Bestwood, Newstead Abbey to Worksop

Another wander on and off the path

First to Bestwood Country Park is on the north edge of Nottingham it is originally part of Sherwood Forest. 
In the Victorian era, the Bestwood Coal and Iron Company to mine coal at Bestwood colliery. It had a huge impact on the local community and claims to be the world’s first mine to produce one million tonnes of coal in a single year. 
The Winding House, which stands prominently at the entrance to the park is an impressive and unusual feature of the park.  It was used to lower the miners into the into the shaft and winch the coal back to the surface when it was operational.
The main lodge is now a hotel and does have statues of the outlaws outside the building.
The Alexandra lodge to the big house is impressive too
The sun is shining !
Off north I visit St James’ church, in Papplewick. It lies
to the west of the village, on a secluded site close to the river Leen. The church is thought to have been built in the 12th century after a grant made by Henry II to Newstead Priory.
Legend has it that Alan A’Dale, one of Robin Hood’s men, was married here.
In the porch, there are carved figures above the door. The one immediately above the door is late Saxon or early Norman probably representing St. James. The higher figure used to be set high up on the inner side of the archway, but it is uncertain whom it depicts.
In the Churchyard stands the magnificent yew which is about 350 years old.

Cross country and to the old industrial relic of Papplewick pumping station of 1883. Originally designed to pump water from the porous sandstone it’s not longer functional but still impressive- more so when on special days when the James Watt beam engine is active - not today !

Travelling north via a bus I reach Blidworth, a mining town with hill fortress and barrows. It’s the heart of old Sherwood Forest and supposedly where Maid Marion came from !
st Mary’s church here on the edge of town has a massive old tower ! The church is locked and my search for the supposed grave if Will Scarlet naturally proves fruitless!
After not finding the grave I decide to search the local pub for Lunch

Added news from later!

Blidworth's 15th-century Church of St. Mary of the Purification replaced an earlier Norman church or monastery.

It’s probable that Scarlet’s grave is constructed from parts of this earlier structure, though when these architectural relics were assembled into their current squat monumental form and why they became associated with the mortal remains of one of Robin Hood’s henchmen is unknown.
Even if Scarlet existed and was buried in Blidworth, these 600-year-old fragments would have to be to be a later addition to his grave, as the bulk of the Robin Hood legends are set in the 13th century.

Scarlet’s Grave isn’t the only link Blidworth has with the Robin Hood legends. Maid Marian supposedly lived in a cottage opposite the church and was escorted to her wedding with Robin at nearby Edwinstowe by Scarlet himself.

A real-life Robin Hood-esque event, contemporary with the legends, did occur in the village and could have inspired Blidworth's myths of merry outlaws. In 1276, two archers were caught poaching in Sherwood Forest and imprisoned in the village. As they awaited sentencing by the Sheriff of Nottingham, they met an organized gang of 20 archers and swordsmen, who assaulted the guards and freed the poachers. The identity of this real-life band of 13th-century Sherwood outlaws is not known.

Back west to Newstead abbey home to Byron ! It was formerly an Augustinian priory and converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron. It has a moody lake too!

The end of the day proves a drag . The buses work fine but the train suffers from some “passenger disruption.” And is 15 minutes late and then taken out of service completely ! Another half hour wait before another train and some time before I get my boots off!Read more