Through Britain

Day 21 Tuesday 7th April 2026

My 2026 campaign began inauspiciously. I took the train from Bury St Edmunds to Nottingham, changing at Peterborough. Arriving at Nottingham at 1335, I set off for Hucknall, an old mining village. This was to be my stepping stone for Mansfield.

Nottingham is a big city with a complex road system unalleviated by good signage. I passed a large cemetery, an arboretum and a small park without knowing exactly where I was in relation to any of them. Eventually I found myself on the A6614, the city's ring road. I went past the city hospital without noticing it which was a pity. If I'd seen it might have marked my position. Google Maps indicated that I was slowly putting a greater distance between myself and my objective, the Bowman pub in Hucknall. I asked a local and he directed me back the way I'd come and advised me to turn right onto the A611 at the hospital.

Shortly after switching to that road, I rested at a bus stop with seating. A youngish bearded man raced up to me clutching his phone. He asked me to identify a bird he'd just photographed in someone's garden nearby. I thought it might be a Jay and said so. He went off apparently satisfied.

There was now a pleasant interlude as I followed the Hucknall Walkway through a nature reserve running parallel to the A611. What I didn't know until later was that my wife, concerned that I hadn't messaged her to confirm my arrival at the Bowman, had traced my whereabouts. Our computer expert had showed us a device on our phones that enabled us to pinpoint the other's position or, indeed, the position of anyone else with an I-phone (with their consent). My wife could see that I was moving so her fears for my wellbeing were calmed. If the dot representing myself didn't move that indicated that all might not be well but that my phone was still with me

At a roundabout the A611 dived off to the right and I continued towards Hucknall on a minor road. The Bowman pub had a separate bedroom block where I was comfortably accommodated. My meal was accompanied by a large glass of apple juice to slake the thirst I'd built up during a warmish day.

Distance 8.98 miles: total 242.01.

Day 22 Wednesday 8th April 2026

I benefitted from an early breakfast at 7 a.m. This gave me some assurance that I'd reach Mansfield Station in time to catch the 3.12 p.m. train to Nottingham which I needed to do the make the necessary connection for the onward journey.

I made an early mistake by crossing the railway line too soon. This was quickly corrected by returning over the bridge and proceeding on that side of the railway. I then made a far more serious mistake by crossing the railway again too soon at a crossing with gates on either side. The road I then followed took me eastwards rather than north towards Linby. I emerged by a wood and took a footpath that stretched before me into the distance. It felt wrong and my suspicion was confirmed by a local cyclist who was about to overtake me. He explained how I might recover. In the meantime my wife could see that I was going east rather than north and texted me. Unhappily I didn't read her message until much later in the day.

I retraced my steps to regain the road (the B683). I turned north and soon reached Papplewick. I crossed the B6011 and continued northwards. After leaving Papplewick I branched off on a path headed towards Newstead Abbey. I reached an isolated house on the edge of a wood. The path rounded the house and then became an asphalted road. Newstead Abbey became visible to my left.

In fact it was never an Abbey. Prior to the dissolution of the monasteries it had been an Augustinian Priory with about a dozen monks and a Prior. Later it became a private estate which suffered from the extravagances of the 5th Lord Byron through horse racing and gambling. He died in 1798 and the estate was inherited by his great nephew George Gordon Byron then aged 10. He became the 6th Baron Byron the famous poet. He never lived in the house for an extended period. After many unsuccessful attempts the estate was sold in 1818. I decided not to spend time visiting the house in case of further mishaps.

I reached a road which took me to the estate entrance and the A60. Vehicles were charged £6 to enter and walkers £2. As I was leaving no attempt was made to charge me. I crossed the A60 and was now in Ravenshead. When I reached the Larch Farm and Restaurant I turned right onto the B6020. My success or failure now rested on the continued existence of a pathway shown on my map as heading north to Mansfield from just beyond a pub. But did the pub still exist? If not my marker might have been demolished or transformed into a totally different business. How far should I go before concocting another plan? But the pub was still there and, just beyond it, there was a public bridleway called Ricketts Lane. This was my salvation. Unerringly it headed north through agricultural land and later on the fringe of Harlow Wood with a number of wind turbines visible to my right.

I crossed the A617 and there were the new housing estates of Mansfield. I followed a pathway round the edge of the town like a ring road for pedestrians. It took me to the A60 which I followed to the railway station where I caught the 12.12 to Nottingham. The journey home was uneventful.

Distance today 11.8 miles: total 253.81.

I breakfasted at Wetherspoons as Travelodge only offered a packaged breakfast. I arrived there just before it opened and there was already a small group waiting. Wetherspoons has a reasonable offering at very low prices. Service is efficient and prompt. They sometimes operate in places where no alternative is available.

I took the tunnel under the A6191 and proceeded through an oversight to Berry Hill. This meant back-tracking to get onto the route I’d intended. After a while dense housing gave way to an industrial estate. Then a trackway through a country park on an old railway line took me to Vicar Water near Clipstone. I stopped there to check precisely where I was. I’m now able to do this thanks to a device on my phone. This gives me access to all Ordnance Survey maps and shows my precise position as a red arrow. I’m using it sparingly for now as my oldish phone has a limited battery life.

In the absence of any clear path onwards, I walked towards two tall structures that had operated lifts up and down the shafts of the local mine. In its heyday miners here extracted one million tons of coal a year from depths 3000 feet underground. The building accommodating these structures was now a museum.

Just after Clipstone, I turned off the road to reach a bridleway. This took me to the Dog and Dick Public House near King’s Clipstone close to the remains of King John’s Palace. Sherwood Forest was a major hunting area so royalty needed to stay nearby.

