So far we have come from Nottingham via D.H. Lawrence country, the highest point in Nottinghamshire, a couple of country parks to Hardwick Hall.

Hardwick Hall to Dinnington.

Leave the Great Barn at the northwest corner and turn left onto the road. The Stone Centre is on the left where there is an opportunity to do some stone carving. Continue on the road down the hill passing an old quarry on the right. This is where Oak Walk joins the road. It’s open parkland here with a view to open countryside ahead. At the bottom of the hill there is a cattle grid and just beyond is the Hardwick Inn, good for food and drink. This is open from Tuesday to Sunday. It is said to date back to the 15^th century.

However we turn right before the cattle grid and follow the edge of the wood. This is part of the sculpture walk that takes you northwards. A path goes off to the left down to the recently restored duck decoy, but we will carry on towards the Row Ponds. There is a way-marked post but after passing one of the small sculptures, aim for a gap in the trees ahead. The path goes between two of the ponds where there are water-lilies, coots and a moorhen as well as a dragonfly carving. Just beyond there is a way-mark by a kissing gate.

We then join a track and head westwards to pass birch and lime trees. Ahead there is a kissing gate and a path off to the right. Close by is the “new quarry” where stone is obtained for renovations to the Hall.

From here we head north-eastwards across parkland. The path isn’t very clear from here as it is all grass but if you aim to the right of a group of four trees you should stay on track.

Just to the left is the site of the camp occupied by the Parachute Regiment during the Second World War.

You will come to one of the roads across the estate and way-marks confirm that you are in the right place. Continue across the road in the same direction, up the hill - Broadoak Hill - passing oak, horse chestnut and sweet chestnut trees. There are occasional views of both halls on the skyline. Rare Long Horn cattle graze at this end of the park. We should come to a gate at the end of the road that serves The Grange, hidden in the trees. Here we will leave the park behind us.

There are many other paths around the park, some of which take in The Great Pond or the Miller’s Pond, so you could make a day of it here.

Also nearby is Stainsby Mill that is a working water mill and a National Trust property. B & B is available at Stainsby Mill Farm (SK 457 652).

At Junction 29 on the M1 is Twin Oaks Motel. There is plenty of accommodation further away at Chesterfield and Mansfield.

As you leave the Hardwick Park, continuing north-eastwards, the road is lined with lime trees and the tower of Ault Hucknall church appears ahead. This is well worth stopping to look at. It is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and was probably begun in the 10^th century. At the west end are some carvings that appear to be Anglo-Saxon. These are set into the wall and may not be in their original positions but one of them features what seems to be a representation of St. George and the Dragon. If you are very lucky you might find the church open and if so the most striking features inside are the colourful kneelers laying on the pews. At the east end of the nave there is a round arch which is obviously Norman but beyond that in the chancel another appears to be even older. At the east end of the chancel there is a stained glass window that dates back to 1527. Just in front of that is the grave of Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher who wrote “Leviathon”. He was a protégé of the Cavendishes of Hardwick and died in 1679.

There is very little to the village though and it has been described as the smallest village in England. An old cottage believed to date back to before the Civil War sits just next to the church and there is a farm to the east. You couldn’t find a more peaceful spot.

Our route continues eastwards passing Griff Wood on the left then just past the junction of Ault Hucknall Lane and Duke’s Drive a field path, indicated by a finger-post, takes you across the head of a valley up to the village of Glapwell. The path reaches it through a passageway between the houses onto Lime Tree Avenue where there is a footpath signpost. Turn left toward Palterton and into Beech Crescent where there is a cut through to the A617. (This road is usually quite busy.) Almost opposite is the entrance to Back Lane. Just along the main road to the east you could find The Young Vanish Inn that is open for food all day. This is named after a 19^th century champion racehorse. There is also a garden centre and café of the north edge of the village on the Bolsover road on the site of Glapwell Hall. At the time of writing there is also a post office and shop on Rowthorne Lane.

Also nearby is Doe Lea Nature Reserve (SK459 666). A mix of woodland, scrub and reed-bed with reed warblers, sedge warblers and reed buntings.

If you continue along Back Lane around the bend you will come to a cul-de-sac called The Pinfold. Turn left here and you will see a footpath sign pointing off between a couple of bungalows. This leads you out into the fields converging slowly with the woods on the left that sit right on the edge of the limestone escarpment. Through the trees there are hints of views to the west. Eventually, after about 1.5 km from Glapwell you will come to a junction of paths. Here it is best to ignore the public rights of way and follow the permissive path round the field edge that will take you to the east end of Palterton village. This is really a hamlet as there is no church here. Similarly there is no pub, shop or post office. There is a primary school though (at least at the time of writing).

Turn left onto Main Street and carry on until you reach the top of the hill. There turn northwards onto Carr Lane and you will soon be rewarded with a magnificent view westwards (on a good day). Although Chesterfield is hidden behind a ridge you can see the moors beyond, above Chatsworth.

Bear right at a row of cottages called Thirteen Row and the path will take you to the outskirts of Bolsover. On reaching the A632 a left turn will take you into town.

Bolsover.

Although like many other places, Bolsover was mentioned in the Doomsday Book its history really begins with the foundation of the castle in the late 11^th century. Perched up on the edge of the Permian Limestone escarpment at one of its highest points, its position dominated the local area. The castle of today though was largely built much later – from about 1610.

