Ollerton, Hardwick Village, Clumber Park and Worksop

There were very few trains running again today and so I've been travelling on the buses in Nottinghamshire.

After arriving at Worksop, I caught the bus to Ollerton and then walked back to Worksop passing through Clumber Park.

The church at Ollerton doesn't feature on the blog because I couldn't find any suitable angles to photograph it from. 

After spending a few minutes exploring I headed north along the western bank of the River Maun.  After a couple of miles I needed to walk along the road for a short section until I joined the Robin Hood Way. At this point there were hundreds of caravans and a lot of dogwalkers attending the 'Fake Festival' nearby. 

A bit further on I arrived at a location known as 'Robin Hood's Cave.'

I continued heading north until I reached Hardwick Village at the eastern end of Clumber Park.

Last year this ford at Hardwick was also closed to pedestrians because the wooden walkway has collapsed, but I managed to walk through the water. I didn't do that today though; a few days ago there was torrential rain in the Worksop area and the River Poulter was a lot higher, and angrier.

I stopped for a drink of tea at the refreshments concession down by the lake and then did a short detour into Hardwick Village, the estate village for Clumber Park.

I finished the walk by taking the most direct route through the park back to Worksop, the bus station is quite close to the priory and its gatehouse.

Milton, Bothamsall, Hardwick Village, and Worksop

The timing for the bus to Milton from Retford is a bit tight, but everything went well today and I arrived at the start of the walk just after eleven o'clock. I started the walk from the mausoleum there; there isn't a bus stop there but the bus driver stopped for me since I'd already told him my plans. Unfortunately the gates were locked and so I could only manage to take these two photographs.

I then walked into the village, there's nothing else to see there, and started my planned walk, heading off to the west towards Lound Hall. The footpath goes right alongside the building.

About half a mile beyond the hall a ruined chapel is shown on the map; these are the ruins of Haughton Chapel - they're quite substantial, but a little overgrown.

My second village of the day was Bothamsall, somewhere I've visited a couple of times before. Approaching the village from the south I crossed over two rivers in quick succession, the Maun and the Meden.

I then walked in a northwesterly direction towards Hardwick Village and Clumber Park, finishing the walk at Worksop Bus Station. I took the most direct route to Worksop, staying north of the facilities and attractions. 

The footpath going over the River Poulter was closed because the wooden walkway had collapsed. The ford wasn't too deep though and so I risked it.

 

I took a little time to photograph the nearby priory and gatehouse - they're quite close to the bus station.