The Cuckoo Way ~ the ninth day ... I have company and we walk up the middle of the A1 ! No ... really.

Some two and a half years ago, a walk similar to this was going to be included in my next pub walks books ... the pub walks book that never was. The walk had one major drawback ~ crossing the A1. Now I don't mind crossing roads personally but the thought of a stream of my readers negotiating such a busy road would probably not have done much good for my sleep patterns.

Let me show you ...

  

This was only half the crossing ! We'd already crossed the southbound carriageway and then you see us walking along the footpath that runs between crash barriers between both carriageways. An interesting experience ~ goodness knows what motorists and lorry drivers thought when they saw Jamie and me walking up the centre of such a busy road.

The main thing is we made it ... the book didn't.

We started off parked near the pub in Ranby a few miles to the east of Worksop in Nottinghamshire. After crossing the A1 things got a lot quieter. In the lovely Spring sunshine we saw Thievesdale Lane stretching away in front of us for a mile or more ...






 

After a mile we had Coachroad Plantation on our left ...



 As we turned the corner, now heading southwards, I looked back along Thievesdale Lane as the sun tried to push its way through the trees ...



Unlike the area I come from, Nottinghamshire had quite a few RAF airfields during World War II and RAF Worksop was one of them. There's an excellent and interesting website here ... worth looking at for the photographs alone.

Jamie suggested I imitate a plane coming into land as we passed over where RAF Worksop had been ... I'm not too sure about my aerodynamics. Too much underbelly.



  Once we'd reached the hamlet of Scofton we turned right heading westwards towards Worksop. The sun still shone. It was a beautiful day. Another straight Nottinghamshire footpath stretched out ahead of us ...



Some of the cattle were taking advantage of the shelter provided by a large tree in front of Osberton Hall ...



 The gravel path continued ...



Then 'almost' before we knew it we were walking beside the Chesterfield Canal again and passing Bracebridge pumping station ...


 

  
Ahead of us, in the reeds, we espied a master fisher ...



 Not all was beauty and light ...



 We reached milestone 22, 22 miles from Chesterfield ...



  You know what I said above about this walk not being all beauty and light ...



 

 We reached Bridge 45. The further we got from Worksop the 'quieter' things became ...



 

The white flowers of the Blackthorn were in bloom. A shrub that flowers before its leaves are out.

 

We passed under a new road. Jamie's is just over 6 feet tall. He just managed not to scalp himself ...



 Milestone 23 was next ...



 ... the half way point !



 We were getting near Osberton ...



 At Osberton Lock you can cross the canal and head back to Scofton but we stayed beside the canal ...



 There were no hills on this walk. It was all pretty easy going, easy walking ...



 On the edge of Ranby the canal passes under the A1. This time negotiating the dual carriageway was much safer ...



 Soon after this we were back in Ranby and able to cross the canal back to our car ...

 

This walk was followed on the 18th April 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 9.58 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 122.89 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 18th April 2011 ~ 650.94 miles

  27 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just over 4.5 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

The Cuckoo Way ~ the eighth day [part 1] ... Shireoaks ~ Worksop

Parking at Shireoaks Marina I walked past some of the narrowboats that were moored there ...

 

I turned left towards Worksop and almost immediately reached Shireoaks Top Lock ...

 

 

Before long the canal passes under one of the roads that links Worksop with Shireoaks ...



 

The canal runs parallel to the road for some way as you walk towards Rhodesia but before you get there you reach Doefield Dun Lock ...

 

Then you enter Rhodesia ...

 

That's the railway line crossing over the canal by a bridge in the picture above. Underneath it I turned round to look back at Doefield Dun Lock ...

 

There are usually one or two fishermen [or are they anglers ? I've never worked out the difference ...] on the canal. I know there have been problems with some newcomers to our fair land taking fish which they shouldn't have taken. I think this notice is explaining the position ...



... or it may just be saying 'don't forget you need to buy a rod fishing licence'.

 The old canal is then crossed by the A57 ... 