It was the coming of coal mining in the late 19^th century that made the town what it is today. Although the mines have all gone there is still a legacy in terms of the housing, especially down the hill in New Bolsover and Carr Vale. The old centre still has a few things remaining from before that - the church of course, a row of 17^th century shops, and a group of 18^th century cottages, but that is about it.

Today there is one small supermarket, a number of fine places to eat and drink but no bed and breakfast to be had in town (at the time of writing). There is though an excellent holiday cottage. There is also a bank, a post office and a library. What people come to Bolsover for is of course the castle. It is now in the care of English Heritage who endeavour to give visitors an “experience”. A tour round the castle certainly gives you that but it really excels with its equestrian events celebrating the castle’s history of riding and manège (a precursor of dressage) since the days of William Cavendish, the First Duke of Newcastle in the 17^th century. Bolsover Castle was really designed to be “a place of reception, entertainment and pleasure”. King Charles I and his queen Henrietta Maria were entertained here in 1634 but things fell apart with the English Civil War. William fought with the Royalists but after their defeat at the battle of Marston Moor he fled to the continent.

Scarcliffe Church © Andrew Hill

At the junction of Main Street and Station Road a lane turns off to the right. This is Wood Lane and there is a footpath sign that points you past a few houses (one of which is a self-catering cottage) to a stone stile that leads to a field-side path. At the end of the field you will come to an old railway bridge. The track-bed is in a very deep cutting and until the 1950s carried the Chesterfield to Lincoln line. This was part of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway and was opened in 1897. There was also a branch from Langwith Junction to Sheffield. Scarcliffe Station was a couple of hundred yards east of here. The line was abandoned when the nearby Bolsover tunnel, just to the west, was declared unsafe in the 1950s.

The path continues alongside a hedge (where you might find stitchwort, dog’s mercury, celandines, coltsfoot and wild parsley growing early in the year), until it reaches a narrow footbridge that crosses the infant River Poulter. Here you enter Langwith Wood. In the spring there is a carpet of wood anemones along with violets and more celandines. The path joins a track coming from the left and after about 200m veers left (eastwards) on to the track that is shown as “Archaeological Way” on my 2013 O.S. Explorer Map. Now deep inside the wood there is a good mix of deciduous trees with some conifers such as larch and Scots pine. There is always the sound of a robin and a blackbird, plus the odd chaffinch and pheasant and perhaps a chiffchaff. The track continues through the wood for about 1 km until emerging into the daylight with arable land to the south. Over another railway bridge and up to a minor road will bring you just short of “The Devonshire” on the edge of Upper Langwith. This is not only a pub but is a recommended venue for food at lunchtime and in the evening.

The Devonshire © J Thomas

Continue eastwards along the village street looking out for the church that is set off to the left. This is the Holy Cross Church (once St. Helen’s) and is pretty basic having no tower or aisle and although a Norman foundation there have been a lot of modifications over the years. The chancel was added in the 13th century; the east window and the porch in the 14th. If it is open it is worth going inside to have a look at the ancient timber roof. If not, as the church is at the highest point in the village, there is a good all round view.

Take the turning to the right and then right again onto the Shirebrook road and up the hill. Immediately before the school the footpath goes off to the left. This will lead you to the actual Archaeological Way. Just over the old railway bridge a ramp takes you down to the left (northwards) where there is an information board. You will now join the track of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast line that ran up to Sheffield and was built in 1900. The rails were still here in 1966.

Continuing northwards along an embankment there is new footbridge taking you over the A632 and onwards to a minor road and across into Poulter Country Park where there is a car park. Just west of the entrance are a couple of ponds where it is possible to see dragonflies and damsel flies in summer. Down the road (off route) and beyond the railway bridge is the Gate Hotel described as a family run pub doing home-made quality food. At the time of writing there was also a café close by. Some accommodation was also available in Nether Langwith.

Poulter Country Park © Alan Heardman

On the way into the park there is an information board to tell you all about what there is there. It is on the site of the spoil heap from the late Langwith Colliery but there is little evidence of that today. It also contains the site of a munitions factory and the point where a Beaufighter crashed during the Second World War. Now there are a number of circular routes, in part on well-surfaced limestone paths, through maturing woodland and wildflower meadows. The landscape is still a bit immature but the cowslips are spreading well and it is a good place for butterflies. There is a sculpture trail featuring seven works by a number of different artists inspired by wildlife, landscape and history. At a viewpoint called “The Top of the World” it is said that you can on a good day see as far as Lincoln Cathedral. You will probably hear skylarks as they climb up into the sky and see a buzzard or two soaring above.

Our path takes us through the park keeping to the east side following the black way-marks. There is a small exposure of limestone just off to the left with a low quarry face and a bare horizontal bedding plane above. There is some sandy outwash from above.

At a junction of paths is one of the sculptures on a trefoil base with a representation of a worked flint above. Go right here and also at the next junction where you leave the black route and head towards Langwith-Whaley Thorns railway station. This is on the line from Nottingham and Mansfield to Worksop - The Robin Hood Line. Cross over the footbridge and enter the car park. You are now in Whaley Thorns.

