Once again our work day was lucky enough to coincide with lovely sunny weather and an almost cloudless blue sky. The task was to check and upgrade the signage along NCR 648, a little known, or promoted, route from Shirebrook into the heart of Sherwood Forest. Although this is outside our usual Peak District territory, we were very happy to help Maldwyn who has just been assigned responsibility for this route. The basic signage was obviously put in place a long time ago but the route has been a little neglected in recent years, with no ranger group seemingly taking responsibility for it.
Sustrans regional Operations Director, Joss Winter, has confirmed this remains an important link route and was keen for us to check the signage and clear any overgrown vegetation that had encroached on to the track. This task was right up our street and we were joined by Matt Connley, special projects Officer at Bolsover District Council, who wanted to see how such a group of volunteer rangers like ourselves might be used to support a wider network of cycling tracks and routes in the Bolsover area.
The first pleasant surprise was that the car park adjacent to Shirebrook station is "free"! The station is situated on the Robin Hood line linking Worksop to Nottingham and so the station would make a great starting point for anyone wanting to use a mix of cycling and trains for a day out. Matt tells me that he is compiling a number of rides for each of the stations along the Robin Hood line, all of different lengths and difficulty. They will be listed on the Robin Hood line website that will appear later in the year.
NCN 648 starts adjacent to the station car park and so all we had to do was put a few stickers on posts so that those arriving by train could clearly see where the cycle route starts officially. An old disused branch line runs away from the station in a north easterly direction along a nicely paved, but littered track. Almost every sign needed to be replaced but the new red "648" signs certainly gave the tired signage a real facelift.
We very soon broke clear of the cool of the railway cutting and into open countryside. The first challenge of the day was to put in some additional, new signage at a major track intersection where it would have previously been unclear to anyone who didn't know the route as to which way to go. We had to repeat this process a few times until we emerged from a lovely section through lightly forested area and onto the rather unpleasant B6031 leading into Church Warsop.
Here we were presented with a bigger challenge. A metal fingerpost had been trapped in 10-15 years' worth of blackthorn and bramble growth. I was hesitant about takling the thick branches with just secateurs, but then remembered David S and his mighty blade that ate through them with consumate ease.
Needless to say the fingerpost was duly emancipated from its thorny bodyguard so that everyone can now see where the route turns into the countryside from the roadside track. The cycle route runs alongside the B6031 for about 3/4 mile until it reaches the edge of the village and then crosses over onto a track through recently cut cornfields. There was more vegetation to clear that was hiding signs as we entered the Warsop Carrs but, once done, our reward was a break at Stella's mobile coffee van. The Carrs are a delightful spot alongside the lovely clear River Meden; we could almost imagine being alongside the Cam in Cambridge!
The Meden secondary school is located in Church Warsop and so NCR648 would make a good link for those travelling from Shirebrook to it. Once on the other side of the school, and leaving the village behind us the route heads for the edge of Sherwood forest country park. By now we had completely exhausted Maldwyn's (usually ample) supply of red "648" stickers , but we could at least put in place the blue background boards with directional arrows on them to help cyclists navigate safely into the forest. MAldwyn will go back at a later date to put of the red numbers, once he has got some more. Within a mile of entering the forest the route comes to an end as it joins NCR 6: from here there are options of following the network north to Sheffield, or south to Nottingham.
NCR is not a long route, just about 8.5kms, but it is a nice ride providing a good link from the network of Derbyshire's Phoenix trails into Nottinghamshire's Sherwood and Clumber forests. Our morning's work has definitely refreshed it. There is a lot of background work being done with the development of cycling routes in the NE quadrant of the county. This route is definitely an important cross-county link.
With the work done we continued our biking on to the visitor centre in Clumber Park for lunch. Matt offered to take us back on a different route, and we accepted. Although not on NCR routes, our afternoon ride was along reasonably sound forest tracks, through the forest and then onto the edge of the Welbeck Estate. Matt gave us a lot of useful background about the local area and its visitor attractions, as well as interesting tales about the Duke of Portland. Eventually we arrived at the Cresswell Craggs Visitor centre where David and Catherine kindly treated us all to a very welcome ice cream. Keen to show us one of Bolsover's top 3 attractions, Matt then took us past the Cresswell caves and into the "model" village of Cresswell. Sadly we didn't really get to see the iconic layout of the "model" miners' village as we bypassed a new housing development to get onto yet another of the cycling trails leading into Poulter Country park, and then back to Shirebrook station. A lovely round trip of 40kms.
Thanks to Maldwyn for organising all the signage and for taking the trouble to recce the whole route in advance the previous weekend. above and beyond - well done Maldwyn. David S, David & Catherine and myself made up the rest of the team.
Next workday is Wednesday 7 September when we will be mowing and raking at Rowsley sidings with Marion. Still looking for a volunteer to lead and organise the event for our October work day (provisionally set for Monday 3rd). Please let Peter know if you hope to attend the summer social on Sunday 24th september. I look forward to hearing all about it when we get back from our holiday.
