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.

Along the Cuckoo Way ...

The sun was shining brightly as I parked beside Shireoaks Marina, near Worksop, last Saturday to try and finalise a walk around Worksop for my next Pocket Pub Guide ...

Initially I walked along the Chesterfield Canal towards Worksop itself and passed the Lock Keeper. Just beyond this I swung right to cross the Worksop bypass. I managed it but I wouldn't want to ask walkers to do it regularly or in a group. Crossing the dual carriageway [even near a roundabout] should be avoided wherever possible !

I continued west towards Manor Lodge and Lady Lee, walking alongside the River Ryton ...

Near what used to be a pub, Manor Lodge, I turned north towards Lady Lee and Rhodesia. Just as I entered Rhodesia, I noticed this on a gate ...



There's been quite a lot of trouble with these noisy irritating vehicles on the edge of towns. I would imagine some of the local kids have been racing them along the bridleway I had just walked along. If a horse and rider had been coming the other way just think what could have happened.
Now it seems the Police can seize the vehicles [and destroy them ?]. Hurrah !

Almost as soon as I got into Rhodesia I was walking out of it, towards the Chesterfield Canal.

Just before I reached it I crossed this wooden stile ...



It just struck me as such an English scene.

I walked up the embankment to the canal and had a look along it, towards Rhodesia and the lock before the railway bridge ...



I skirted Shireoak, walking around the southern side of it. I passed Shireoaks Hall ...



I rejoined the canal half a mile east of Turnerwood and walked through some of the loveliest countryside you could imagine. The sun seemed to encourage the fish to rise near the surface much more than when I had walked through this area a few weeks ago.

Then there was the piling that British Waterways is undertaking, to shore up the canal bank here and there ...



  It's obviously much more mechanised than it used to be ...



It was getting so warm that I was kicking myself for not wearing my shorts though there was the shade along the side of the canal from the trees. This was welcome ...



When I reached Turnerwood I called at the last cottage on the right and had another ice cream from the little redbrick kiosk there. Apparently they only opened 'Orchard Teas @ Turnerwood' four months or so ago. It's a nice idea and I hope it goes well. They just sell local ice cream, tea and coffee but an ice cream in particular was very welcome on this hot day.

In the next photo the 'last cottage on the right' is out of picture to the left ...



With ice cream cone in hand I walked away from the canal towards Brancliffe Grange. The path follows the canal feeder all the way to the Grange.



Once you get to the Grange the canal feeder keeps straight on, rising gently all the time of course, before it wheels through 180 degreees to enter the woodland of Moses Seat to the north of the grange. I turned right on reaching the bridleway into the wood and then left, in front of Dove Cottage ...



Just beyond Dove Cottage I turned southward along a bridleway towards the railway line ...



A couple of fields later I was back beside the canal and walking east ...

The Cuckoo Way runs along the Chesterfield Canal for its entire journey except where the canal no longer exists ... and where the canal passes through Norwood Tunnel. Here's one of the Cuckoo Way signs in Shireoaks ...



So then it was back to the marina ...

 Date of walk ~ 26th September 2009

Length of walk ~ 6 1/2 miles.


Total since 1st September 2009 ~ 31 1/2 miles.

Walking through Rhodesia

I parked in the car park of the Lock Keeper in Worksop, with permission, and a rejoinder to the effect that I park there at my own risk ...





The Lock Keeper [as its name implies] stands right next to a lock on the Chesterfield Canal. Also next to the pub is bridge No. 41 ...





I walked westward and on the outskirts of Shireoaks passed under a low bridge ...





... just as a cyclist went past ....





Just beyond Shireoaks is probably some of the prettiest canal side walking I know and yet there never seem to be that many walkers about ...





. There were quite a few fishermen though, although they have to watch where they fish ...





At Turnerwood there's a double lock. I stood on the small bridge and watched this narrowboat pass through ...





... to appear on the other side in front of Turnerwood Cottages ...





The mute swans were friendly [though I didn't try to find out how friendly] ....

Anyone who has seen my blogs elsewhere will be aware of my unhealthy interest in memorials, especially quirky ones ...

At Turnerwood, in the last cottage on the right, you can get an ice cream, a coffee or a cup of tea most days. I opted for the ice cream, made locally ...

No sooner had I taken this photograph than I licked the ice cream off the cone ... but caught it in my right hand ... and stuck it back on again.


I left the canal at this stage and followed the canal feeder towards Brancliffe Grange ...





Nearer the grange the feeder splits and the water can be drunk by the horses in their paddock ...







The route I was following passed through a wood which seems to be Moses' Seat according to the OS Map ...

Then I crossed Monk Bridge before walking along the footpath across Lindrick Golf Club, looking out for stray golfballs ...







Just beyond Lindrick Dale on the way to Fan Field Farm there's an unusual feature on a house ...





The photograph could be better, I know ... but the garden is too overgrown !  Here's another stab at it ...





I crossed the railway line behind Fan Field Farm.





When I got back to the canal I was beyond Turnerwood and this time I walked eastward back towards Turnerwood itself. Then I headed southward across the field to Bottom Farm. After walking along the first part of Thorpe Lane, I had intended to use a field path to Shireoaks Park but it had been ploughed and, to be honest, I was starting to think I was running out of time, so I stayed on the road to reach the edge of Shireoaks itself. Here I turned sharp right  and reached The Hall ...





Now I know we have a heck of a lot of ancient buildings [or so it seems] but doesn't it seem a shame that this ancient hall is being left to deteriorate ...





Who owns it ?

Oh yes ... Rhodesia. Well it's a collection of houses on the outskirts of Worksop ...

It has its own roadsign though ...

.


I took four hours on this seven mile walk, taking photographs as I went.

Date of walk ~ 5th September 2009



Length of walk ~ 7 miles.

Total since 1st September 2009 ~ 13 miles.