Whaley Thorns Station © Norman Griffin

On West Street, in what was the Methodist Chapel, is the Heritage Centre which tells the story of the village’s agricultural beginnings, the dramatic impact of industrialisation and then the closure of the colliery in 1978. To reach this, turn left onto North Street and West Street is the first turning on the right.

To return to our route go south down Scott Street and turn left onto Main Street. Otherwise leave the station car park and cross the road into Main Street and continue, passing the medical centre, until reaching a t-junction where you should turn left onto Portland Road and into Nottinghamshire. When reaching the primary school on the edge of the village look out for a footpath sign on the other side of the road that will lead you along a field-side path heading towards Blue Barn Farm. Another path joins from the south before our route takes us left at another field-side path just before you are level with the farm. The PRW takes you through the eastern end of Gorse Wood before reaching an arable field. It carries on in the same direction out onto a minor road where you should turn right. There is a path that should go diagonally north-eastwards across that field to a sharp bend but its access from the road isn’t clear.

From the bend in the road another field path takes you diagonally across pasture to reach the A616 where you should go straight across. It’s not too busy. A field path across arable fields through the crops going by Hilltop House will bring you out to Elma Lane. A left and a quick right leads you into Holbeck Woodhouse. Continue past the houses ignoring the road coming in from the right until reaching the post office at the end. To the left is a gated road lined with an avenue of trees. This is part of Robin Hood Way. Take this westwards. There must be getting on for 100 trees along here that are almost identical.

Holbeck © Mike Cooper

Holbeck Church © Christine Hasman

St. Winifred’s Church is on the left behind a beautiful stone lych gate. But this is no ordinary village church. It began as a private chapel of the Dukes of Portland of nearby Welbeck Abbey. Three of them are buried here along with other members of the family in the most well-cared for grave yard you can imagine. The chapel was built between 1913 and 1916 and is now Holbeck parish church.

At the end of the gated road you are now at the edge of Holbeck village. Almost directly across the road, Robin Hood Way continues north-westwards, across a series of fields passing through a narrow strip of woodland, to reach a stone stile at the west end of Creswell Crags.

Creswell Crags.

The gorge here was carved through the beds of the Lower Magnesian Limestone (the Cadeby Formation) by glacial melt-water during one of the interglacials (probably what the geologists call the Cromerian) in the early part of the Pleistocene Period. The caves that are such a feature within the cliffs, were probably formed underground even before the gorge itself. Many of them have been occupied on and off for up to 50,000 years.

Horses at Creswell Crags © Beth Peart

Small groups of Neanderthals made visits during the Middle Paleolithic period and left simple stone tools in the caves. 29,000 years ago modern humans arrived and as well as stone tools, they left engraved objects and figures on the cave walls and ceiling. Later an intense cooling took place in the climate and people retreated southwards, not returning until about 12,000 years ago, shortly before the British Isles became cut off from the continent.

As well as people, there is evidence of woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, horse, reindeer and bison having been in the area, from bones found in the caves probably brought in by scavenging hyenas.

The caves were excavated during the 19^th century when most of the articles were found and some of the larger caves named, for example, Boathouse Cave, Church Hole (where engraved figures of animals were found on the cave walls), Pin Hole (a hyena skeleton), the Robin Hood Cave (flint knife blades) and Mother Grundy’s Parlour (a Neanderthal hand axe). They are normally gated off to restrict access but there are tours round the Robin Hood Cave to experience what life was like during the last Ice Age and a Rock Art Tour taking in Church Hole Cave.

The site has been declared an SSSI by English Nature because of the preservation of its rich animal remains within the caves and as a Scheduled Monument by English Heritage due to the rare archaeological deposits. It is maintained as a visitor attraction and has an excellent museum, shop and café.

The boundary between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire runs along the north side of the lake and to the south of the visitor centre.

Turning right into the site our walk follows the path between the lake to our left and the crag close by on our right. This takes us by Church Hole and Boat House Cave but there are many other small caves and fissures creating quite a dramatic atmosphere. On the other side of the lake are most of the named caves but these are set back further from the path and some need a bit of a climb up to the entrances. It is well worth doing the complete circumnavigation of the lake to see it all.

As well as the rocks and caves the limestone grassland supports primroses, cowslips and orchids, as well as ox-eye daisies, rock rose, thyme and marjoram, cinquefoil and bedstraw. On the lake, mallards swim with swans, coots and little grebes.

Creswell Crags and Pond © Beth Peart

At the end of the lake there are three alternatives. On keeping right you will go into Crags Meadow where there are some smaller caves in the low crag. You must beware of wild animals here though, especially of the woolly variety. You can then weave your way over a footbridge up to the café.

If you turn left, along the dam, go up to the road and then right up to the Visitor Centre. Or, to get there, you can cut through the woodland walk between the Scots pines.

You can then spend as much time as you like taking advantage of the facilities.

Leave the Visitor Centre and head right, into the car park. At the far end is a memorial to the five Canadian aircrew who were killed when their Wellington bomber crashed nearby in August 1944.

