Torworth, Bilby, Hodsock, and Carlton-in-Lindrick.

I started today's walk from Torworth in North Nottinghamshire and went down the country lane heading southwest towards the main road that leads into Blyth. I crossed this road and continued along a wide bridleway over to the A1. This is a very busy road and a dual carriageway but fortunately I didn't have to cross all four lanes in one go and I got across quite quickly.

I progressed along the edge of a field where pigs were kept and then an estate road going to the hamlet of Bilby. Just beyond Bilby I turned to the right, still using an estate road until it petered out into just a footpath. I'd not previously walked along these last two miles to the road near Hodsock.

Hodsock, like Bilby is an estate village.

[This was the third time I'd crossed over the River Ryton.]

Hodsock Priory isn't a priory, it's a private house.

The final mile and a half into Carlton-in-Lindrick wasvery familiar though...but it was good to be still finding stretches of footpath in this area that I'd not used before.

When I reached Carlton I visited the duckpond for the first time - there's a nice grassy area with several benches and picnic tables there.

Bawtry, Scrooby, Serlby, Blyth, Hodsock, and Carlton in Lindrick

Only a short local walk today; I had planned to go for a full day's walk in the Peak District but I received a phone call yesterday - I needed to meet with someone at short notice this morning. It was good news though, an opportunity to start doing a bit of 'Permitted Work' which people such as myself who are receiving Employment Support Allowance are allowed, or even encouraged, to do. 

It's been a lovely day today and I didn't want to miss out on a walk. I know the person I was meeting and so it would be okay for me to go dressed ready to go walking...and then just catch a bus as soon as we'd finished.

The meeting, in one of the tea shops in town, went very well; the next bus due was going to Worksop and so I got on and travelled to Bawtry. After taking a few photographs I found a seat in a sunny spot next to some pansies, where a could eat my sandwiches.

I walked down the road to Scrooby, the first village in Nottinghamshire, first taking the Great North Road, then a country lane. The county boundary is only a few yards beyond the last buildings in Bawtry.

I've only ever passed through Scrooby on the bus, and on one occasion rushed across the fields to catch the bus back to Doncaster, so I haven't really seen much of the place. It's quite pretty though. Apart from taking photographs of the usual things, a rather unusual 'traffic' sign caught my eye. On first seeing it I thought it was the regular sign for 'Mud on Road', but it wasn't - the wording at the bottom reads, 'BETTERAVES' the French word for 'beetroot.' A bit strange; when I got home I did some research online and it seems that the road sign is actually an image that appears on an album cover by a French punk rock band from a couple of decades ago called 'Betteraves.' Maybe someone in the village is a fan, or maybe the locals who need to drive along the narrow winding country lane that I walked along just thought it was an appropriate sign to encourage other drivers to slow down because of the mud on the road. I don't know - there wasn't anyone around to ask.

I spent a few minutes exploring Scrooby before continuing south along the main road for a few hundred yards until I reached a bridleway which led across fields to Serlby. I only passed by the edge of the village though, next to the golf course.

For the final few minutes before I reached Blyth I had to walk along a stretch of quite busy road; never a preferred option for me. Blyth is quite a large village with a few shops, several pubs, and a large impressive church which seems to have a bit of a strange architectural style combining elements of a church, a castle, a town hall, and a cinema in the design of the building...it is quite attractive to look at though.

In places it was quite muddy as I walked across the fields to Hodstock using the footpaths. The main thing to see at Hodsock is the priory; the sun was at the wrong angle in the sky when I arrived there though and the best shot I got was from the back of the building.

When I got to Carlton in Lindrick it was still quite early and I considered walking to the church; it's about half a mile from where the footpath brought me out. I'd had enough though, I'd got a bit of earache because of the cold weather and so I just waited for the bus which was due in ten minutes...and arrived on time.

Langold, Hodsock, Scofton, and Worksop

I thought it might be a bit cold and windy for going walking in the Peak District this morning; I don't like cold winds, they give me earache. I also got up a bit late and so it would be a rush to get to the station to catch the early train to Sheffield. So...I chose a local walk, just over the boundary in Nottinghamshire.

I got off the bus at Langold just before it goes round the housing estate, walked past the shops, and found my footpath just south of the village. It was sunny, but spitting with rain a bit; the only rain of the day though.

I walked along broad, well-maintained tracks for a couple of miles until I reached Hodstock. My view from the public footpath of the priory wasn't very good, I was too far away. Some estate workers were repairing some fencing, otherwise I would have ventured closer to take some photographs. This is the best I could manage from where I was.

About a mile later I reached a stretch of busy road, dead straight as it happens. I rushed along this section, always wary of traffic. I easily found the bridleway which goes down into Thievesdale and then along estate roads to Scofton. I stopped soon after leaving the road to eat my sandwiches. A woman with two dogs was walking towards me, all of a sudden both dogs sniffed something in the air and came running over to me, licking my fingers and trying to get to the food in my rucksack. Both dogs were friendly and passive and I didn't feel threatened at all by them, and their owner was very pleasant and apologetic - but I would have preferred that it didn't have happened.

Scofton is quite picturesque.

Just beyond the village I crossed over the River Ryton; I could have chosen to use a ford if I preferred. A few yards further I arrived at the canal, the Chesterfield Canal, at Osberton Lock.

I would be following the towpath back to Worksop. There are some pretty stone bridges, several of which I had to stoop to walk under. 

Not too far from Worksop there's a point where three bridges cross the canal very close together; I thought it made an interesting photograph.

A few minutes later I noticed some teenagers larking about as they walked along a sliproad leading to an industrial estate. I sensed troubled...and I was correct. As soon as they saw me they started yelling abuse about me being a weirdo and then started to throw stones, maybe aiming them at me, or maybe just throwing them in the canal so that they might splash me. Welcome to Worksop: this has never happened to me on a walk before, but I am abused, bullied, or ridiculed about once a month - I'm sure this is because of my Asperger's syndrome and how I walk, caused by my unusually long limbs and them being out of proportion...I describe my gait as a combination of an over-excited orang-utan and a Thunderbirds puppet.

I continued without incident all the way to Worksop town centre. At one point I passed what I can only describe as an old Italianate-style pumping house - I was able to take photographs from several angles as the canal loops round at this location.

As I neared the town centre I could see the towers of Worksop Priory; I wanted to incorporate a visit into the walk, but the timing wasn't right - it would have meant me waiting a long time for a later bus back to Doncaster. As it was, I only had a few minutes to wait.