Ticking away ... Day 836 ~ plugging that damn wall ...

Earlier today I had my first check-up after being put on Abiraterone. Everything seems to be going well except my blood pressure is up and my potassium level is down. This means I'm being given 10mg of Amlodipine as from tomorrow rather than 5mg ... together with all the other tablets of course.

There's not a lot to add really except the doctor and the pharmacist wanted to know how the Abiraterone was affecting me. I said the worse side effect is having to take them at 6.30 whilst half asleep. If I don't drop the top of the Buxton Water bottle because I'm fumbling about I have been known to drop one of the tablets [which I pick up hastily and swallow without thinking too much]. I don't have to take the tablets at 6.30am but I'm supposed to take them an hour before food and I don't fancy sitting around for an hour doing nothing before I have my breakfast. 

After talking to the pharmacist about my medication we had to go to the pharmacy to get the extra Amlodipine and then as part of my self-medication involves a hot bacon cob we adjourned to the Cafe @ the Royal ...

It had started to snow as we sat drinking our coffees and eating our cobs but there was still time for the usual photograph to show you how this 62 year old is looking nowadays ... 

 

Thanks to Jamie, of course, for taking me there and having to put up with his old Dad ... it is much appreciated Jamie.

Finally, I'd like to say 'hello' to Hayley's Grandma ... I sometimes wonder whether I'm going on a bit too much about the state of my health but when I learn that Hayley reads these blogs to her Grandma because she likes to know what someone else is going through too ... well, it makes it all worthwhile. 

Give your Grandma a hug and a kiss from me Hayley.

The Cuckoo Way ~ the eighth day [part 2] ... Is it Les ?

... continuing the walk started here

As the shopping public busied themselves in Worksop I was walking under the road at Worksop Town Lock ... 

 

... and continuing along the towpath ...



... until I reached a locked gate where I had to make a detour ...



The scenery wasn't quite so scenic as it had been but there were some great reflections ...



 

Milepost 21 was reached ...

 

... and Bracebridge Lock ...

 



Just round the bend from here there's one of the most impressive pumping stations I've ever seen, Bracebridge ...

 

It was built in 1881 to deal with the sewage problem and was fueled by coal brought by barge using the canal. I've seen it written that the coal came from Shireoaks Colliery so it would have made the same journey I had just taken ...

 

The Victorians knew how to build didn't they ...

I was heading out of Worksop now but looking back the pumping station was still quite a landmark ...




I walked between some businesses on the right and rather non-descript fields to my left. The towpath was rather underwhelming ...



... though it did get a bit greener ...



Milepost 22 turned up ...



It looks like an older one than the others.

Manton Viaduct carries the railway across the canal ...





 This is where I turned round to head back to Shireoaks. I didn't backtrack along the canal straight away but picked my way alongside roads until I reached Manton Inn ... and wondered if this is all that remains of Manton Colliery which closed in 1994 ...

 

I pitched up at Worksop Priory gatehouse. According to the Worksop Heritage Trail the Gatehouse "to Worksop Priory was built about 1330 as guest accommodation for visitors to the Priory, where shelter and food was given free to any visitor for up to three days." 



My next photograph does not do justice to the priory itself but as it was closed when I passed by perhaps I was disgruntled. Anyway, here's the priory's rather ornate door and doorway ...



I rejoined the canal. 

When I'd walked the canal earlier someone had caught my eye ... and he was still there when I passed the same spot some hours later ... so I went up to him and said, slightly hesitantly, "Is it Les ... ?" Fortunately it was ... 

Les was a friend on Multiply and is now on Blogger as well as Facebook. We had a chat and I took his photo ...



It was good to meet someone so coincidentally though I did know where he lived, namely Worksop.

