A Circular Walk East of Worksop (Draft)

One of the hidden treasures of Worksop is the maze of bridleways to the east of this market town in the north of Nottinghamshire.  If you want to walk, ride your mountain bike or explore on horse back this area is a jewel due to the amazing views and un-crowded paths and bridleways.  This walk is a short circular walk starting at recreation grounds at Forest Hill travelling along part of Thievesdale Lane to Rayton Angle and returning to the recreation grounds.  

A Starting Point

The best place to start, if you’re arriving by car, is recreation ground car park next to Kilton Forest Golf Club at Forest Hill.  The car park is not large, but, provides access to some circular walks taking in breathtaking views, local history or places of interest.  The recreation grounds are perched on the edge of the valley providing view towards the River Trent in the east where you can see Cottam and West Burton power stations in the distance highlighted by the steam streaming from the cooling towers.  To the north you can see the headgear of the collieries at Harworth and Thurcroft that once produced coal burned to produce electricity to power local industry and homes. 

A Short Circular Walk

Start at the recreation ground car park and walk down the field, heading north towards Carlton Forest Farm.  On the west side of the recreation grounds is house of Forest Hill, now flats, and the grounds forming building plots. 

Thievesdale Lane

At the end of the recreation grounds, running in a shallow valley, is Thievesdale Lane, an old coach-road providing access to the Great North Road, that starts in north east Worksop as the B6041 and from here is a public bridleway stretching all the way to the Chequer Bridge where The Great North Road, Chesterfield Canal and River Ryton run close one another. 

Access to Thievesdale Lane from the recreation grounds is through the gate in the right corner of the field.  With Carlton Forest Farm on your left shoulder walk along Thievesdale Lane.  Imagin horse drawn coaches travelling along this path. Did highwaymen strike here?  

Walk along Thievesdale Lane to the second field boundary hedge where a track leading to Carlton Forest Farm crosses Thievesdale Lane.  Turning right here will return you to the recreation grounds, but continue on Thievesdale Lane heading east between the high hedges forming the boundary of the lane. 

After a short walk, just past the first field boundary hedge on the south side of the lane, is where the marked lane ends.  A horse jump and a gate in the fence allow access to the field.  The path continues along the south side of the field following the fence line, path a line of distorted trees.  

Following the path to the end of the field and passing through the gate, you will find a crossroads.  To the left is Carlton Forest Farm which could be seen from the  recreation ground’s car park.  The coach road, of Thievesdale Lane continues straight on between Coronation Plantation to left and East Thievesdale Wood to the right of the lane.  We need to turn right towards Rayton Angle.  

Rayton Angle

Walking along this bridleway, until recently, you would have looked through the trees and seen the disused runway that was RAF Worksop during World War II.  The hardcore forming the surface you’re walking on forms part of what remains of the runway.  The majority of the 500 tonnes of hardcore however was reused as levelling material for the Southfield site at Newark Air Museum.
  
RAF Worksop was opened in November 1943 with 18 Operational Training Unit, satellite field of RAF Finningly, with Martinet, Oxford, Tomahawk and Wellingtons. RAF Finningley's Bomber Command Instructors School continued to use the airfield until 1946. In December 1960 RAF Worksop closed, the two T2 hangers were demolished along with most of the other buildings.  Then in 2006 the runway was removed to prevent travellers returning to the site as they did in April 2004.
 
The path turns to run parallel to Rayton Angle wood.  After a short walk you reach the T junction with the bridleway continuing straight on and the path running between Rayton Angle wood and Rayton Angle Cottage heading south is a path with no public right of way. 

Kilton Forest

This is the final straight path back to the recreation ground car park.  All the way along this path you have views of the wind turbine built on the former site of Manton Colliery sunk by The Wigan Coal Company in 1902.  The turbine hub is 79m and the rotor diameter is 82m providing more than enough green electricity for the whole B&Q distribution centre. 

As the path nears the top of the hill we cross the path running between Carlton Forest Farm and the one time council estate of Kilton.  As we continue straight on we can see Bassetlaw Hospital overlooking Worksop.  The foundation stone for Worksop's Poor Law Infirmary, now Bassetlaw Hospital, was laid in1902.  Parts of the old hospital can still be seen today, but now used as an administration block, the Postgraduate Centre and Library. 
The fields will soon end give way to the northern part of 18 hole Kilton Forest Golf Course that was opened in 1978.  Views down Kilton Forest Golf Course lead to Worksop Golf Club, in recent years is famous as the ‘home’ of Lee Westwood, with its history dating back to a private golf club in 1914.   

The car park is now a short walk past the recreation grounds the site, in the past, of the annual Bassetlaw Show.