Twenty three stramblers met at the Visitor Centre for a walk through the park.
The name Haigh comes from the Anglo Saxon word Haga meaning an enclosure or a secure area to house livestock. The plantations were laid out in the 1860s to hide the condition of the landscape after being damaged by mining activity.
Brenda and Bob led us past some beautiful rhododendrons into the park. We passed on the opportunity to try the High Ropes and took a paved path past Swan Pond where we saw a heron posing among the lily pads. We were soon under the cover of the many trees in the park which gave us just the right blend of sunshine and shade. The Miniature Railway was not running today so we all safely crossed the track to pass through the Upper Plantations on wide earthern pathways. The recent dry weather meant we didn’t have any mud to contend with. There are a number of different routes available, but little signage. Fortunately, Brenda and Bob had done a thorough recce ( in worse conditions than we had today ) so we didn’t get lost. The Park is currently putting together a bid for National Lottery funding to restore the signposts. Our walk curved round and then parallelled the Leeds Liverpool Canal before we reached its Bridge 59B and had a drinks break. A couple of group photos here were “photo bombed”. One by a man with a child on his shoulders and one by a cyclist who did at least ask if he could join us. We then followed the towpath for a while before leaving the canal and taking another break at a bridge over a dried up brook. We then followed a paved path through the Lower Plantations and skirted Yellow Brook and the River Douglas. We meandered through the trees to arrive back at the canal and made our way back to the Upper Plantations. These plantations have a wide variety of trees, although to a non horticulturalist like me, they were Fifty Shades Of Green. The Park’s website lists oak, horse chestnut, sycamore, ash, lime and Scots pine along with wood anemone and lesser celandine. We left the cover of these trees and took a paved path past the Hall and after five and a half miles, reached the Kitchen Courtyard for well earned refreshments.
A big thanks to our two Busy “Bees”, Brenda and Bob, who did a stirling job in reece-ing and planning this enjoyable walk. See you all next time.