.
Young People’s Forest at Mead has an interesting history and it provides new exploration opportunities; of course throughout lockdown(s) I have really enjoyed finding new and exciting exploration opportunities and now that we are out of lockdown, the trend of finding something new has been implanted in my brain, a sense of discovery and exploration is something that I shall be continuing for a long time to come.
I digress, ahead of me the path lay ahead, because the forest is new, the pathway I was on felt different, fresh and relatively untrodden, it was so inviting and was telling me silently to put one foot in front of the other and delve deeper into this new found area, I did. The path in front of me and the silence was something else, plants and trees intertwined and the greenery so fresh, the air clear and here I was, walking through a new area.
The path in front of me rose gently along an incline and on the horizon was blue skies along with little white fluffy clouds, yet behind me over towards Heanor, dramatically dark clouds - already I could sense drama, amazing really how the skies are like artwork but we rarely look up and notice when we are too busy with the rushes of normal life, define normal I ask? It does not exist. Still to the left hand side of me when I got to the top of the incline I looked across to the East, the back of Flat Meadow Farm I could see, and whilst over Heanor was dramatic, towards Ilkeston and the south part of Nottinghamshire, was covered in clouds; from where I was walking these clouds looked like a mountain range, and I could see the peaks of them, not the base of the Mountains. Still I continued and what goes up must come down, surely enough it did, another gentle incline led me to a bridge, unexplored it crossed over a little brook, on the other side of the bridge another incline and it soon became apparent that I had to make a decision.
“Turn left? Continue on the path or open this inviting gate and walk through an area of something new?”
I opted to open the gate. By now I was in an area in which the saplings that had been planted either weeks before or a couple of months ago were growing, new lands but the path was inviting me, silence was around me and the way the trees had been planted felt uniform, still though new woodland that has been planted has a certain charm to it, whilst this area will eventually become home to a lot of wildlife already wildlife has found a home already. I walked through this wild area along the path, a grass one that was uneven and damp due to the rain, and paused when I got to a point with a view. I looked over towards Shipley Hill and Flat Meadow Farm, and immediately stopped, setting up the tripod I put my camera on it, and was truly taken away by the beauty and drama in front of me of the dramatic skies, here I was under the sun, little fluffy clouds and yet the weather front over towards the south of Nottinghamshire and Ilkeston had slowly but surely moved north slightly, now I was witnessing the drama of skies, dark heavy skies along with the contrasts of the cotton wool like, little fluffy clouds.
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| Cloud race - (Black and White). |
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| Cloud race - (Colour). |
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| Under big skies. |
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| Under a living sky - (Black and White). |
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| Under a living sky - (Colour). |
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| Cloud beats. |
Ethereal is the feeling I had got after seeing the drama in the skies? Who needs an art gallery that charges a fortune to see artwork when the best artwork is free and is outside and readily available for us anytime we want it, for that is what landscape photography actually is. Still though now I had to walk on, curiosities everywhere and a Honey Buzzard riding the thermals added to the drama I was seeing. But then amongst the silence a distinct sound of a certain bird, the beautiful music of the Skylark. An interesting bird that nests on the ground and will fly up like a Harrier Jump Jet, before descending gracefully back to the nest, walking along the path that I was now on, I did manage to see this elusive bird and that was perhaps the best tonic of this silent and new land I was walking on.
The grass path undulated and the ground slightly uneven but this did not stop me, I continued to walk and wanted to see where the path would lead me, to the right hand side of me I could see a fence, the other side of the fence was the path that I would have been on if I had remained on the path, but I somehow preferred the off the beaten track option. Thankfully despite the drama in the clouds over in the distance and behind me towards Heanor, the threat of rain was very real yet somehow the sun was being kind.
I continued to walk, the pathway twisting, turning and the ground below me still damp, I was walking through a certain utopia, one of peace and one of quiet. Eventually I managed to find the next part of the adventure and opened the gate at the other side of this magical area of infant woodland that I had walked through, the saplings quietly bid me farewell and I turned left. I walked on a path that felt familiar.
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| The darkness on the horizon. |
If I had chosen originally to walk along the pathway, instead of going through the infant woodland then this is where I would have arrived at, but I had opted to go through the silence of a new woodland in the infant stages of life. Now I arrived at a Junction and it was either right or left? I pondered for a moment and if I had turned right I would have ended up walking in the direction of Smalley, a delightful little village, but instead I turned left.
This left turn that I took would soon lead onto yet more magical unexplored places and provide me with more photogenic gems, needless to say it did. I was now on Bell Lane, an unexplored lane that I had a rough idea of where it would take me to, but this section of Bell Lane, I had never walked on, this was new, exciting and different, everything so green but that is due to the odd weather conditions that we have been having, one minute rain and the next humidity, somehow these weather conditions make for some interesting opportunities.
