Saturday 11 June 2011

Vicar Water wander

My first wander post for a while covers a rather impromptu 7-mile stroll to Mansfield to collect my car from work after a boozy evening out in Nottingham. A series of trails kept me off the roads and made for a pleasant walk in the sunshine, taking in Vicar Water along the way, a little Country Park moulded frrom the now defunct Clipstone Colliery's reclaimed spoil heaps. Anyway, enough blather, on with the wander...

1) Setting off from Edwinstowe

2) Stray dummy

3) Overgrown path down by the riverside

4) Emerging from the trees and following the river

5) Across the bridge

6) Close encounter with a pylon

7) Clipstone West signal box

8) Crossing the road past the fabulous Dog & Duck, sadly with not so fabulous website: http://www.thedogandduck.info/index.html. My eyes! It hurts my eyes!

9) Swivelling round, in a field opposite the Dog & Duck lie the remains of King John's Palace: http://www.britannia.com/tours/rhood/kjpalace.html

10) Mooooo. And Baby Mooooo

11) Quick shot of some interesting typography...

12) ...then panning out to reveal feeding troughy thing (official term) and a glimpse of the grade 2 listed headstocks at what remains of Clipstone colliery, which closed in 2003. They're the tallest in Europe, headstock fans.

13) Gerrof moi laaand. Can't disagree with the sentiment

14) Passing some graffitied industrial buildings

15) Along the trail past the back of the Clipstone colliery site

16) Onwards through an old railway bridge

17) A little further on down the path I arrived at Vicar Water Country Park, once a spoil heap of Clipstone colliery, now reclaimed as a beauty spot with walking and cycling routes aplenty. And fishermen. Lots of fishermen. Clamber atop the old spoil heap for a nice view or stroll around Vicar Pond, a Victorian fishing lake: http://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/ppimageupload/Image16472.PDF

18) The Golden Hand overlooks the lake. Must have been upgraded as, curiously, it was silver last time I saw it!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/captaindoodle/473894112/in/set-72157594582713623

19) Quick trip to the visitor centre at Vicar Water

20) After cutting back to the main road through Clipstone to grab a bottle of pop, I wander along past this old half mine shaft wheel, one of many such monuments in the region, testament to the area's mining history


After this bit it's all uninteresting industrial estates and car dealerships leading to my workplace on the outskirts of Mansfield, so that's all folks. Thanks for wandering with me :)

3 comments:

  1. Wow - the signal box is ace. The hand is just weird, though.

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  2. Lovely and fascinating in equal measure. Thanks, Cap'n.

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  3. It's because people keep setting the golden hand on fire.

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