Cycling the Dukeries Trail. Warsop to Fledborough Viaduct

A Cycling Adventure in Sherwood Forest and North Nottinghamshire

It's nice to go on an adventure once in a while and now Jemma's getting towards Coast 2 Coast distances on the bike it seemed like the perfect opportunity to cycle a big section of the relatively new Dukeries Trail that runs from the Nottinghamshire-Derbyshire border towards central Lincoln. Some sections are a little rugged so knobbly tyres or semi-slicks on a mountain bike or hybrid are ideal.

We started out from Warsop, joinng the trail in the heart of Sherwood Forest although the official start is by the station in Shirebrook before heading through the Carrs into Warsop. The Dukeries Trail is a nice multi-user route that's quiet, relatively traffic free and offers the chance to explore much of North Nottinghamshire.


In Warsop we headed up Hetts Lane and then onto Burns lane before swinging a right by Assarts Farm and onto a rough Bridleway that takes us into the legendary Sherwood Forest from Gleadthorpe to Boundary Plantation where at the crossroads we took a left to join National Cycle Route 6 to Hazel Gap.

We always see a group of twitchers out at Hazel Gap with more money's worth of camera's, lenses and binoculars than we have invested in our bikes. No matter how much we try to persuade them we simply can't price from them just what they're looking at.

From Hazel Gap there's a bit of a climb up to the crossing with the A616 so care must be taken here but the section through Gibraltar Plantation is a nice excuse to push on through a relatively straight, flat section that offers a few kinks in the trail that can be taken at speed. The trail narrows before you cross the road again following the trail through the edges of Clumber Park.

Jemma cycling through Bevercotes

The trail through Clumber Park is nice and wide although part of the trail forms a link in the cycling network within Clumber so be prepared for families out for a gentle ride or walk along the multi-user trail.

As we exited Clumber out across the A614 we crossed the main road and joined a quiet country lane which felt a world away from the main road. We passed the 'Nodding Donkey' in the field beside the lane. A showcase of the quality of the land beneath the area from which high quality oil is extracted.

The Dukeries trail now took us via quiet roads through the village of Bothamsall before cutting through the old colliery grounds on a traffic free bridleway to the quiet but affluent village of Bevercotes.

A turn right uphill took us past Milton Mausoleum. This is the mausoleum of the Duchess of Newcastle who passed away in 1822 and is a remarkable building.

Cycling past Milton Mausoleum on the Dukeries Trail

The trail then took us through West Markham as it diverted away from the busier B1164 road crossing the A1 twice before a roller coaster of a hill into Tuxford. Tuxford ishome to a beautifully restored windmill which is also home to a tea room and is a great place to stop for a cuppa and reflect on your journey so far. Sadly for us the windmill was closed, despite it being a Saturday. They're usually open 10-4 except Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I'm sure we'll head there for a coffee at some point.

Tuxford Windmill Tearoom. Sadly closed for us!

We followed the main road through Tuxford and turned right on the edge of the village up past the school and a camp site on outskirt of the village descending gently before darting underneath the railways.

Tuxford village, Nottinghamshire

After the railway bridge we quickly took a right turn up a single track road before being signposted straight on along a byway. The route guide which we weren't reading at the time advises that cyclists might wish to take the next section on foot and we could quickly see why as this was no more than a rough, heavily divoted track where sections of trail often simply disappeared from underneath you and wasn't a particularly nice experience. A clever look at the map on the return leg allowed us to divert away from this section of the route.

Upon leaving the rough byway we were spat out at the road into Fledborough.A quick glance right and we saw the track down onto the old railway line which now forms a big part of the Dukeries trail heading due east almost into the centre of Lincoln on a stone path suitable for mountain bikes and hybrids. I had hoped it might be paved so I could utilise the River Trent crossing as part of routes but I'll have to stick to Dunham Bridge and Newark in future.

We followed the trail past the now defunct Fledborough station sign on the track along to Fledborough Viaduct where we stopped and turned back on ourselves

Radon ZR Race 6.o outside Fledborough Station on the Dukeries Trail

Fledborough Viaduct over the River Trent

Fledborough Viaduct has a total of 814m in length which is over twice as long as the better known (and much taller) Ribblehead Viaduct. Apparently it took over 9 million bricks in it's construction at a meagre cost of £65000 which would be millions in today's money.

From the Fledborough Viaduct we re-traced our steps back to Warsop to log some pretty significant mileage in preparation for the upcoming Coast 2 Coast  event and had a nice afternoon ride in the sunshine.

A real Banksy spotted on the edge of Sherwood Forest?

Trailblazer Clumber Park Review

Nice to Run Close to Home Though Ruined by a "Paula Radcliffe" Moment

Clumber Park Trailblazer Event Review by Jemma

It's always nice to do events when they're local. Alongside Dash of the Titan you couldn't get any more local to us than Clumber Park. I can get there in 43 minutes on my mountain bike along National Cycling Route 6 so it's pretty close though I'm pretty sure Liam could do it in well under 30 minutes.

The guys at Rat Race know how to put on a quality event so I was really looking forward to running in the heart of Sherwood Forest. I've done the Clumber Park Run before but was really looking forward to seeing what trails Clumber had in store for us having not done much running there previously.

With a warm race day with temperatures due to get into the mid twenties and blazing sunshine I opted for my Under Armour shorties and a vest top as it was far too warm to wear my trusty my Muddy Race T-shirt.  Along with my trusted Inov8 Trailrocs which I knew I'd need for some grip in the woods and possible wet ground from the sharp showers that we had the previous night.

Having learnt lessons from the sun at Bedgebury previously  I sun creamed up to the max so wouldn't get sunburn as it was a warmer day than Bedgebury at the start of June.

After running a 2 hr 17 minute half marathon at Bedgebury I opted to start in the "2:20 group knowing that Clumber is pretty rolling so beating my previous half marathon best would be pretty tough. At least this time I had my Garmin on to track my times.

As the race got underway I eased into the first few miles. A short distance into the race I noticed a man in a red top who was literally sprinting a short distance and then slowing down to a walk which seemed like a weird way to run a half marathon. I caught up with him after the first water station and eased him to find a steady pace to stick to. It turned out he normally runs 5km events so was taking a big jump up in distance which he seemed somewhat unprepared for. He steadied off and used me as a pacer for a number of miles before tailing off. Hopefully he had a good race by the finish

I was ticking off the miles in the glorious Clumber Park sunshine using a female runner in a bright yellow Sheffield vest as a marker before things started to unravel for me around the 10 mile mark. The easiest way to explain things is that I had a "Paula Radcliffe Moment" and needed to dart off course into the privacy of forest cover. Due to needing to pee drastically I had started to experience pain and discomfort in my lower back and stomach which was really slowing me down

After that I carried on slowly to get to finish line with a 2 hour 23 Min's finish. I was gutted I didn't get the better finish than Bedgebury I was hoping but I'll be back next year in search of a better time.

If you fancy a go in 2016 have a look at http://rwtrailblazer.co.uk/