Eckswa two

Verified Slow Way

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Much to say about this but generally a good walk, no cattle, no stiles that I can recall and for a good length a very good surface. Not quite half way there are loos and cafe at Rother Valley Country Park plus seats at various locations. This route while not direct could easily be Swakil plus Eckkil combined, those routes are slightly different so there is opportunity to mix and match. Swakil takes an east path alongside the River Rother and misses any services, this would be be my third choice through the park. I did draft a route along the west side of the lake which is a better route from which you can see the facilities from afar. So the route used here, which passes the services is the best.

I walked from Swallownest, the path starts well but then get trapped behind houses and alongside a road where it’s narrow and can be muddy, part can be avoided by using the estate road but alongside the main road it’s poor and no choice.

Meeting the cycle track the surface improves, as does the path width. We cross the road, railway and river by bridges then turn left onto Waleswood Road a wide green fringed track, not a road at all but it might be busy with bikes. Turning onto a fenced footpath the view opens up across the lake and park. This route does require elevation which could be avoided.

Back on the cycle track it was an easy and peaceful walk to the main entrance of the park although being green lined there was little to see. We cross the River Rother where work is in progress improving flood prevention and fish movement. Here also is the cafe and loos. Traffic was being held up for a jogging event. While the next section has wide grass verges it does follow the traffic flow and parking is permitted on the grass.

At the next visitor attraction our path becomes traffic free and loops around the end of the lake to take a good path linking to the Trans Pennine Trail. More easy walking but very little to see with trees and bushes making a green screen to either side.

From Killamarsh station Eckkil-2 would offer a more direct route but I did enjoy this route. After leaving the TPT we pass or in my case go to explore the original Brindley route of the Chesterfield Canal, abandoned in 1898 when the Great Central Railway constructed a more direct line alongside the railway.

After crossing an active railway we benefit from a raised causeway, cross the Rother and head across what I thought had until recently been a golf course. The road to the bus station is fine passing through the shops but again I will state that the route should end there.

I walked this route from Eckington. It begins on quiet pavements, and after crossing the busy A6135 follows a well defined bridleway to join the Trans Pennine trail. I agree with the route author that the path onto the national trail is safer than scrambling down the embankment. Leaving the TPT to enter Rother Valley Country Park is well marked. There are refreshments at the park centres, before continuing northwards. Watch out for the footpath leaving the main trail. The route follows well walked paths to cross the railway and A57 on overbridges. The footpath alongside the A57 is narrow and muddy, but easily followed. It meets the line of the pre-bypass route and skirts the housing to arrive in the village centre. A nice route.

This is the route I actually walked yesterday from Swallownest to Eckington while following ECKSWA one, having decided that the scramble up from the old railway to the top of the bridge didn't look very safe. It is a good attractive route, entirely off-road apart from the section through Eckington. Most of it is on good surfaces, but it is probably unsuitable for wheels.

From Swallownest, we cross the road and take the path south along an alleyway between houses. We turn right across Wetherby Drive and right again a little earlier than the right of way line (the path on the ground is well used and unmissable). This takes us through a green corridor to a path junction by the A57 Aston by-pass, where we follow the fenced off path left to reach the bridge below Brookhouse Road. We turn right and follow a good cycle track across the road and the railway, then down and across Pigeon Bridge Brook, then left up Waleswood Road, another bridleway. Eventually we take the path right that runs between a wood and a field down to Pithouse Lane, where we head left on a good track. Shortly after this becomes a surfaced road, we turn right over a bridge then left, following the road past the cycle centre then continuing around the south end of Rother Valley Lake and its waterskiers on a tarmac path. Shortly after we turn northwards, we take the path left under an old railway bridge, then follow it round to the right to reach the TransPennine Trail former railway, where we turn sharp left.

We follow the old railway over the Rother, over Station Road and past Killamarsh. Eventually we pass under a high bridge below Boiley Farm (photo 12). I wouldn' recommend the shortcut scramble up the bank - it is much easier to continue further south to find the path that doubles back to the right above the railway cutting.

The path from Boiley Farm to Eckington is good - an old road that is now disappearing into the fields in places, with a couple of stiles. At Sheffield Road we turn right and cross to follow Station Road (if the road is busy there is a central refuge in the road a little further right than the junction). We follow the roads around (past what would have made an excellent meeting point with benches at the corner of Southgate and Market Street in the central shopping area - see picture 15). When we reach High Street we have to cross to the right hand side as there is no pavement on the left.

When we reach the B6052 we turn left, still on High Street, and follow it up to the Eckington meeting point just above the post office, where there are no benches or open space, so it seems a very strange choice.

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