Phil's 12-mile walk from the church in Eakring took us first to see Mompesson's Cross on the edge of the village and then along the Robin Hood Way to enter Rufford Park from the A614 for coffee (and cakes for some!). Further good tracks took us to the Maypole in Wellow for lunch.
A section of Eakring Road followed and some took a shorter, direct route back whilst the remainder headed towards Ompton and back to Eakring.
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| St Andrew's Church, Eakring - the start |
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Mompesson's Cross at Pulpit Ash
This marks the spot where, in the early 1670s, William Mompesson, the newly arrived rector, preached in the open air to his flock. He had come from the earlier plague-sticken village of Eyam in the Peak District, where he had witnessed a decimation of the population that included the loss of his wife. He is credited with having prevented the spread of the infection to neighbouring villages and with tending to his afflicted congregation. During the epidemic he abandoned the church and preached in an open area in an attempt to avoid the spread of infection |
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| Dovecote at North Laithes Equestrian Centre |
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| Drinks stop |
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| Fine lodge on the edge of Rufford Park |
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| The impressive front of Rufford Abbey |
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| The less than impressive back of the Abbey |
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| Rufford Mill |
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| A brave (or foolish) driver at Rufford Ford |
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| Camera vultures at the ford waiting for the next victim |
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| Dropping down into the deep cutting of the old railway line from Ollerton to Bilsthorpe Colliery |
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| Lunch at the Maypole in Wellow |
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| Autumn crocuses, Crocus sativas, at North Laithes |
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| Fine avenue of trees on the track from North Laithes |
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| Mompesson's mosaic inside St Andrew's Church |
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| The land near Eakring and Bilsthorpe has hosted an extraordinary variety of energy-related projects, some old some new. From top left: Eakring Windmill; Rufford Mill; Bilsthorpe Colliery; Duke's Wood Oilfield; Eakring Solar Farm; National Grid Training Centre; Eakring Wind Turbines; Rainworth Energy Anaerobic Digestion Plant; Eakring Ecohouses; and (not shown), Bilsthorpe Energy Centre (energy from waste); Fisher German green hydrogen plant; Rufford Battery Energy Storage System |