You will enter a plantation of young trees that has a colourful ground cover of field “weeds”. There are speedwell, groundsel and dead-nettles with ground ivy and stitchwort and although there isn’t a hedge nearby there is quite a lot of jack- by-the-hedge. On reaching the A60, turn left and follow the roadside path a few noisy yards until reaching a track off to the left. Here you cross back into Derbyshire. Ahead of you is the Whitwell quarry chimney that dominates the view round here. This track leads you to Hennymoor Lane and immediately across the road a footpath will take you round the outside of the quarry workings. There is a good screen of banks and trees so you wouldn’t know there was a quarry there. The path here is fenced off and although following the road for a while it is on the field side of the hedge.

Whitwell Chimney © Tim Heaton

They quarry limestone at Whitwell which is used for aggregates in concrete making and for road-works, and also as it is a high purity dolomite it is used as lime in the steel industry.

You will come to a stream-side path where you should turn right unless you want to visit Penny Green Tea Garden which is a short way to the west. Follow the stream into the little village of Belph. Although there is a field path round to the west, it’s better to stick to the quiet village street. After it bends to the left it takes you up to a t-junction with a minor road. Immediately opposite, a field path leads across arable land to Hall Leys Farm from where a farm road goes on to Broad Lane just east of Hodthorpe. Turn right there and after about 200m there is a bridleway off to the left. This is a road leading to Birks Cottages (where you enter Nottinghamshire again) after which it becomes a grass track onwards to Ratcliffe Cottages. After passing Ratcliffe Grange Farm the track takes you to Darfoulds on the A619. Our route will take us straight across the road.

Just down the road towards Worksop (to the right) is Darfoulds Garden Centre where there is an excellent coffee shop and restaurant.

Also in the area: Steetley Chapel (SK543 787).is not far to the west.

Welbeck Abbey (SK563742). Although it is on the site of a monastery, the current house was developed by descendents of Bess of Hardwick, the Cavendishes, through the 17^th century. In more recent years it was used as an army training college before reverting to the family in 2005. It is now home to the Harley Gallery and a garden centre.

Worksop.

Coal dominated Worksop for much of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The Chesterfield Canal came in 1777 and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1849 but the history goes back much further of course. After the usual mention in the Doomsday Book, the next important event was the foundation of the Augustinian Priory in 1103. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the nave was granted as the parish church. It is now known as the Priory Church of St. Mary and St. Cuthbert. There is a second parish church called St. Anne’s that was built as recently as 1911.

The main industries now are food and distribution. There are railway services to Sheffield, Meadowhall, Doncaster, Lincoln, Retford, Gainsborough, Nottingham, Mansfield and stations in between. There is a bus station with widespread services around the local area.

As well as the usual town centre shops there are four supermarkets around the edge of the town. The town appears to have two theatrical venues; the Acorn Community Theatre and the Regal Arts Centre.

Mr Straw’s House on Blythe Grove is a National Trust property and is maintained as it was in the 1930s giving a glimpse of the life of “ordinary people” between the wars.

There are a number of places to stay in town from guest houses to hotels.

Riverside caravan park at SK 532 792 has facilities for tourers.

However perhaps the main thing Worksop is noted for is being the “Gateway to the Dukeries”. From the very edge of the town for about 7 miles southward are the four once ducal houses and parks - Worksop Manor, Clumber Park, Welbeck Abbey and Thoresby Hall. All but Clumber are still in private hands but Clumber Park now belongs to the National Trust and is all open to the public. They cover what was the northern part of Sherwood Forest and is a mixture of parkland and woods.

At Darfoulds our route took us across the road and on to Featherbed Lane. After about 250m the road bends to the left and just before Hilltop Cottages we leave northwards on a footpath. We are now out in open countryside with arable fields all around. The path follows a broken hedge up to a point where another route from Steetley to Worksop crosses from west to east. We go straight on. After about 400m we meet a track running west to east. Turn right onto this and follow a line of trees on the north side. There are ash, oak and maple here and along the track there were little geraniums, plantain and eyebright. Piles of stones at the side of the track show that the rock beneath isn’t very far below.

Manor Lodge comes into view. This dates back to the 1590s and is very imposing. It was probably built as a hunting lodge associated with Worksop Manor. It has had a rather chequered recent history and has been semi-derelict at times. Its future is uncertain.

When you reach a farm road turn left and pass Manor Lodge. Along here were some snowball bushes and Russian vines.

Manor Lodge

The River Ryton is hardly noticeable as it is still little more than a stream. A path goes off to the right towards Sainsbury’s and MacDonald’s following the line of an old canal. This was a spur from the Chesterfield Canal probably to serve Lady Lee Quarry which is just up the road.

This was a limestone quarry and operated from the 17^th century until the 1920s. After it was abandoned it became flooded and was subsequently taken over by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. It covers 2.4 hectares and the lake is rich in animal life with dragonflies, damsel flies, frogs, toads and great-crested newts. On the margins and in marshland are water plantain, mares tails, branched bur-reed, celery-leaved buttercups and pink water speedwell. Yellow wort, fairy flax and cowslips appear in the grassland. There is scrub with hawthorn, wych elm, ash, holly and blackthorn.

There is a path around the site that leaves our route at the southwest corner but returns to it at the northwest. There is an information board at the entrance and the first things you see on entering are some old hawthorn bushes that look as if they have been coppiced.

If you are not looking at the quarry, carry on along the farm road to Lady Lee Farm. The path continues to right of a wall. It looks like an old road with ancient hedges. There are spindle trees, hawthorn, traveller’s joy, elder, blackthorn, holly and maple.

