My fourth day following the Cuckoo Way was on the 14th November 2010 ~ nearly two years ago.
My fifth day started in Killamarsh ... once I'd found somewhere to park. In places in Killamarsh the canal and even the route of the canal are hard to find. The Cuckoo Way sign is easier to locate and at least you know you're on the right route ...
So, thirty five and a half miles to go before I reach the River Trent !
I'd got to get out of Killamarsh yet.
Anyway, I did find the route of the canal after a while though it seems to have been used for dumping litter ...
It has also been built on which should make the challenge of opening up the canal a big one.
Nearly a hundred years ago on the canal in this area, on the 28th November 1915 to be precise, six young people drowned.
They had been skating on the frozen canal when the ice suddenly gave way and the six of them aged between 6 and 21 crashed through the ice into the water beneath. Efforts were made to rescue them but to no avail. It was subsequently reported that one of those that died, 21 year old Alice Reid of Dock Walk, Chesterfield, was engaged to be married to Tom Northridge, brother of one of the other victims, Fred Northridge aged 18. Their banns had been read for the second time that morning.
A number of the victims are buried in the churchyard at Killamarsh.
As I continued north through Killamarsh it was obvious that quite a large section of the original canal has been lost ...
I assume the path I was following is the original towpath and the canal was too my right, now forming parts of people's gardens ...
Eventually though the houses were left behind and I could see where the canal used to run, even though some of it was full of garden cuttings.
Until I reached the A618 the route of the canal could be seen to some degree ...
Just before the A618 I reached the 12 mile post ...
... dedicated to Jet Walden by her husband ...
Jet Walden must be one of the best names I have ever heard ... that and Darwin Vest.
On the eastern side of Rother Valley Country Park I crossed the A618 and now the canal looked a bit more like a canal ...
... though the banking was showing signs of collapse ...
On the northern edge of Nor Wood a redundant mid-19th century brick bridge ...
... and the view looking back towards the country park ...
Heading towards the M1, a couple of hundred yards later the canal appears to have been incorporated as a feature in a garden ...
... assuming this was the route of the canal ...
It looks like there might have been a flight of locks here ...
... or was there ?
I knew I was on the correct route though, the line of the Cuckoo Way, heading from a 200 year old 'highway' towards a busier and more modern one, the M1 ...
... and passing under it ...
I walked alongside the M1 initially before crossing a field towards Woodall, turning to watch trucks, lorries and other vehicles hurtling along the motorway behind me ...
No sooner had I got into the small village of Woodall than I was walking out of it to pass under the M1 again and head into Nor Wood, over half a mile south of where I first saw the wood ...
A bridleway led through the trees ...
Killamarsh Pond looked serene in the winter sunshine ...
After struggling to follow a path through the outbuildings of a large farm I could see Killamarsh below ...
Then I was back to following a path beside high fences ...
This walk was followed on the 17th January 2011
Length of walk ~ 5.07 miles *
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 20.87 miles
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 17th January 2011 ~ 549.92 miles
5 of 2011
Nearly a hundred years ago on the canal in this area, on the 28th November 1915 to be precise, six young people drowned.
They had been skating on the frozen canal when the ice suddenly gave way and the six of them aged between 6 and 21 crashed through the ice into the water beneath. Efforts were made to rescue them but to no avail. It was subsequently reported that one of those that died, 21 year old Alice Reid of Dock Walk, Chesterfield, was engaged to be married to Tom Northridge, brother of one of the other victims, Fred Northridge aged 18. Their banns had been read for the second time that morning.
A number of the victims are buried in the churchyard at Killamarsh.
As I continued north through Killamarsh it was obvious that quite a large section of the original canal has been lost ...
I assume the path I was following is the original towpath and the canal was too my right, now forming parts of people's gardens ...
Eventually though the houses were left behind and I could see where the canal used to run, even though some of it was full of garden cuttings.
Until I reached the A618 the route of the canal could be seen to some degree ...
Just before the A618 I reached the 12 mile post ...
... dedicated to Jet Walden by her husband ...
Jet Walden must be one of the best names I have ever heard ... that and Darwin Vest.
On the eastern side of Rother Valley Country Park I crossed the A618 and now the canal looked a bit more like a canal ...
... though the banking was showing signs of collapse ...
On the northern edge of Nor Wood a redundant mid-19th century brick bridge ...
... and the view looking back towards the country park ...
Heading towards the M1, a couple of hundred yards later the canal appears to have been incorporated as a feature in a garden ...
... assuming this was the route of the canal ...
It looks like there might have been a flight of locks here ...
... or was there ?
I knew I was on the correct route though, the line of the Cuckoo Way, heading from a 200 year old 'highway' towards a busier and more modern one, the M1 ...
... and passing under it ...
I walked alongside the M1 initially before crossing a field towards Woodall, turning to watch trucks, lorries and other vehicles hurtling along the motorway behind me ...
No sooner had I got into the small village of Woodall than I was walking out of it to pass under the M1 again and head into Nor Wood, over half a mile south of where I first saw the wood ...
A bridleway led through the trees ...
Killamarsh Pond looked serene in the winter sunshine ...
After struggling to follow a path through the outbuildings of a large farm I could see Killamarsh below ...
Then I was back to following a path beside high fences ...
This walk was followed on the 17th January 2011
Length of walk ~ 5.07 miles *
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 20.87 miles
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 17th January 2011 ~ 549.92 miles
5 of 2011
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap
