Hexgreave Hall (May 2018)

I have mentioned the Hexgreave Estate in a number of my Southwell Trail posts but never really expanded too much beyond this. This is mainly due to the land being a private estate and business park although there are a number of allowable footpaths from the Southwell Trail across the farmland and one fine circular walk which passes the deer park and Hexgreave Hall (1):

Part of the circular walk includes a lime tree avenue which was full of spring colour:

The road continues with a sharp right angled turn towards a gatehouse and the village of Farnsfield. A mirror is set up to aid the driver’s view and thought it made an unusual photographic subject, particularly when converted to black and white:

The circular walk can be extended by taking the path towards Kirklington. I often include photographs from this path in the Southwell Trail series. The last time I was here, a few weeks earlier, the oak trees were still leafless. Now they are in that pleasant transitional phase where the leaves start to show with a spring freshness, whilst the tree's winter structure can still be observed. In a few weeks the canopy will be an amorphous mop of leaves with deep shadows obscuring the branching patterns:

Further along the path towards Kirklington is a pond; known as Kirklington Lake according to a chap I spoke to whilst out walking. The last time I had ventured this far was in early March when the pond had all but frozen over. Now, two months later, it was largely covered in floating weed:

The same scene in March:

From bare branches and ice by the side of the pond had turned to green leaves in May:

(1) The estate has an interesting history dating back to the 1200's and here is a link to more information. http://www.hexgreave.com/history