Newret two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Newret here.

An excellent walk along well used paths with good points of interest in otherwise unremarkable countryside. Flat with few if any stiles, cattle but mostly behind fences. Little in the way of services so take food and drink. Bus to bail out at Elkesley.

I walked from Retford a new Slow Way town for me which felt very much like real exploring. I don’t know why, having visited new to me places in the West Midlands, London and Kent but Retford was close to home and I really don’t know the place.

The centre is a wonderful Georgian town with huge market place. The town was a staging point on the Great North Road (A1) between 1766 and 1960, more on that later. We exit along the shopping street and then across a park, bounded by the river and canal, the park, not the path had standing water on the day of my visit.

Retford is well served by trains but this route misses the station. We cross the East Coast Main Line (ECML) by the zig-zag bridge accurately plotted. Two railway companies constructed their lines both arriving in 1849 which perhaps explains why they originally met at a level crossing. With increased speeds and traffic the west east line was modified to pass underneath the ECML in 1965.

At the end of a street we enter another green area, this has many paths so a close eye on the plot is essential to get us to Ordsall. We cross the west east line then walk alongside it and the golf course. Finally into open fields the plot takes us on the walked paths rather than across the cropped field. I was also most grateful that a fenced field edge path avoids a very muddy field of cattle.

The bridle path passing Morton Grange is well used but I suspect only by boots and bikes. The path south of the farm complex resembles a lane but moss suggests very limited farm traffic. A gate at the end prevents public vehicle use. Here we join the very quiet Old London Road, an early course of the Great North Road lost in 1766 when the townspeople of Retford arranged a diversion by Act of Parliament. By 1920 future generations no doubt regretted this move but it wasn’t until 1961 that the A1 moved out of the town.

Turning into another road I spotted a stone guide post in the hedge, Coach Road to Worksop. The rest is difficult to read but the date looks like 176?. This road is a little busier and get more so as we approach the current A1 and large industrial sites. The relatively new bridge approach roads have been provided with pavements. We approach Elkesley along a quiet parallel road. I made a detour to the church and found a seat at the rear perfect for a lunch break. No sign of the PH marked on maps only a hint new houses at Robin Hood Grove.

The sports field also has seats but they are bit exposed for windy days. Care is needed here, as it’s tempting to follow the surfaced track rather than bearing right into a rough grass field. A long bridge takes us over the River Poulter, which later becomes the Idle, the flowing stream here expands onto our path so after heavy rain passage could be a challenge.

Perhaps the cause of river flooding with ground subsidence was Bevercotes Colliery which started production in 1965 until 1993. All the coal produced there and many other local pits went to High Marnham power station which was the largest generating station in Europe when it was commissioned in October 1962. It could burn a staggering 10,000 tonnes of coal per day.

Bothamsall is a pretty village but that’s all it has to offer the traveller, even the churchyard here is uninviting. We cross the River Meden on a substantial stone bridge then follow a long straight track before turning a corner and walking alongside the fast flowing water which again looks keen to flood our path. We cross a bridge over the Maun and here the map appears to show that the Meden and Maun join then quickly part company a rather unusual natural occurrence.

The next recorded bridle path is flooded perhaps fit for wheels and hooves while the plot offers a well use dry route for boots. We continue alongside the Maun and Walesby, a Scout camp site. Robin Hood’s cave a sandstone low riverside cliff looks a well used spot. The walk through Boughton Brake was a very pleasant surprise and a great approach into Ollerton passing the rear of Boughton Pumping station, as was. The impressive building and site was built in 1905 to pump water from the bunter sandstone to supply Nottingham, once a cathedral to the steam age now a wedding venue.

And finally into New Ollerton built east of the old village to house the miners brought to the green field site. The mine started production in 1926 and had been developed by the Butterley Company of Ripley. The roads of houses we walk along were no doubt built with Butterley Bricks. The company had interests in bricks, mining and agriculture but had started with engineering it’s most famous projects being the original St Pancras station train shed roof and later the Falkirk Wheel boat lift.