The path converges with the railway line (The Robin Hood Line again) and as it reaches the first house in Rhodesia a rough road goes left. This was part of the road to Steetley until it was cut off by the railway. After passing a few houses you will emerge onto the current Steetley Lane at the west end of the village. When you reach the road turn left and go under the railway bridge.

Immediately on the right, on the bend in the road, a field path goes across the grass field towards the left of a small wood. You will arrive at the canal bank where there is a three-way footpath sign. Go left here along a pleasant field path and as the hedges converge beyond some electricity poles you will see a lot of forget-me-nots if you are there in Spring. On your left is the River Ryton hidden in a line of trees. You will arrive at a sports ground where the PRW takes you round clockwise to reach some white railed steps (34 in all) that take you up to the bridge over the Chesterfield Canal. This is Shireoaks Road Bridge (number 39). Cross over and join the towpath. To the right is the recently landscaped pit tip at the top of which at 79m is a view-point from which it is said you can see Lincoln Cathedral.

You will soon reach Shireoaks bottom, middle and top locks (numbers 44, 43 and 42). Here a narrow-boat called May Mabel was just emerging from a marina. A footbridge takes you over its entrance where there were more than 20 narrow-boats when I was there. There were mallards and a moorhen on the canal.

The Chesterfield Canal was opened in 1777 and ran from West Stockwith on the River Trent through to Chesterfield. Its purpose was to export coal, limestone, lead and iron from Derbyshire and bring in corn, timber and food products. It was 46 miles from end to end and had a total of 65 locks and two tunnels. At the time of its construction the Norwood tunnel was one of the longest in the country but mining subsidence caused it to collapse in 1908, after which the canal fell into disuse. Since 1989 sections of it have been restored including 37 locks and 11 bridges. Two marinas have been built and it is hoped to complete the remaining nine miles when the money can be raised. The towpath walk is called the Cuckoo Way named after the canal’s alternative name “Cuckoo Dyke”.

Our route continues along Cuckoo Way following the towpath on the north side of the canal reaching Shireoaks near the railway station. There are trains from here to Sheffield and Lincoln as well as nearby Kiveton Park. There is a ramp up to the road where it crosses bridge 38. Cross the road here noting Laura’s café on the left and continue along the tow path.

Shireoaks was a pit village. The mine was closed in 1991. There are shops, one pub, a café and a post office here. St. Luke’s Church at the south end of Shireoaks Row is Victorian Gothic.

We continue along the towpath westwards following the canal round a bend to the left. You can expect to meet a lot of dog walkers and cyclists (some of whom have bells) for the next few kilometres. There are a few benches along here. In fact there is a fairly good supply of benches all the way up the canal. Hidden behind trees is a large pond from where I could hear the sound of coots. We now reach Boundary Lock – number 41A. The canal then crosses an aqueduct over the River Ryton where you pass into South Yorkshire.

Cinderhill Lock © Christine Johnstone

We come to Cinderhill Bridge (Number 37) with a cottage at the side. The bridge was rebuilt as part of the canal restoration in 1996. We are now sharing the route with the South Yorkshire Way for the next 4kms or so as far as Thorpe Salvin.

Oneslide Lock (No. 40) comes next. That has also been called Shireoaks Lock. Then there is a semi-shaded path with dappled light as we approach Shireoaks Stone Lock (No. 39). A squirrel ran across the lock gate and a red admiral butterfly flew by. At Turnerwood Feeder Lock (No. 38) a feeder channel comes in from the north. Next is a triple lock with three components, Turnerwood Bottom,Top and Quarry Locks (37, 36 and 35). Then after a weeping willow, on the south side of the canal there are some new houses with some topiary. A family of swans and cygnet patrolled the water with mallards nearby and a cormorant flew over.

In the row of cottages on the right there might be the opportunity to get a cup of tea.

Turner Wood Bridge (No. 36) crosses over next as you approach Turnerwood Double Lock (34 and 33). There was a rush of water as a lock sluice was opened.

After the canal rounds a bend you reach Brown’s Lock (No.32). You can see where there is a disused quarry to the north beyond the railway line. As I walked by a heron flew off across the fields and there was a comma butterfly resting on some ivy.

Brickyard Double Lock © Richard Croft

We now come to another pair of locks called Brickyard Double Lock (31 and 30). It’s about here that we reach Low Spring Wood. A hedge with rose hips and blackthorn hides ash and sycamore trees.

We are now up to Milestone Lock (No. 29). A tractor was harrowing a field opposite as light aircraft were taking off and landing from Netherthorpe airfield (home of Sheffield Aero Club). A wood comes up just opposite Thorpe Low Treble Lock (Nos. 28, 27 and 26).

Just after Lime House Lock (No. 25) I stopped to have a bite to eat while sitting on a bench in the sunshine.

The last locks we will come across are Thorpe Bottom (24) and Thorpe Middle (23), as we will be leaving the towpath at Bridge 35. This is called Thorpe Lock Sidings and there is a footpath sign directing you across the bridge and into the wood opposite. As you enter follow the path round to the right.

This is Old Spring Wood and there are sycamore trees, maple, ash, beech and poplar with hazel here. Way-marked posts tell you that this is a Doorstep Walk, one of many described by Rotherham Council. This is part of Rotherham’s Woodland Estate. The path is well-defined and widens to a track as Scots pines and birch trees appear. In Spring-time there are bluebells, ramsons and wood anemones.