Ahead of me I could see the cauldron of drama bubbling up, yes it was in the distance but I was aware, again no rainfall and I felt thankful, Bell Lane however was narrow, and I walked down it, but this section of Bell Lane, was a living art gallery, one with views that lend themselves to any camera possible - continuing down this lane I would soon discover yet more delights in front of me, everywhere I looked magic happened. The fields to the right of me looked dramatic with the dark skies to the east that were lashing rain down in the distance, but the way the trees had grown thus intertwined themselves with the foliage next to the path meant “nature’s window” had been made. Not just one window, a lot of windows overlooking the fields and the views in the distance was something else to behold.
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| Window on the landscape - (Landscape). |
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| Window on the landscape - (Portrait). |
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| Nature's Window - (Portrait). |
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| Nature's Window - (Landscape). |
The best views in life are free, and these natural windows confirmed that, each one offering a slightly different view of the same scenery, but nowhere before that I have walked have I seen anything like that before, amazing how the simplicity and drama in a photographic scene can leave someone contemplating on life in general, and walking is one of life's pleasures, it is free and enjoyable, each time I have walked throughout lockdown(s) I have come across something new, something that in pre-covid times I would not have thought of doing, now I find myself doing it a lot more. Slower pace of life, new discoveries really have made me appreciate the smaller things in life, long may it continue I say! Still the lane ahead of me opened, the green and the blue clashed together and I had to take a couple of photographs of this unexplored lane that I was on - heading towards familiarity and an area that I had walked on many times before.
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| A leading lane. |
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| The lane of mystery. |
Hurrah!! Eventually I reached a right turn to Mapperley reservoir and behind me was the lane I had walked down, never before had I walked down that lane as it used to be closed off, for mining and open cast purposes, now that has all been transformed into the Young People’s Forest at Mead; now though it was time to continue the walk, a tree in front of me by now was a landmark that I had recognized and I knew where I was.
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| Landmark of the lane. |
Yes I might have something about tree photography, they are thought provoking and calm the mind, onwards along the lane I walked, now a decision, do I turn left and head back down the improved path that would lead back towards Flat Meadow Farm, or do I continue straight on, instead straight on it was, continuing along the lane towards a location that last year during lockdown(s) I spent a lot of time walking around. Here I was at what is always a rapidly changing wildflower meadow with a dramatic feeling and landscape to it. Towards the centre of this wildflower meadow are some interesting landmarks and they are, you guessed it, trees! But this time with the leading lines of the grass paths they provide some incredibly interesting subjects to capture, the best thing is the changes in weather and with the seasons, nothing remains the same.
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| A turning point - (Black and White). |
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| A turning point - (Colour). |
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| The cloudscape plays music - (Black and White). |
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| The cloudscape plays music - (Colour). |
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| Little and large. |
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| Dance of the skies - (Black and White). |
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| Dance of the skies - (Colour). |
Okay so earlier this year I managed to photograph the following, which even today is one of my favourite images, next to that family on that bench are the trees, and this is possibly my favourite part of Shipley Park, it was something of a sanctuary last year when the country was locked down, but we still had the freedoms to have exercise. Now though that has all changed and seemingly things are getting better, unless you listen to a government scientist. Having said that walking and getting out and about means little doom and gloom from the scientists which is sheer bliss. Digression again? Perhaps.
No matter what weather or season it is, this wildflower meadow always provides new photogenic opportunities and that is one of the reasons why I love it so much. Onwards and upwards now, and I was approaching the end of my walk, one that had been a voyage of discovery yet one of familiarity - an interesting combination that worked. For the last part of this walk was one through an interesting part of Shipley Park, that goes through a tiny yet perfectly formed circle of woodland, that provides curiosities, once the sculptures of woodland creatures made out of wood, carved provided a focal point; now they are swamped by the woodland and have seemingly blended in like they had been designed to do, creating homes for woodland insects and shelter for woodland creatures.
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| End in sight. |
And here I was, at the end of what had been a fantastic walk of discovery, new paths lead us towards new destinations of discovery and one’s that I shall explore again in the not too distant future. But at the end of the day I was left pondering that new paths lead us to new locations and discoveries, if it was not for the walk along the new paths I would not have seen and heard the things that I had done on the walk that I had completed, but because I chose to do something new, I came across something new. Thank you lockdown, and time in lockdown for providing me with the opportunities to do new things, try new things and give me a different perspective and outlook on life. Long may it continue and on reflection going forwards from the time in lockdown I shall always make the time to try new things and walk on new paths? For where do they lead us too? Somewhere new and that is the best thing ever.
Find out more about Young People’s Forest at Mead: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/woods/young-peoples-forest-at-mead/
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