Monday, February 28, 2011
17 Mile Walk Round Sherwood Forest
I wanted to do a decent distance Saturday before tapering for the Belvoir Challenge, so remembered the John Merrill walk round the southern parts of Sherwood Forest I'd done in January 2009. It's 17 miles and starts (and finishes) near Blidworth. Whilst I was getting ready it was absolutely pouring, so I just resigned myself to getting wet and made a flask of coffee as a bit of a treat.
I remembered a few route finding difficulties from last time so managed to borrow a map from the library and this time I even found the right car park! There was only one other vehicle in it and I had to dodge some pretty huge puddles. By the time I followed the track into Blidworth and stopped at the Tesco Express to buy my lunch though the rain had stopped and that was pretty much it for the rest of the day.
The route leaves Blidworth by fields and follows them through a shallow valley but I thought that it would be extremely muddy so in an effort to keep my feet dry I decided to follow what I thought was a track which was part of the Robin Hood Way which ran roughly parallel. Had I looked at the map properly though I would have realised it was a minor road rather than a track and wouldn't have followed the footpath sign next to it which just brought me out further up the village! I followed part of the John Merrill route through some muddy fields before managing to cut across to the Robin Hood Way.
Leaving Blidworth And The Distant Windfarm
The next part of the route followed a bridleway through fields towards Harlow Wood. I expected it to be muddy but it wasn't too bad... I managed to run and had an audience!
The Sun Made An Appearance!
Walking through the village I picked up the path to the A60 which I'd followed in reverse during the Nottingham Ultra- only it was all uphill this way. I had another dash across the A60 before entering the grounds of the Park Hospital and Burnstump Country Park. My legs were feeling rather tired by this point but I was still managing to run a little- mainly downhill.
The latter stages of the walk are very pleasant, through Sansom and Blidworth forests.
I did get a little lost when trying to reach the car park at Blidworth Bottoms though. John Merrill instructed me to follow the main track, ignoring all turnings, and I'm sure I remembered doing just that before and ending up at the car park, but this time I was faced with a junction of tracks- none of which went particularly straight on. I was following a woman and her young son, and figured that they were likely to be heading to the car park too, so followed them to the left, only to see them stop and sit on a bench at the end of the track- which led into a field with no cars in sight...
I turned left, following a muddy horse track downhill which eventually led to the car park and the road. I was thinking that if it was muddy here then it's going to be hell on Saturday!
I saw loads of snow drops in the woods, there seemed to be a thick carpet of them in places- the sun had well and truly come out by now and it was the best part of the day.
I think that the best part of any event is the taper just before (and the rest afterwards!)
I remembered a few route finding difficulties from last time so managed to borrow a map from the library and this time I even found the right car park! There was only one other vehicle in it and I had to dodge some pretty huge puddles. By the time I followed the track into Blidworth and stopped at the Tesco Express to buy my lunch though the rain had stopped and that was pretty much it for the rest of the day.
The route leaves Blidworth by fields and follows them through a shallow valley but I thought that it would be extremely muddy so in an effort to keep my feet dry I decided to follow what I thought was a track which was part of the Robin Hood Way which ran roughly parallel. Had I looked at the map properly though I would have realised it was a minor road rather than a track and wouldn't have followed the footpath sign next to it which just brought me out further up the village! I followed part of the John Merrill route through some muddy fields before managing to cut across to the Robin Hood Way.
The next part of the route followed a bridleway through fields towards Harlow Wood. I expected it to be muddy but it wasn't too bad... I managed to run and had an audience!
The Wind Turbines
I stopped for a coffee in Harlow Wood, before attempting the death-defying dash across the A60. The next part of the route, through Thieves Wood, I remembered getting a bit wrong before but managed to follow the 'Great Way of the King' to the car park. I sat at a bench and got out my egg sandwiches and a coffee, feeling slightly guilty as there was a hot food and drinks van parked nearby!
I looked at the map and realised I still had quite a way to go so decided to press on, along good but slightly muddy tracks past Newstead Abbey;
The Abbey
After the Abbey there was a long section down tarmaced tracks, past a lodge and down into the village of Papplewick;
Walking through the village I picked up the path to the A60 which I'd followed in reverse during the Nottingham Ultra- only it was all uphill this way. I had another dash across the A60 before entering the grounds of the Park Hospital and Burnstump Country Park. My legs were feeling rather tired by this point but I was still managing to run a little- mainly downhill.
The latter stages of the walk are very pleasant, through Sansom and Blidworth forests.
I did get a little lost when trying to reach the car park at Blidworth Bottoms though. John Merrill instructed me to follow the main track, ignoring all turnings, and I'm sure I remembered doing just that before and ending up at the car park, but this time I was faced with a junction of tracks- none of which went particularly straight on. I was following a woman and her young son, and figured that they were likely to be heading to the car park too, so followed them to the left, only to see them stop and sit on a bench at the end of the track- which led into a field with no cars in sight...
I turned left, following a muddy horse track downhill which eventually led to the car park and the road. I was thinking that if it was muddy here then it's going to be hell on Saturday!
I saw loads of snow drops in the woods, there seemed to be a thick carpet of them in places- the sun had well and truly come out by now and it was the best part of the day.
The walk took me 6 hours, which I was quite pleased with- What with getting a bit lost I reckon it was nearer 18 miles anyway and has hopefully set me up ok for the Belvoir Challenge- I have certainly done my time wading through mud!
I think that the best part of any event is the taper just before (and the rest afterwards!)
Labels: Blidworth, Sherwood Forest
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Hello,
This is a message for the webmaster/admin here at endurance-adventures.blogspot.com.
May I use some of the information from your blog post above if I provide a backlink back to this site?
Thanks,
Charlie
This is a message for the webmaster/admin here at endurance-adventures.blogspot.com.
May I use some of the information from your blog post above if I provide a backlink back to this site?
Thanks,
Charlie
# posted by 
: 7:55 PM
: 7:55 PM
Hi Charlie
By all means use some of the information if you wish. Could you please tell me the URL of your site?
Thanks
Steph
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By all means use some of the information if you wish. Could you please tell me the URL of your site?
Thanks
Steph
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