Shortly afterwards I went wrong by following the River Maun towards Edwinstowe but soon corrected the error and entered a forest. The path was marked on the map with small white blobs circled with green indicating a traffic-free cycle route. I came to a mighty oak indicated on the map as Centre Oak. Large branches had fallen from it. A notice stated that the tree had marked the boundary between two large estates. Later I read that the oak was between 800 and 1200 years old and had an eleven metre girth.

I proceeded through an area called Birklands, crossed a road and reached Hazel Gap. There I decided to head east, crossing the busy B6034, until I reached South Lodge. This was a gatehouse for the Clumber Estate. A grand gate with greyhounds atop high columns on either side marked the spot where I needed to turn north west. I crossed a bridge over a lake where I encountered an elderly man walking a dog. This, I learnt, was his son’s dog as the son was away in Bury St. Edmunds to attend a meeting to do with Greene King, the brewers and hoteliers. The man’s wife had inherited much land which she used to house large numbers of animals (including chickens and guinea pigs) that had lived in poor conditions before being rescued by the RSPCA. The man knew the area and directed me through a field of highland cattle that he described as harmless. He had taken the dog through the field and the cattle had shown no interest.

The path now ran alongside a golf course but the way was blocked with no clear alternative. I found myself wandering around the course with no golfers in sight to give me directions to Worksop. I chanced upon a number of cabins collectively called Away Resorts. I entered the area but decided not to seek help from a man sitting in a bath outside his cabin. Another resident directed me to a cabin housing Client Services. A girl there gave me precise instructions on how to reach my hotel. The snag was that this included a section along the A57. This had only a narrow verge unsuitable for use by pedestrians due to the proximity of fast moving vehicles. I approached a road bridge high above the A57 and decided to climb up to it. This involved scaling a steep bank consisting of material not dissimilar to sawdust. I was only able to ascend by clutching at the trunks of small trees. After a strenuous climb it seemed that I was fenced off from the upper road. Fortunately I was able to clamber up the fence and drop down on the other side.

I followed the road into Worksop but Google Maps gave me no clear instructions as to how I was to reach my hotel. By this time I was nearly exhausted and decided to stay anywhere that I chanced upon. This turned out to be a hotel next to the railway station. I asked the barmaid for a room and she reached up for some bottles on a high shelf. She asked me which one I wanted, thinking that I’d asked for a rum.

The room was on the first floor. The stairs up to it were steep. The door at the top of the stairs only opened outwards after a struggle thus propelling visitors back down the stairs. By chance I avoided this fate. Further problems awaited me in the room. The cold tap couldn’t be turned off. The Manager, a bulky young man of great strength, succeeded in doing so but didn’t remain in the room. I still needed cold water so I couldn’t prevent it running all night. The T.V. didn’t work, the sink had no plug and the shaving light in the shower room was defective. I decided not to shave in the dark.

I mentioned these issues to a woman I met on my way downstairs next morning as I left. She explained that all the problems were the result of misuse of the facilities by previous guests.

Distance today 20 miles: total 273.81

Rose at 6 a.m. and asked myself whether I really wanted another hard day. Left hotel to take breakfast at Snack Attack as recommended by hotel staff. Arrived just after 7.30 and was the first customer, swiftly followed by others. The menu invited me to have one of everything or two or three of everything or, if I was obese and wanted to worsen my plight, four of everything. One of everything suited me and I was swiftly served with bacon, sausage, egg, potato, baked beans and tomato, two pieces of toast with butter and a milky coffee (he didn’t acknowledge the request for a latte). I told the proprietor that I’d heard he’d been in business for twenty years. He corrected me. It was twenty four years and he was thinking about retirement and going to live abroad.

Fortified by this breakfast and prolonged fine weather, I set off in the wrong direction. Later my new device showed that I was on the east side of Worksop not the west as I should have been. I recovered from this and stopped at a Tesco Superstore for a latte, picking up a sandwich for my lunch and a newspaper.

The B6041 that I was now on came to a roundabout with the A57 and I continued on a busy minor road. I left this on a bridle way just south of Woodsetts. This ran alongside a golf course to my left. On my right were some grand houses including one that was protected by a security firm as declared by that firm on a prominent notice board. Inside the gate there was a life-sized model of a missile with lesser missiles strapped on each side.

As I approached North Anson I encountered a woman walking a dog which had lost one of its front legs. She said that the vet had amputated as there was a growth at the top of the leg. The dog had to hop forward on its remaining front leg and didn’t look happy.

In the village I stopped at a road junction to check my position. A car pulled up at the junction and a man in the passenger seat asked me if I had any dogs for sale. I’ve never owned a dog nor have I even lived in a house where there’s been a dog. I said “No” with some emphasis. The man replied “No problem”. If there had been a problem, I’ve no idea what I could have done about it.

Beyond the village I crossed a railway line and entered an industrial estate. The map indicated a path beyond this estate leading to Thurcroft. However, the estate seemed to have protected itself behind high metal railings. I received guidance from a workman and was able to proceed on a disused railway track.

Beyond Thurcroft I followed an old path beside an area which might well have been a land fill site. It was higher up so I could only see a fence and machines at work. Eventually I joined a road, again very busy. I had to dodge traffic until I was able to turn off onto a bridge over the M1 to enter Wickersley. Soon I had a long haul along the A631 and, later, the A6021 into Rotherham. I found my hotel and enjoyed an excellent Italian meal nearby.

Distance 17.11: total 290.92.