Manning’s pit is a local beauty spot. named after Benjamin Manning, a cattle trader and former butcher. I have a long relationship with this wonderful, tranquil place, I spent many happy hours playing here as a child and walked my German Shepherd dogs many, many times as an adult.
One day, during the school holidays while I was a child minder, I rarely had only one minded 8 year old , as the baby was absent, due to sickness. I decided to kill two birds , with one stone, as the saying goes and walk my dog, whilst keeping my minded child occupied, at the same time. I must point out, that I knew her parents, would be very happy, with this arrangement, as they had dogs themselves and had often mentioned that Laura, would like to accompany me on my dog walks.
We drove there, as I had moved away from my childhood neighbourhood, which was in walking distance. Upon parking and leaving the car, we had to access the first Manning’s pit field, by climbing over a stile
I helped Laura over and my dog went via a special dog entrance, the farmer had made.
We walked across the fields and then crossed the river, known as Bradiford water, by using a wooden bridge. Laura threw stones from the bridge into the water and laughed as my dog bounded in to retrieve them. As we ventured further, the child whispered to me, “Look, Karen, there are rabbits!”and there were, too many to actually count. Suddenly, one of us stood on a twig and the noise of it snapping sent the rabbits scurrying away into their burrows, showing their white cotton tails, as they fled. I explained to Laura, that by showing their tails, they are warning each other, that there could be danger approaching, so it was an educational walk, as well as a fun time.
We walked further into the countryside chatting about wild flowers, catkins and pussy willow, as we saw them.We then sat on the bridge steps watching some children playing, in the distance, some older children, had also made a rope swing, using making use of an old tyre
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Many local parents take their children here to play, as it is safe, peaceful and there is no worry from passing traffic.
Unfortunately, it is looking like this idyllic time, may soon have to come to an end, as Manning’s pit has been bought by a developer who plans to build on the land.The friends of Manning’s pit have started a Facebook campaign to try to prevent this wonderful place from being destroyed. Please, please, everyone sign the petition by clicking here
As always questions/comments are welcome.
Karen
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Oh such a lovely blog made even better with the addition of the video. Our family lived quite near and loved going there walking our dog, Our daughter uses it regularly with her boxer and meets up with other dog walkers. She will miss it so very muc.
Ahh how lovely! I haven’t heard of Mannings Pit but it looks like a great walk and who doesn’t love a rope swing? #coolmumclub
What a beautiful place, I really hope the developers don’t get hold of it! Thank you for linking up to #ablogginggoodtime 🎉
Oh no!! It would be tragic to loose this beautiful natural area. I adore going for long walks with my dog and daughter in undisturbed nature. Our adventures include looking for creatures, (big or small) as well as plants, trees and flowers. Such fun. That peaceful feeling of being at one with nature whilst hearing the water flow over rocks and little waterfalls is absolutely irreplaceable. Such a lovely post. Thank you
That is a beautiful place to go. Thanks for sharing it.
Oh no, I hope the developers don’t get heir way and build over it all – this looks like a beautiful place to go for a walk.xx #blogcrush
Looks like a lovely spot, reminds me of the village where I grew up, with its river and rope swing. It’s sad that the developers might get hold of it, hopefully they can be stopped so more people can make memories there. Thank you for sharing with us #AdventureCalling
This looks like a great family walk. I love the rope swing and our kids get mesmerised by rabbits too haha. Thanks for joining us on #adventurecalling
Grrrrrr to builders and hooray for rope swings in the trees, great for all kids of the wild. Wish all child minders were like you! #AdventureCalling
I love it when you can revisit places as an adult that were precious to you as a child. It looks a lovely walk.Thanks for joining us on #adventurecalling. We’ll be open again this evening for more new posts.
We enjoy places like that near us as well, it certainly would be a great shame to build on a beautiful greenfield site like that. #adventurecalling
Sounds like a paradise for us all #keepingitreal