When you reach the far end of the wood there is a sign saying “private access, keep out”. Turn right here onto the farm track that follows the edge of the wood at the side of an arable field. It then goes back into the wood at the side of a well-hidden sewage works. A finger-post directs you to leave the track to the left and the path takes you round the back of the sewage works with the fence on your left. A kissing gate leads out onto the edge of an arable field again and follows the side the wood.

We are at about 100m above sea level here and there are good views to the east and south. Eastwards you can see the woods of the Dukeries and southwards you can make out Whitwell Wood and the chimney at Whitwell quarry.

Pass the end of a field hedge and where the wood bends to the right the path cuts across to the road following a fence. Along this bit there were buttercups, umbellifers, cranesbills and nettles.

On reaching Worksop Road turn right into Thorpe Salvin. We are now on Sustrans cycle route number 6 that takes in Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Worksop and Sheffield.

The first part of the road has no path but it is not very busy. I only counted 7 cars as I walked the entire length of the village. Most of the older houses and the garden walls are built of limestone. There is a narrow green, protected by a line of posts at the side of the road and after a while, as you pass the playing field,

A proper roadside path appears as you approach Common Road.

There is a pub called The Parish Oven on the right which is open from 12 noon most days and food is available.

Continue down the hill, pass the old telephone call box, now used as a book exchange and just beyond Ladyfield Road you will find St. Peter’s Church hidden behind a couple of horse chestnut trees. It is well worth having a look. The most obvious feature is the south door, which has a round-arched Norman doorway. Outside that is the porch with a Tudor wooden archway. If the church is open as it was on the day that I visited you can find that there are Norman arcades on the sides of the nave and a Norman chancel arch. The chancel is early 14^th century (Decorated style). The aisles are later, probably Perpendicular. Pevsner describes the font as one of the most interesting Norman fonts in the country. The church is built as you might expect of Magnesian Limestone. The wall of the churchyard on the south side rests directly onto the bedrock. In the churchyard there are a lot of snowdrops in February. Return to the road junction and take Ladyfield Road and immediately in front of you are the ruins of the old manor house called Thorpe Hall. This was built in 1570. It was once occupied by The Duke of Leeds but after he moved on to Kiveton Park it fell into disuse. It was partly demolished in the 1820s and now only the gatehouse and the three-storey south front remain. Nevertheless it is still quite imposing.

Thorpe Hall © J Thomas

Follow the road as it bends to the left and head out of the village. There is nearly a kilometre of road walking ahead but it is fairly quiet. I only counted 4 cars in the 10 minutes it took to walk it. A row of houses is on the right and away to the left is Loscar Wood, as you gradually climb up the dip slope of the limestone escarpment. When you reach the top of Bunker Hill (at about 120m) you will see Stonefield Farm on the left. Opposite that is a public bridleway finger-post directing you northwards. This follows the left-hand side of a hawthorn hedge with an arable field on the left and the bungalows of South Anston ahead. To the west the view takes in Kiveton Park with the Pennines behind.

The hedge gets quite tall with ivy entwined and with buttercups, umbellifers and nettles beneath. As you reach some woodland there are some steps down to the bridge over the Chesterfield Canal that we meet again. It would have been possible to walk all of the towpath, from where we left it but that section is less interesting – but it is quiet.

Cross the canal at Thorpe Bridge (number 32 – also known as Kiveton Sidings) and beyond Cuckoo Way there is a pedestrian level crossing over the railway line. So, stop, look and listen and if it’s clear continue through some scrubby woodland for a short while and then follow the field path up the hill northwards across an arable field. Cross the track that leads to Smarsons Hills Plantation and continue on the west side of the hedge. You will reach a gap in the hedge by a stone gatepost. The path goes through here to the right. Looking over to the west and southwest there is a view over to the Pennines beyond Chesterfield. With the remains of a blackthorn and hawthorn hedge on the left an ash tree appears at just about the highest point around. The contours say that this is just above 125m. The view to the east takes in woodland north of Worksop.

Now we reach the edge of South Anston with a housing estate consisting mainly of bungalows. The path continues along their back gardens to come to a tarmac road where there is a footpath finger-post. This is called First Lane. If you need a change from fields there is a cut-through between the bungalows to High Ash Drive and Hawthorne Avenue. Otherwise continue along First Lane to the end looking out for garden escapes on your left. North Anston is ahead of you and you should make out Swinston Hill Wood to the northeast. You now come to Sheffield Road (B5059). Turn left here and you will meet the north end of Hawthorne Avenue. Carry on past Hillcrest Drive and round the bend you will come to St. James’ Church.

St. James' Church © Neil Theasby

A lych-gate leads you up to the tower crowned by a spire. There is a bench mark just to the left of the small west door. This is unusually well up above the ground being at eye-level. This is 116m above the sea. Pevsner describes the church as being mainly Perpendicular and so late 14^th century.

Leaving the church behind there is a complicated junction ahead with Ryton Road coming up from the right and High Street going off to the left. Bear right along Sheffield Road with some limestone cottages on the right. The Loyal Trooper is on the corner of Yeoman’s Way where food was available when I was there and in the row of shops on the left was a café. Just past this is another pub called Leeds Arms where they advertise that they do food too.

