My replacement travel pass arrived in the post yesterday and so I'm now able to go walking again. I didn't miss out on a walk though because the weather hasn't been very good this past week.
I travelled on the bus to Worksop today with the intention of completing the final four and a half miles stretch of the Chesterfield Canal that's open that I haven't yet walked along...and it's mission accomplished! My walk for the day was about fifteen miles though.
The timing for the bus to Whitwell was perfect, only a couple of minutes; it was only a short journey too.
I was impressed with what I saw of Whitwell; looking at the map I was expecting it to be a former pit village...but the parts I walked through were quite attractive with a lot of old stone buildings.
I headed to the west, towards Clowne, walking through some decent countryside. the first thing I saw though was a dead goose at the side of the footpath, not very far from the road and so probably a recent roadkill victim.
My route through Clowne took me past the church.
I got lost in the town centre and ended up adding at least a mile to the day's walk by needing to use a footpath that crosses the golf course, it's an attractive location though...with its own fishing pond.
I was pleasantly surprised to be able to photograph this lovely ex-chapel at Woodthorpe which has now been converted into a private residence.
Not many properties away there's a house where several pristine vintage cars were on display, all trimmed up for their next wedding.
I reached the Chesterfield Canal at Staveley...which is a bit of a dump. However I was soon walking along the towpath as the canal passed through some pretty nice countryside.
I stopped for refreshments at the cafe at the Hollingwood Hub; £3.75 for a pot of tea and a large fruit scone with jam and butter.
I climbed up the steep stairs to use the toilets at the Tapton Lock Visitor Centre and then made sure I continued in the right direction.
I arrived in Chesterfield town centre, just crossed the road and stepped on the express bus service going to Sheffield. There were a lot of police and ambulance vehicles with their sirens blaring, and as we passed the football ground I saw many dozens of policemen and several hundred fans kettled down a side street. There were more police officers on the streets when I got to Sheffield, a lot of them wearing Metropolitan Police hi-vis jackets - obviously one of the London clubs was playing in the city today.
I was suffering a bit with a couple of blisters today, the first time for many months. It's the new walking boots I was wearing; they're not actually new though - I bought them at a charity shop for £2 and they're in very good condition. So it's not an unmitigated disaster...if I have any more problems with them I'll just use them for when I'm shopping in town...or I'll relegate them to gardening duties.
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