Surrounded by nature, it's as if we've been dropped in the middle of the countryside. Yet we're only half a mile away from a busy retail park, four lanes of constant traffic, and a sprawling residential area.
We've come to Attenborough Nature Reserve, a green oasis just down the road from McDonalds, TK Maxx and Poundland at Chilwell Retail Park, off the A6005 Nottingham Road between Long Eaton and Beeston. Whether you're a birdwatcher, exercising the dogs, out to capture a perfect sunset or simply enjoying an amble with scenic views, it ticks each and every box.
If you want more than a stroll around the reserve, there's a choice of riverside walks as you approach the Trent. One direction will lead you to Beeston Marina, the other to Trent Lock.
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The popular reserve has around 500,000 visits a year. It's not surprising that it's so popular. With a bright blue sky, a swan serenely gliding by, the sun shimmering on the water, it's glorious. Even Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in the distance, can't spoil the panorama, when it is surrounded by natural beauty.
Wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough opened the reserve in 1966, a haven created out of a former sand and gravel quarry. The leafy surroundings, ponds, wet grassland and reedbeds are a habitat more than 2,300 species officially recorded. That includes over 160 species of bird, 450 types of plant, over 30 species of mammal, 490 species of moth and 126 species of hoverfly and 1,000 species of fungi.
The visitor centre café is where another species flock. Homo sapiens converge for sandwiches, jacket potatoes, soup or one of the delicious looking cakes and a cup of coffee. No wonder there's more people sitting outside than in on this particular day - the balcony is a suntrap with a gorgeous view of one of the ponds.
We catch a glimpse of swans, mallards, grebes and some very vocal Canada Geese. There's not even the drone of traffic from the main road and because it's an early morning weekday it's very peaceful apart from birds chirping and the occasional honk from ducks flying overhead.
It's a different story on weekends and bank holidays through, with families and kids on bikes, joggers and many more dog walkers out in force. The thing about nature walks is that most passers-by, who would ignore you on the street, nod and say hello.
Phillip Nagy, of Chilwell, 63, is walking his spaniels Pixie and Peaches. He said: "I come every day. It's therapy. I'm a taxi driver and I come here and I can be stressed out and I leave here a different person. I walk at the same time every day. We know everyone down here, it's like a community and it's very friendly. Nature comes first here. I feed the birds every day. You've people here who walk around the place feeding them from their hands."
Retired postman Colin Smith, 63, of Stapleford, has come armed with a telescope and binoculars. The keen birdwatcher, who visits several times a week, usually spots around 40 species each time.
"There's a good variety of bird life especially at this time of year. There's a lot of wildfowl, warblers like that little whitethroat and a black cap one, wrens, song thrush, long-tailed tit, blue tit and great tit.
"I've been coming here since I was at school. I've seen a few rare birds. I saw a sora rail a few years back and a few others as well, a black-crowned night heron and a squacco heron."
Attenborough is cited as one of the best places in the UK to see a kingfisher but sadly we don't see one. I'm determined to see one of this brightly coloured birds one day. Beth Maples, business and operations co-ordinator, said: "The advice the rangers gave to me was if you stand on the bridge at the bottom 8.30am-9am, if you just wait and look out towards the green bridge, if you don't see one within half-an-hour they'd be very surprised."
There's no sign of a bittern, one of the reserve's rarer birds. With the recent expansion of the reedbeds though, the trust hopes that the secretive members of the heron family will start breeding there again. Lucky visitors might also spot an elusive otter as well. It just wasn't to be for us this day - we had to make do with a squirrel scampering up a tree.
Three years on from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's appeal to raise £1 million to purchase the reserve - backed by Sir David himself - there have been some major changes. Wildlife trust spokesman Erin McDaid said: "The biggest change on the reserve has been the transformation of the former CEMEX ‘Works’ in the village into a new wildlife sanctuary zone. This is the first significant extension to the reserve in years and in one respect brings the story of the reserve full circle.
"For almost 100 years this area was used to process the sand and gravel which was extracted from fields adjacent the River. As the extracted areas filled with water, the patchwork of lakes and islands that form the nature reserve today emerged. Now, a considerable part of the area where countless tonnes of aggregates were processed before being distributed across the region is now part of the nature reserve.
"Since purchasing the reserve, a new habitat has been created which will provide a haven for a wide range of species from butterflies and dragonflies to ground nesting birds. Whilst the area is not directly accessible to visitors, the increased habitat for wildlife will, in time, enhance wildlife watching opportunities for visitors elsewhere on the reserve."
A garden at the rear of the visitor centre is also undergoing a revamp. The pond has been extended and is now home to newts and a grassy area has been planted with native wildflowers which will be blooming soon.
Erin added: "Attenborough is far and away our most visited site. Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve states over 300,000 visitors and Sherwood Pines Forest Park over 700,000 - bearing in mind that Sherwood Pines covers six times the area."
Attenborough is by far the favourite of Claire Pass, 46, who runs an education business, and her brother Paul Lacey, 44, a self-employed contractor, from Toton, who are enjoying their daily stroll.
Claire said: "It grounds us. I started coming here when my baby was tiny, he's 15 now. I used to meet with a group of mums and we'd walk laps around here for our sanity and the afternoon nap. We came blackberry picking here when he was four or five. Our mum died in 2017 and I would walk for miles and miles around here and it got me through. I take pictures every morning, even though I come here every day. It's always beautiful, it changes with the seasons and the weather.
Paul, who follows a 5k route, added: "It's quiet, it's clean, it's really nice, whether it's raining or sunny, winter or spring. You have to strain to hear traffic. It's beautiful around here. I can't think of anywhere else you can go locally like this. It's untouched - that's what it feels like.
"[On the way back] it's like a slow walk back to reality. As you get closer and closer to the retail park the number of people picks up and the noise picks up."
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