Methodist Church © SMJ

The Methodist church, with its tower is on the right and just beyond its church hall there is a footpath indicated by a finger-post opposite. A post office is just beyond. Take the footpath down to the A57 Worksop Road. Turn left here and cross the busy road at the refuge. Continue westward until reaching Bank Street and turn right here. This takes you to Wilberforce Road. Turn right again and after a few yards there is a finger-post indicating a footpath going off to the left.

This takes you under a railway bridge at a kissing gate and, passing a meadow on the left, along to Brook Walk. This comes in from the left. Turn right and cross a couple of footbridges into an open area where there is a bench and a pond. There are a number of poplar trees and an ash or two and willows line the brook. You will reach an information board by another bench. This tells you that this bit of land was a waste tip but was reclaimed with help from the local schools.

A large kissing gate takes you on to a short track and out onto Ryton Road – the B6060.

Now we have one of those moments of decision. The choice is either 4kms of woods, limestone grassland, wildflowers, birds and rocks (that is Anston Stone Woods) or 400m of roadside path passing houses and a school. Either way you will arrive at the same point.

Anston Stone Woods covers 33.7 hectares and lies in a glacial meltwater channel formed when ice melted at the end of the Ice Age (Pleistocene). The water cut a gorge through the Magnesian Limestone. The woods that developed have been declared an SSSI and local nature reserve. The path that takes us through is called the Duke of Leeds Way.

So assuming that you will take the pretty way you turn right at Ryton Road and cross over to the other side. Just before the railway bridge is a footpath going off to the left. There is a finger-post and kissing gate here. The path takes you through some open woodland to a footbridge over Anston Brook where there is another kissing gate. After coming out of the wood you approach an information board that tells you all about the Turner’s Field part of Anston Stone Woods.

Follow the path eastwards between a couple of hedges at first, then out into a meadow with the brook on the right. Carry on into a wood with a drop to the stream. It opens out into a meadow again with woods either side and after about 250m there is an isolated stone where paths fork. Continue to the right along the edge of the wood until you become immersed in it. There are rocks on the left and some fallen boulders below. This is massive dolomite (Magnesian Limestone). The trees are all deciduous here, but more on that later. Go under a railway bridge that is made of big blocks of sandstone – probably Millstone Grit, but ignore the next one on the left. Another path goes off to the right but we follow the railway line that sits up on its embankment. There is a big block of limestone on the right with a tree growing out of it. There will be more of these later too. The stream meanders away on the right as we pass a small wattle enclosure. What that is for I’m not sure. You will hear the traffic on the A57 beyond. The stream disappears under a culvert with a low parapet that also takes it under the railway.

Railway Bridge © Beth Peart

Now we reach a bridge that takes us beneath the railway. It has an unusual “corkscrew” pattern of “Staffordshire Blue” purple engineering bricks. This was built in 1904 and is mainly of Magnesian Limestone and Millstone Grit.

The stream is now on the left and there are beech trees around with hart’s tongue fern beneath.

An information board tells us all about the trees and flowers that can be found in the wood and surrounding meadows.

The lower woods are composed of ash and wych elm trees with small-leaved and large-leaved lime, yew, maple and rowan. There is an under-storey of hazel and holly, dogwood, guilder rose and elder with some spindle, buckthorn and privet. Wildflowers present include violets, bluebells, ramsons, yellow archangel, dog’s mercury, arum (lords and ladies), early purple orchid, celandines, wood anemone, stitchwort, wood sanicle, wood avens, pignut and ground ivy.

On the upper slopes there are oak, ash and lime trees with birch, yew and sycamore. dog’s mercury, enchanter’s nightshade, ivy, bird’s nest orchids, twayblade, toothwort, wood melick, fingered sedge, wood barley, wood sanicle, hart’s tongue fern and spurge laurel all occur.

The Stewardship Field (that we will come to later) is limestone grassland with pyramidal orchids, bee orchids, twayblade, fly orchid, common spotted and southern marsh orchid, yellow rattle, cowslips, kidney vetch, centaury, yellow wort, quaking grass, marjoram, fairy flax, bird’s foot trefoil, smooth hawk’s beard, clover, ox-eye daisy, St. John’s wort, self heal, yellow oat grass, tufted vetch, field bindweed, hoary plantain, lesser trefoil, black melick, rest harrow and viper’s bugloss as well as others.

Anston Stone Woods © Beth Peart

There is also some information about the railway line. It was opened in 1905 and ran from Brancliffe Junction near Turner Wood to Dinnington. It was operated by the Midland Railway and the Great Central. From 1910 it ran from Doncaster to Shireoaks and was extended to Worksop in 1920. Although it served many of the local collieries it had regular passenger services up to the 1920s.

A group of ornithologists called SK58 Birders give details of the birds found here. Residents include blackbird, wood pigeon, dunnock, wren, robin, carrion crow, magpie, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit, chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch, bullfinch, jay, song thrush, goldcrest, grey wagtail, moorhen, mallard, great spotted woodpecker, willow tit and marsh tit, kestrel, sparrow hawk, tawny owl, tree creeper, nuthatch, yellow hammer and skylark.

