Cotgrave to West Bridgford 8 Mile walk

 

I'd been given an organizers spot on a drunken night out years ago but never got round to actually using it. I used a day off work to plan a route that I posted on meetup.

Initially I was a bag of nerves especially having to post details on parking (I don't drive), planning for bad weather and what to do if people turn up late. The attendee list never went higher than 16, overall 26 people signed up, 7 attended including myself, some dropped out on the day and some dropped out without updating on the website.

Expecting a mud bath we headed into Cotgrave country park and followed the Grantham canal all the way to Bassingfield. The ground was reasonable, the weather was mild and the conversations were flowing. It's a lot easier with a  small group.

We crossed the fields, the busy main road and had a short pitstop at the garage before heading into Skylarks nature reserve. The path to the river Trent was the only major muddy part which we overcame in a few minutes. After was a well needed and social coffee stop in West Bridgford.

I count my first meetup as a success.