Nell Gwyn and Two Country Parks
Bestwood village may receive little thought from visitors as they pass through on the B683. Perhaps they will note that it is former mining village and carry on. But Bestwood should not be ignored; how many villages close to a major city have two country parks and were once owned by Nell Gwyn?
The village is largely a ribbon running along either side of Moor Road (B683). To the west it is squeezed in between the road and the River Leen and the railway. To the east it butts up to Bestwood Park, in medieval times an important hunting forest which would have extended over the territory now occupied by the village. The park was a gift by Charles II to his mistress, Nell Gwyn, and their son who became the 1st Duke of St Albans.
Through the Park runs the Collier’s Pad, the path along which miners from Arnold and Redhill would use to get to and from their shifts at Bestwood colliery. Now a leisurely amble it would have been a long and tiring walk before and after a long and physical day’s work. What remains of the woodland now forms the Bestwood Country Park which will be covered in a separate article, along with the story of Nell Gwyn, in due course.
Most of the village is of red brick and was only properly created in the second half of the 19th century to support the pit. The first shaft was sunk in 1875 and Bestwood eventually became the first pit in England to extract a million tons of coal in a year. The pit closed in 1971 and Bestwood has since been seeing a steady regeneration, a gentrification, no doubt due to Bestwood’s attractive setting with good access to work and facilities of Nottingham and Mansfield. With the rural setting and the country parks it is an attractive place to live yet has easy access to greater Nottingham.
Mill Lakes Country Park
The River Leen feeds the Mill Lakes and the country park sits between the railway and the road. Apart from the distant noise of train or traffic it is a peaceful wildlife haven with mature woodland. When we were there in early spring there were swathes of yellow cowslips on the banks of the lake and the buds on the trees were bursting. Even late-morning it was not a day for standing around as the clear blue skies belied the bite in the breeze. The path winds around the back of the lake in and out of woodland They have been graded so are usable by wheelchairs, child buggies and cyclists; all of which were out on a Saturday morning without the park being unduly busy. It was friendl;y place to; people were unfailing pleasant and passed the time of day or were willing to engage in conversation about the parks and village.
Nottingham's Wildlife Haven
On the western edge of the Nottingham conurbation, Attenborough Nature Reserve is a mostly quiet haven tucked away behind a retail park, the railway and a sewage farm. The 145 hectare (360 acres) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is squeezed in between the railway and the River Trent. It is the River Trent which laid down the gravel the extraction of which created the lakes. The reserve lies around these flooded gravel pits which provides the habitats which attract diverse wildlife, especially the birds for which it is best known.
The spire of St Mary’s church in the centre of Attenborough village is visible from all across the reserve, and it is the village that gives the Nature Reserve its name. Conveniently the Nature Reserve shares its name with Britain’s popular nature broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough, who opened the reserve in 1966.
Attenborough Nature Reserve is managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust who have been creating and managing varied habitats across the reserve. Judging by the wildlife sightings this would seem to have been very effective; it certainly appears sympathetic to its surroundings. The Trust has also built hides for bird watching and these can be used, for a nominal cost, from 9am to 4pm every day except Christmas Day.
Finding a Sense of Place
A key part of the plan for The Winding Way is to fully appreciate the places we visit. It is not about simple sightseeing; visiting sites the guide books suggest. It is about much more; it is about taking time to get to know a place, or at least part of it, properly.
We believe that one way to really appreciate a place is through its food. We always aim to eat in local restaurants and choose local specialities; dishes that reflect the traditional culture of the region. But we want to go further and celebrate the people who produce food with a sense of place.
That sense of place is probably best expressed by the French concept of terroir that is so strongly associated with wine and associated products such as Cognac. It is increasingly used for other products. Simply put, terroir is about the growing conditions, the soil, the climate and the terrain that produce subtle variations in the grapes and thence the final wine. But terroir defies rigid definition as it also gets other, more metaphysical, elements folded into the idea. Whatever the definition it is that sense of place that we want to capture and share.
We are hoping readers will recommend or even introduce us to local growers and artisan producers of food and other local products. It is not simply about traditional products as new traditions are being created all the time. It is about the belief in the personal involvement in the production process rather than soulless automated manufacturing.
But it is not just food production or artisan food processing. The Winding Way is also interested in products that are particularly associated with a place that are created with special passion and quality.
We want to find and share the stories of people, products and places with our readers. So we are looking for the help of our readers, other travellers on the winding way, to share their discoveries. So if you know of such people, products and places please let us know by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Or you can leave a comment on the web site. At the moment we are particularly interested in people, products and places, in the UK or France and hopefully Spain towards the end of the year.
We look forward to hearing, and sharing, your stories as you share your winding way.
More on Enjoying Local Food
In response to my previous blog post, Enjoy Local Produce, Justin Norman wrote on Twitter “It is something I am passionate about, it doesn't have to be abroad; you can drive that message even for a short walk in the UK”.
Justin makes a heartfelt appeal in his piece In Defence of Local. He is absolutely right and it is the essence of The Winding Way. Mindful travel, indeed much mindful living, starts before you even step outside your home. It does not matter what country you are in or whether you live in town or country; one can enjoy high-quality food. It may be just round the corner.
But when we travel we want to experience the real place that is the essence of The Winding Way; take it slow and appreciate wherever we are. We want to experience the local specialities: food, wine, beer, cider of culture. Not an approximation shipped in from a factory at the other end of the country.
I cited French markets as our inspiration, as indeed they are, mainly because there is still a much wider respect for good produce and producers on continental Europe. It is changing in Britain and in the USA with farmer’s markets, food fairs and artisan producers of beer, bread, cheese and other products. However it takes commitment to use them as a principal source of our food.
As part of following The Winding Way we need to adopt the same mindful approach to our local travels and our activity in our neighbourhoods. Seek out the best our home locality can offer and by doing so we will encourage more producers to serve local needs by making the best seasonal produce available. The more mindful we are as consumers, the better food, and other services, we will get. Food is at its best when it is in season and has not travelled – the fresher the better. So use your best local producers whenever possible; it gets easier to do as more of us demand the best.
Food and the Mindful Traveller
We love French and continental markets; it is the quality and selection of fresh, local, produce they offer. But most of our recent travels in France have been hotel based which has been very frustrating as we could not take advantage of seasonal local ingredients. We have enjoyed the local food but it has always been prepared for us in restaurants.
We had toyed with the idea of booking self-catering accommodation but it tends to confine us to a fixed location and we have always preferred to tour and follow our inclinations and the weather. After all The Winding Way is about letting serendipity be your guide. So the disappointing trip last summer where we struggled to find bed and breakfast by the roadside started us thinking. We considered the possibility of using a campervan and from that the Wild Rover blog was born.
The van we have bought is a trial; what I would call in my past career, a proof of concept. It is self-contained but with only two gas rings and a grill, cooking facilities are limited. However if we take to campervan living we will get a newer campervan with full hob, grill and oven.
During the next few months of the coming summer we do not see a limited cooker as very much of a constraint as we will be enjoying fresh salads and the like. Anyway, many traditional recipes are one pot dishes; many were originally cooked over open fires or very basic, usually solid fuel, stoves. Our constraints should be seen as a spur to creativity rather than a restriction; limited facilities do not have to mean boring food. Hopefully it will add to our repertoire of simple but interesting everyday meals for cooking at home.