From the "
Safety measures when sinking alone?" thread,
gamwam wrote:boggy I wish I could take a look at my area and see what u can find cos I give up lol
I have been taking a look around, and it looks like any interesting places are a little ways away. Due to the area being so populated with farms and communities, many places look like they would be private property, although there are some areas that may not be. Zoom out to see their locations in relation to Nottingham.
The area just downstream from the dam looks like it has some interesting looking ponds and boggy areas hidden in the trees:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@52.9861687,-1.3471765,959m/data=!3m1!1e3You could try to explore the river Trent when it is at low water levels. I can see some shorelines that look like they could be muddy/sandy. You could do more extensive Google Maps searches to find places that are more accessible, and hope that they are still there since the imagery was taken. But, it is likely surrounded by private properties:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.0391912,-0.9004536,250m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.096901,-0.8395232,248m/data=!3m1!1e3The quarries are once again something that is high risk, since you would be trespassing (area restricted to authorized personnel only) and would get into trouble if caught, but the settling ponds do look enticing (they would be different from when the pix were taken):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.0800329,-1.2824536,1009m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@52.7656145,-1.9910392,497m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.3021691,-1.8682181,514m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.2651903,-1.702286,492m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.0146572,-1.9320701,554m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.2042841,-1.0551666,494m/data=!3m1!1e3This general area looks rather interesting, but it is also likely private property. Take notice of the left side of the leftmost tiny rectangular pond on the bottom of the picture (zoom out to see interesting areas to the north and west of that):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.1316593,-1.097732,493m/data=!3m1!1e3Now, there are some areas that are more remote,
To the northwest of Nottingham, are moorlands:
The Kinder Scout nature reserve, 90 km away from Nottingham, is full of very peaty areas, but would take a lot of hiking to get there, and you might get into trouble if caught "mucking around", since it is a reserve. But, it seems to lack peaty ponds, where the deep soft stuff would be. It might be mostly stiffer stuff, with shallower soft stuff, but perhaps some deeper soft stuff in places. Check out the photos on the bottom of the page as well to see what it is like:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.3909593,-1.8577837,885m/data=!3m1!1e3In further searching for areas of interest, I think I hit the jackpot of the most promising bogs (the aerial or satellite photos seem to be taken during winter, hence the ice) around 60 km away from Nottingham, in the Peak District National Park!
I think that this region would be your best bet for finding places worthy of exploration and sinking into. Zoom in on the gray and brownish gray areas. The lighter browner areas look like they may be thicker and perhaps stiffer, since I can see areas where channels cut through the lighter brown areas. But, the darker, greyer, blue-grey, or brownish grey areas are where the peat would be wetter and likely softer. Of course, it could be hit and miss, with soft areas shallow or deep, and even the lighter brown stuff sinkable in some or many places as well, something unknown until checked out. It would also vary with the seasons, with stiff areas late in the season being softer earlier in the season. It would take a bit of hiking and exploration to see exactly what these areas are like, and because it is a national park, you could get into trouble if caught mucking around and disturbing the "landscape". But hopefully, this region could hold stuff of "Grimpen Mire" caliber:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4694018,-1.7225779,268m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4538267,-1.6572284,361m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4649416,-1.7215681,123m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4661428,-1.7205347,123m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4731549,-1.724831,123m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4813388,-1.7627075,123m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4791598,-1.7637827,123m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4733939,-1.7630084,125m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4674187,-1.7313236,125m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4526263,-1.7152109,149m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.44141,-1.699603,127m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4430672,-1.6798536,897m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.4364761,-1.6807347,238m/data=!3m1!1e3https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.3716489,-1.6569791,124m/data=!3m1!1e3This bottom area (Derwent Moor), also in the park, might be getting away from the area of main interest, but perhaps it might have possibilities. However, it may be near a hiking trail:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.3877286,-1.6842528,123m/data=!3m1!1e3I hope that this helps, and gives you ideas of what to look for in Google Maps to add to the list of places I already provided. Good luck!