Notcar two

Verified Slow Way

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We walked from Nottingham to Carlton in October 2022. There are facilities (shops & cafes) at Nottingham town centre, Netherfield town centre (near to Carlton railway station) and also at the retail park containing Smyths, Costa, Lidl which is on the south side of the ramped bridge over the active railway along Sneinton Greenway. The route follows pavements and pedestrian crossings through Nottingham town centre. Along the City link road before following the Sneinton Greenway route out of the city. Sneinton Greenway is a straight footpath that has a good surface all the way along it. Cyclists regularly use this route. There are only a few access points to the footpath which makes it feel quite secluded and lonely. It is safe to walk along during the daylight hours, but possibly more unsafe in the darker evenings. At the eastern end of the Greenway, you connect to the path through Colwick woods which starts with a long steep stretch of steps up to the top of the cliff. The path undulates up and down along the edge of the cliff with beautiful views to the south of the Trent valley from the top of the cliff and ancient woodlands to the north. There are exposed sections of the cliffs to admire along the way. When we walked this route in Oct-22, the fences at the top of the cliff along some stretches of the path have fallen down, meaning that there is no barrier between walkers and the cliff edge. The footpath is clear at all points, but can get muddy in the winter or after heavy rain. Exiting Colwick woods and walking along suburban pavements to access Midland Wood via Douglas avenue. There are narrow openings at either end of the path through Midland Wood to prevent motor cycle access. Again this path is used by cyclists. This is another linear path that follows the active train line towards Carlton station, with access points at either end. The path is broad and has a good surface.
Overall this is an enjoyable route through mostly wooded sections with some lovely views.

I walked this from Nottingham as the second leg of a three part easy circular route starting and ending at West Bridgford. This is quite an enjoyable walk, and for fitter walkers the route through Colwick Woods is by far the best way to do the middle part of it, but the path quality varies quite a lot - there are no serious obstacles or stiles but it does involve a number of ups and downs, and plenty of steps. My other concern is the GPX file, which is rather difficult to follow in places because it has a lot of little random variations and in the city it is not always obvious exactly which line is intended. I suspect that it was created by a tracker and that the location function was getting confused by buildings and other obstacles. It might be better to redraw it from a map.

I walked this route in February, starting at Carlton Station. The ground was saturated following previous wet days.
From Carlton Station I walked along Midland Road (a quiet residential street) to reach the surfaced path through Whimsey Park woods. There are pinch barriers at either end of this path. The route then climbed steeply up Douglas Ave to reach Greenwood Road. From here you enter Colwick woods on a muddy footpath. The path lies basically straight ahead al the way through the woodland. It was muddy and steep in places with short flights of steps on the steepest sections. Eventually the path heads downhill to reach Colwick Road (Here I diverged from Notcar1).
I turned across the level crossing (barriers and lights) to eventually meet the end of the Sneinton Greenway. This is a path along the track bed of a former railway. There is a ramped bridge over the active railway. At the city end of the path it rises gently to meet Manvers Road, where there is a pedestrian crossing. I walked along City Link to reach the London Road roundabout (by the BBC HQ). Passing anticlockwise around the island took me over two pedestrian crossings to reach the foot of Malin Hill. This ancient foot way leads upwards to emerge on High pavement by St Mary's church. I turned past the Galleries of Justice, to reach the Weekday Cross. After a pedestrian crossing I walked downhill onto the pedestrianised Middle Pavement and shortly afterwards I used Bridlesmith Gate to reach the Council House and Old Market Square.

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