East Midlands Airport Walk - Airport Trail

We did the Airport Trail near the start of the year, 22nd February to be exact and I can't believe it's so long ago. Looking back on the photos you can tell it was early as the winter coats and hats are on. This time we did the route in reverse walking along the runway first and six months after the first walk the scenery would look totally different too. 

The forecast was really nice for the evening but it's usually a bit breezy along the path so we all had trousers on rather than shorts and after the first couple of km we were all thinking maybe we should have gone for shorts. It was a very warm evening with no hint of a breeze. The only reasons we were happy that we had trousers on was thanks to all the nettles. Thanks to the warm and damp weather this Summer some of the path that doesn't have as much use was slightly overgrown. We didn't complain though as it was nice to see nature taking over and so many different species thriving next to a busy airport and the M1. 

Beautiful blue sky furing the walk.

Towards the end of the walk there's a little picnic area which was starting to look like a bunch of Cabbage Patch Kids would jump out at us. Thank fully we didn't have picnic with us as we were heading for a nice pub tea after the walk. Over all the walk took 2 hours 15 minutes for the 10km (6 miles) including stopping to watch a few planes land and take off right over our heads.

It's a lovely walk and I've often been up and walked the top section next to the runway. It's a relatively flat walk so great for beginners and people starting to improve their fitness levels. 

Bring on the next couple of walks, one will visit Hollies Farm Cafe on The Miller's Walk which is Erewash Borough Council Walk No.8 and another one will be an evening walk to coincide with a visit to Ilkeston Charter Fair and walk along the Nutbrook Trail in the dark, glow sticks from the fair are welcome to light the way.