#1:
'Newstead Abbey Walk' (3 3/4 miles; 1 1/2 hours. Or, if
Abbey visited, 4 1/4 miles; 1 3/4 hours)
Walk to the west end of the presinct and along Milton Drive. Turn
right at Sheepwalk Lane and walk along intersection with Main Road.
Seat available. Look out for the Pilgrim on LHS on the way down.
Turn left and walk up to the traffic lights. Magnificent Lions
on the left, Donkey's on the right. By the traffic lights there
is a larch farm (refreshments!). Cross onto Kirkby Road and walk
along to FP on the left just after number 51. Note on LHS 5 Gargoyles
and a house with its lawn on the roof.
On the RHS there is a good
view of Thieves Wood. Turn left up the path which eventually
goes up the new housing estate built on the site of the old Fever
Hostpital.
There is a seat here to rest and admire the view. The path then
goes into woodland and climbs 18 steps before dropping down to
Newstead Abbey Drive. Another seat on the way. If desired to
see Newstead Abbey turn RH down the drive, a 10 minute walk each
way. At the Abbey there is a lake with wild fowl, a shop with
refreshments,
toilets and the Abbey itself. LH up the drive along the grass verge on the right hand side there
is yet another seat. When the verge disappears just before a RH
bend, on the right, there is a woodland path which winds its way
up to meet the drive again just before the gates. A fee may be
required on leaving Abbey grounds. Cross the road opposite the
gates and on the LHS there is a path indicated St Peter's Church.
This brings you out onto Sheepwalk Lane. Turn right then first
left and the presinct is straight ahead.
#2: 'Quarter Marathon' (6 1/2 miles; 2 1/2 hours)
Warning: Take great care crossing the A60, twice
Leaving shopping presint past Post Office. Go straight across
to Milton Drive and go on junction with Sheepwalk Lane. Go right
into Sheepwalk and go to its juntion with Main Road. Turn left
and go to traffic lights at Larch Farm. Take care - there are no
pedestrian lights. Go straight on to Kirkby Road. There is a pavement
on the north (Mansfield) side of the road. Proeed along to a signed
footpath on the left, just after number 51, re-crossing if the
pavement side has been used.
Follow this footpath across unused
land, past new housing, past fields and through woodland until
the driveway from Newstead Abbey gates to the Abbey itself is
reached. Limbs can be rested on the way as there are benches. Cross
the
drive and follow the signed footpath until a road is reached.
Bear left onto this road and go straight ahead. There may be a
flock
of black sheep to be seen in a field to the right. Keep straight
on until the road becomes a track using a path alongside a gated
area. Continue along the track towards Papplewick Village. On
the outskirts of the village a few houses and a farm are passed.
The
track leads onto a road, Blidworth Waye. Turn left into Blidworth
and almost immediately cross the road and take a footpath.
This path goes through woodland to the side of the road and finishes
back at the road. Walk on the roadside verge for a short distance
until a right turn leads you to a field path passing very close
to a pylon. Follow the path with the field to the left, passing
another pylon. Turn left at the corner of the field and follow
the path going into woodland. Keep following this path until
joining a track. Cross the track and take the signed path.
This
path leads
to the A60 at Kighill. Cross the A60 to Kighill Lan. At busy
times, because of the bend in the road, it may be safer to
go left
on
the A60 to the end of the bus stop lay-by before crossing.
Do take care - some drivers have a strange interpretation of
the 50mph
speed limit. Go down Kighill Lane and turn left onto Longdale
Lane.
Go up Longdale until Gorse Hill is reached on the right.
Go up Gorse Hill and take the jitty to Vernon Crescent. Turn left
onto
Vernon and return to the shopping presinct. If required,
repeat
3 more times to approximately achieve a marathon distance.
#3 'The Steeplechase Walk' (6 miles; 2 1/2 hours)
Warning: There are 13 stiles on this walk. Only for
the agile.
From the presinct follow Vernon Crescent past the Village Hall,
past the Eco House and turn right through the jitty into Gorse
Hill just before Longdale Avenue. Note the 2 pussycats on the right
before joining Longdale Lane. Turn left and walk to the Chapel
Lane intersection. Take the footpath opposite up over the fields.
At the top, by the concrete bunker, there is an exellent view of
Blidworth Church and, when I did this walk, of Pig City. Pass by
the Sub Station and drop down to Fish Pool Road. Turn right, cross
road to Blidworth Bottoms and take the footpath 100m on the right
across the fields.
Keep striaght on over several fields, through
the allotments and to the Blidworth-Blidworth Bottoms road. Turn
left up into Blidworth and at the Main Road by the Black Bull
(refreshments!) turn left. Pass the Bird in Hand (refreshments!)
and to the church
(St Mary's - well worth a visit). By the front porch there is
a garden of rest in which there is a miniature church and if you
walk through the gate into the main church yard then the grave
directly front of you is said to be Will Scarlett's (Why did
Robin
Hood only rob the rich? Because the poor had no money!)
After
the church a short way along the road turn right up Rickets
Lane. Pass
3 houses and take the stile on the left through the house
garden. Follow the path over several stiles till you pass a 3-bar
fence
at the end of which watch for the concealed stile on the
right. Follow the path up and over the numerous stiles. Look out
for
a big stone on the right with a hole in the middle. Avoid the
horses until you come to Sandy Lane. Turn left onto Main Road
then right
passing the Little John (refreshments!). You're on the home
straight now. Turn left into Bretton Road, right into Hereford
and proeed
up the hill. Turn right into Haddon Road, left into Tideswell
Close
to the top and take the jitty to Swinton Rise. Turn right
and follow the road round until the intersection with Church Drive.
Cross
and go up jitty.
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