Summer visitors include blackcap, chiffchaff, garden warbler, willow warbler, sedge warbler, linnet and green woodpecker, pied flycatcher and whitethroat.

Other visitors include buzzards, siskin, grey partridge and an occasional kingfisher.

Butterflies recorded here include purple hairstreak and the marbled white as well as holly blue, brown argus, comma, dark green fritillary, white letter hairstreak, pearl-bordered fritillary, speckled wood and Essex skipper.

Then there are bugs and beetles, amphibians and reptiles, mosses and liverworts, ferns and grasses, moths and fungi, and of course mammals.

Looking ahead from the information board the path can be seen leading northwards to a footbridge over the stream. Take this and climb some well-spaced steps up the hill. The wood opens out into a meadow with the Stewardship Field on the right. You might see an owl nest box on a pole in the distance. There is some open woodland with scattered oak trees and bracken before the path goes back into the proper wood, where there are birch and yew trees. It broadens into a track and then goes downhill. There are now rock faces on both sides in what are called The Cutts. A track-way has been cut down into the well-stratified Magnesian Limestone perhaps as a quarry. Here again are trees that are growing directly out of the rock. Yew trees and beech arch over our heads.

Some of the rocks have obvious “honeycomb weathering” and there is an occasional fault.

After leaving the rock exposure there are some steps going off to the left with railings. These lead down to Dead Man’s Cave. This natural cave was excavated in the 1960s and 70s and flint tools with reindeer bones and antlers from about 7800 BC were found. Flint knives and blades similar to those at Creswell Crags suggest that there was a temporary camp here 12,000 years ago. Bones of Ice Age animals such as wild horse and reindeer were dated at about 10,000 BC.

Returning to our route we go up another flight of railed steps and cut out of the woods with a meadow to our right into an area with scattered bushes and oak trees. South Anston church spire comes into view to our left. There some blocks of limestone are called “Little Stones”.

Little Stones © Robin Stonebridge

We leave the well marked path before it goes back into some woodland and go right. At the corner of the grassland we reach some more trees were there are some steps leading to a kissing gate and out into a grassy field.

Along the side of the field there is a reinforced grass track that will take you up to Rackford Road. Turn left at the kissing gate and footpath sign. You will then be on Sustrans cycle route 674 which goes from Woodsetts to Thurcroft. You soon reach the houses on the edge of North Anston. It is a typical suburban area with pleasant houses mainly from the 1960s and 70s.

Also close by is the Tropical Butterfly House. (SK530 846). As well as butterflies there are meerkats, prairie dogs and birds of prey. There are even giant tortoises.

When you reach the B6060, here called The Baulk, turn right and go up the hill. This is where the short cut along Ryton Road rejoins our route. The road here is lined with grassy strips with trees and a good path. You will come to Quarry Lane on the left opposite The Cutler pub, so turn down here. This is also part of Route 674 and there is a blue cycleway sign pointing towards Thurcroft. The road takes you past a row of shops (with a coffee bar). Greenlands Park appears on the right.

The quarry that the lane is named after was in what is now the park. It was used to obtain limestone for repairing the Houses of Parliament in London in the 1840s. However the stone was not up to the job and quickly began to decay. In the 1920s it had to be replaced by stone from Rutland.

There is car parking at the entrance to Greenlands Park and beyond that you will see the medical centre on the left. Past that a tarmac path takes you in a clockwise direction round the playing field. After about 200m a path cuts back on the left but you can ignore that. Continue until you reach a row of trees where you can go through to the cul-de-sac at the end of Edinburgh Drive. Carry on along this road round a bend to the right and one to the left and you will reach Anston Greenland’s Primary School. After another twist in the road, just at the end of the school playground a well-hidden footpath leads you off to the left.

After going through a belt of trees you come out into the daylight on a shale path with more young trees on the right and a fence to the left with an open field beyond. At the end of this you reach the 35 hectare Dinnington Community Wood. This is managed by the Land Trust. When this was still a mining area, not many years ago, this was a colliery spoil heap. What a difference! Prepare to be amazed.

Turn left here and follow the path in a clockwise direction but look closely as you go for the wonderful wild flowers in the grass verges between the path and the new bits of woodland that have only recently been planted. In summer I saw greater knapweed, yellow rattle, bird’s-foot trefoil, creeping cinquefoil, ladies bedstraw and clover. But not just the odd few as you find in many places but the whole area is carpeted with them. There were even some orchids tucked away. In the Spring it is said that there are bluebells, wood anemones and cowslips. The new woodland contains ash, maple, hawthorn and rowan with some conifers. There are skylarks up here too. I saw a thrush bashing away at a snail.

On the way round, the path broadens out into a track and you will come to a point where there are three benches where you can stop for a while and admire the view below. Just off to the left here is a hide for observing some the wetland birds. Further on you will see the distant spire of the church at Laughton-en-le-Morthen that stands out beckoning you on.

At a junction of paths you will come to an information board with a plan of the woods. Here you should turn right and continue down the hill where you will come to a ford. However to keep your feet dry a footbridge has been provided just to the left. There is then a broad ride with conifers on the left up to Church Lane. A blue sign indicates that Dinnington is to the right. This is the way to go.

If you would like to continue northwards go to Book 3 which will take you to Hickleton.

The copyright for the photographs is under a Creative Commons Licence by geograph.org.uk