Finally, on the way back I spotted this gravestone in memory of Joseph Garside Pearson who died aged 31 in 1892. Judging by the carving at the top of the stone I thought he must be a cricketer so I googled his name earlier this evening. According to Wikipedia "Joseph Garside Pearson (26 March 1860 – 18 January 1892) was an English cricketer. Pearson's batting and bowling styles are unknown. He was born at Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Pearson made a single first-class appearance for Nottinghamshire against Surrey at The Oval in 1883. Surrey won the toss and elected to bat, making 236 all out in their first-innings. Pearson bowled 3.1 overs toward the end of the innings, taking the wickets of William Roller, Frederick Johnson and Ted Barratt, conceding just one run off his bowling. Nottinghamshire responded to Surrey's total by posting 405 all out in their first-innings, with Pearson being dismissed for a single run by Barratt. Surrey reached 112/3 in their second-innings, at which point the match was declared a draw. This was his only major appearance for Nottinghamshire.
He died at Boughton, Nottinghamshire, on 18 January 1892."

I have the feeling that there may be a story behind Joseph Pearson ~ he took 3 for 1 and only made one appearance.

 
  
This walk was followed on the 14th March 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 8.47 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 62.72 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 14th March 2011 ~ 590.77 miles
 
15 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

Cromford Canal reflections

Cromford Canal reflections, a photo by Charles Wildgoose on Flickr.

Buildings at Cromford Wharf ...

Via Flickr:
Buildings at Cromford Wharf

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.

A Farm Journal ~ from the 19th to the 31st March 1868

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby.

 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

A Farm Journal continues :~

 

5 - 19 Wet morn[in]g aft[ernoo]n Winnow[e]d oats for Seed at Cales 5 gr[ound?] fr[om?] Bakewell seed oats 13st[ones] 38/4

 

6 - 20 Drizzly day Rob[er]t Heathcote here doing basket gig & harmers cupboard

 

7 - 21 Fine mild day walling etc

 

4 - 22 Raw & cold

 

2 - 23 Very stormy cov[erin]g of snow frosty W.N.

 

3 - 24 Fine & bright some of snow melt[e]d W.N. sold White oats at Longnor to C. Cundy  30/- p[e]r q[uarte]r 12 nett

 

5 - 26 Fine oats to Longnor

 

6 - 27 Ditto walling

 

7 - 28 Fine plough[e]d & thrash[e]d Cales

 

1 - 29 Ditto

 

2 - 30 Fine began harrow[in]g

 

3 - 31 Ditto

 

 

I'm not sure what a 'harmers cupboard' is but that's what it looks like in the journal. 

 

Living in Monyash in 1861 was a Robert Heathcote. He was a 'boarder' with the family of Thomas Bonsall, a Lead Miner. Robert was 45 and unmarried. His occupation ? Joiner. 

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 18th March 1868

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby.

 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

A Farm Journal continues :~

 

3rd Mo[nth] 1st day 1st Very snowy wet day W.N.W.

 

2 - 2 B[akewe]ll market Fine morn[in]g wet aft[ernoo]n bo[ugh]t 4 y[ea]r old calf Jos[eph] Smith in calf for April £12 10/- one in market heifer £12 2/6 2 of G.Allsop B[akewe]ll 1 in calf Ladyday £16 1 for 12 May £9 - 6 y[ea]r[s] old

 

3 - 3 stormy morn[in]g fine aft[ernoo]n self to Longnor Market sold 12 gr [?] old Bl[ac]k oats 27/- for 22 stone ddr [?]

 

4 - 4 Fine day

 

5 - 5 Ditto 4 ton cake from P[arsley] Hay to Cales 2 ton L-Amer £10 15/- 2 ton Cott £7 - Wm & I join

 

6 - 6 Fine to Longnor 7 gr [?] old bl[ac]k oats self to Nott[ingha]m

 

7 - 7 Fine morn[in]g wet even[in]g plough[in]g turnip gr[oun]d with paring plough

 

1 - 8 Stormy day

 

2 - 2 Fine at Nott[ingha]m Self to Norm[anto]n with co[u]s[in] H[enr]y looked sound his & Woodruffs stock & on to Derby to meet S[arah] A[nn] & lad ret[urnin]g home - found all well

 

4 - 4 to 4 -18 changeable weather wind snow storms & frost & rain plough[e]d part of turnip gr[oun]d with paring plough - [next word indecipherable] some walls - calves doing well 17 Cales 11 S.H. 

 

 

John Bayliff Bowman lost me once or twice in this section of journal ... sorry.  

Richard III : The King in the Car Park

Just a few more days to go ... click here