The New Arkwright Town & Carr Vale Nature Reserve

We were back to full strength this week and it was my turn to drive. We decided to go and have a look at the new Arkwright Town where none of us had been, including Geoff!!!
A trip up through Chesterfield and off towards Bolsover to get to Arkwright Town.
We parked in a car park behind the post office and talked to this lady walking her dog who told us about the memorial to the old town. We went there first and from there we saw what looked like a railway bridge and headed for that. It turned out to be  the start of a lovely walk all around the outskirts of the town.

Memorial to the old Arkwright Town

Arkwright Town, commonly referred to as Arkwright, is a settlement in North East Derbyshire, England that is notable for having moved its location in the early 1990s.^[1] Despite its name, the settlement has no official town status.

Located between Chesterfield and Bolsover on the A632 road it was formerly a coal mining village. Arkwright Colliery closed in 1988 and it was then discovered that the community was threatened by emissions of methane gas^[2] that caused some of its houses to be evacuated. The whole settlement was owned by British Coal and a decision was taken, along with Derbyshire County Council, to transfer ownership of the 52 properties to a housing trust, construct a new settlement of 56 properties to the north of the site affected by methane, and move all the residents. Construction was completed by 1995 when the old Arkwright Town was demolished.

Bowling Green with the Miners Welfare 

Memorial to the old Arkwright Town with Ike, Rob and me

Rob collecting poppy seeds

Geoff holding back the wind!!!

Rob & Ike

Fishing pond

Not sure what this building was for

Sky Lark

Rob, Ike and Geoff

War memorial for the men of Sutton - Cum - Duckmanton

All alone in the car park

 From Arkwright Town we drove a short distance to Carr Vale Nature Reserve.

Carr Vale Nature Reserve is owned and managed by theDerbyshire Wildlife Trust and is regarded as the `best wetlands site in the East Midlands for birdwatching.’

The old railway line which once linked the collieries of Bolsover with Glapwell a quarter of a century ago is now a wildlife walk known as the Stockley Trail, providing access to the wetlands reserve – and the former Bolsover South Colliery Tip has been transformed by Derbyshire County Council’s Countryside Service into the picturesque Peter Fidler Nature Reserve - named after Bolsover’s famous son whose exploits in Canada are legend and who was born at nearby Sutton Farm.

Just follow the Red Bricked Road

This is a memorial to Peter Fidler

Peter Fidler (16 August 1769 – 17 December 1822) was a British surveyor, map-maker, chief fur trader and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company in what later became Canada. He was born in Bolsover, Derbyshire, England and died at Fort Dauphin in present day Manitoba. He married Mary Mackagonne, a Cree, and together they had 14 children.

Rob, Geoff, Ike and me

We found a nice clump of orchids

Rob in reflective mood

Rob

Ike

Bolsover Castle

Going up in the world

Packing up and ready for home

This was a cracking morning and a plus for Geoff not having been to any of these places. It was nice to have Geoff back from Scotland to chat to. We thought Arkwright Town was very neat and tidy plus it was extremely quiet.

See you next week.