A fairly straightforward and direct route. The southern half is very enjoyable, and the road walking is all either on pavements or fairly quiet roads, so seemed safe enough to me. No stiles, but plenty of gates and some narrow paths and rough ground that might be difficult for wheelchairs, buggies and mobility scooters.

From the New Ollerton meeting point, we head east a short distance along Forest Road, which is easiest to cross at the pelican crossing just beyond Briar Road. We then follow Briar Road, Walesby and Whinney Road out of the town. Beyond the houses Whinney Lane has no pavements but is quiet. We then head into Boughton Brake, a lovely area of woodland - our route through it is easy to follow as the paths are in wide clearings.

A short section of road walking takes us to another good path, which heads north roughly parallel to the river Maun. This starts as a good if slightly sandy path, but further on there are muddy spots and areas churned up by heavy forestry machinery. The Robin Hood Way joins us from the right, and my original plan was to follow it down to the Maun/Meden bridge. This plan was thwarted by a large flooded area across the path. Fortunately I met a couple of local dog walkers who showed my a diversion using unofficial forest paths that takes you round the east end of the flooded area, then doubles back on a good raised path to the bridge where the Bothamsall path starts.

This path starts grassy and indistinct, but becomes a wide track where it heads east, initially along the edge of the wood and then across a large field. We cross the Meden and head uphill into Bothamsall (no facilities here). We head right along Main Street then continue along Church Street, which becomes a bridleway beyond the last houses. We rejoin the Robin Hood Way as we pass a large farm, then cross fields on good tracks towards a house on the edge of another wood, which we skirt on the left. The path through the wood is fairly easy to follow as long as you note the two junctions - we go left at the first and right at the second, to find a bridge over the river Poulter and the field path up to Brough Lane. Here we go left a few steps, then leave the Robin Hood Way on an unsignposted but fairly well trodden path that takes us into Elkesley. There is a pub off route further right down High Street.

Our route takes us left out of the village on a good pavement/cycle track. The pavement continues on Coalpit Lane, which we cross just beyond the junction with Elkesley Bridge Road, which has a good pavement on the west/south side as far as the second roundabout. The pavement ends at a bus stop just beyond this roundabout, but fortunately Jockey Lane is fairly quiet and has a verge that can be used if necessary. Old London Road has clearly seen better days - it is now a quiet narrow single track road.

We leave the route just before a house on the right, following a good farm track (I got a little wet here, which was welcome on a hot afternoon, as the water sprinkler in the adjacent field was overshooting the hedge). The route into the farmyard is signposted, but the path into the trees on the far side may take a bit of spotting. We then cross a couple of arable fields and follow more field edges down to the railway, where we turn right and enter a golf course. Since we always take the paths nearest the railway there are no navigation issues here. Beyond the golf course our path follows a green strip between a housing estate and the railway, and the final section is tarmacked.

We cross Ordsall Road and turn left, then right up Northumbria Drive then left on a signposted footpath that passes through a water works between fences then enters the Sandhills green space, where we take the first path right, following it to Manvers Road. We then turn left onto West Carr Road (stay on the left side until you see the footbridge). The ramped bridge takes us over the East Coast Main Line railway and we follow Pelham Road out to the bridge over the Chesterfield Canal. We continue straight on across fields to join West Street by an Asda supermarket, then turn left up Carolgate to the meeting place in the Market Square. [Having done this final section last year, I missed it out yesterday, opting to turn right at Asda to head for the railway station.]

Most of this walk is enjoyable - my only concern is that the detour used to avoid the flooded section of the Robin Hood Way uses forest paths that are not designated rights of way, and although these are well trodden and easy to follow, there is evidence that attempts have been made to block them. A slightly longer alternative would be to follow the Robin Hood Way east and miss out Bothamsall.

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