 

One encouraging modern feature hereabouts is the provision of 'dog waste bags'  by the local authority though I'm not sure that every dog owner makes use of them ...



I was now walking between the canal on my left and the A57 on my right ...  and approached an 'A' frame barrier ...

 

I believe their main purpose is as a 'motorcycle inhibitor' !

There were no motorcycles anywhere to be seen the day I was there or indeed anybody ...

 

I passed under the bridge beside The Lock Keeper [a pub] ...





 I was now heading towards the centre of Worksop ...



 Milestone No. 20 was reached ...



 ... and I was able to study some modern housing on the far side of the canal ...

 

As I reached the hustle and bustle of Worksop itself I was at a slightly lower level ... canal level and Worksop Town Lock ...



 

This is where today's blog ends but this is less than half of the walk ... and I had still to meet someone I knew online but who I'd never met in the flesh, completely by coincidence.

The Cuckoo Way ~ the seventh day ... Shireoaks ~ Thorpe Salvin ~ Chesterfield Canal

Just over four weeks after my last walk on Chesterfield Canal I was back there again ... and there had been no other walks in between.

I parked at Shireoaks Marina and followed Thorpe Lane to the south-west to come to Netherthorpe ...

It wasn't a very bright day.

My route involved following a number of lanes. My idea was to get onto the Chesterfield Canal as soon as I could whilst at the same time getting some exercise. This is why I was on Back Lane between Netherthorpe and Thorpe Salvin, with no verge, as cars [from time to time] hurtled past. I stood in every time ...

 

I got into Thorpe Salvin in one piece ...

 

I enjoyed looking around the church in Thorpe Salvin and there will be a separate blog about what I saw there ...

 

 Ladyfield Road runs down the side of the churchyard ...

 

... and as I looked at the map I realised that Lady Field, is an enormous field compared to the usual sized fields in this part of the world. But what is its significance ? 

Before I walked beside Lady Field though I was surprised to see the ruins of mid to late 16th century Thorpe Salvin Hall ...


  

I continued along Lady Field Road [that's Lady Field itself over the hedge on the left] ...



I reached Packman Lane which I had last walked a few weeks earlier. Packman Lane which I now learn may have been a Roman road. I turned right to reach the Chesterfield Canal at Kiveton Park railway station ...

 

At Albert's Dock a narrowboat was moored against the far bank ...



According to a nearby information panel after the "old Houses of Parliament" were burnt down in October 1834 stone from a quarry at nearby North Anston was earmarked to rebuild the Houses of Parliament. The stone had been chosen "after a nationwide survey. Each block of stone was carried from the quarry on a low wooden platform which had a number of small but strong wheels. Each platform was pulled by several horses. On arrival the blocks were shaped so stowage would be compact in the narrowboats and sloops which would take them to Westminster." 

Albert's Dock is much quieter now ...




I passed a post marking 15 miles from Chesterfield. I'd obviously missed one or two.

 

The canal was so quiet ...

 

 

I strolled along, not a care in the world.

A stone post stands beside the canal with 'CCC' on one side ...

 

... and 'DL' on the other ...

 

The names of respective landowners ?

More of the red brick bridges ...



   

and an overspill ...



The water in the canal provided some perfect reflections ...

 

... and on reflection this place needs tidying up !



Interesting looking house though.

Milepost 17 [but how had I missed number 16 ?] ...



I reached Brickyard Double Lock.




Turnerwood is an attractive small group of houses ...

  

You can get a nice cup of tea or an ice cream at the house on the left in the photo above assuming their little cabin is open. It's a lovely ice cream too, made locally.

The towpath runs right in front of the terrace of properties ...



I was getting nearer Shireoaks now ...

 

 

On the edge of Shireoaks amongst the mallards was a Mandarin Duck ...

 

Finally I was back at Shireoaks Marina ...

This walk was followed on the 4th March 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 7.48 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 46.97 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 4th March 2011 ~ 575.02 miles
 
12 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap