Week 16: Nottingham to Clumber Park
Friends, the Cameron Peak Fire still isn’t out… but what good news we’ve had this week, in the wake of last weekend’s big snowstorm!
The fire has not expanded at all acreage-wise, standing at 208,663 acres, and 85% contained. There is still a great deal of work to be done, but people whose homes are still standing have for the most part been permitted to return to their neighborhoods, and the fire itself is (at least today) not throwing off a lot of smoke.
Which means this virtual journey, which since the fire’s outbreak on August 13 has been conducted mostly from the rowing machine in my garage, is once again also happening as an outdoor run. Yay!
This video, posted today, gives an update and allows us to hear directly from the people fighting the fire.
So, as we thank the firefighters and wish them well, let’s return to Great Britain…
As we leave Nottingham and continue to make our way north, the first stop is Newstead Abbey.
Today, Newstead Abbey is perhaps best known as the family home of Lord Byron, but the site began around 1170, constructed as an Augustinian priory by Henry II. The building was extended several times over the next few hundred years, until it became the country home of Sir John Byron in 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. Over the next 150 years, the Byron family collected art, expanded the house, and landscaped the vast gardens.
The poet George Gordon Byron, the 6th Baron Byron, in an 1813 portrait by Thomas Phillips.
But after 1736, when William, the 5th Baron Byron inherited the estate, everything started to fall apart. William borrowed money to gamble, go to the theatre, and engage in decadent follies (like staging mock navy battles on the lake!) and soon found himself in a tight spot financially. He sold art, furniture, and even the estate’s trees to pay for his bad decisions. So when he passed away in 1798, Newstead Abbey was in a sad state.
That’s when - at the age of 10 - William’s nephew George Gordon Byron (who would later become the poet known as Lord Byron) inherited Newstead. While he was a child, the estate was leased, but dealing with Newstead - trying to repair it, then trying to sell it - occupied several years of Byron’s adult life. Finally it was sold in 1818. By 1931 it had become a publicly owned site and museum. Today, visitors can tour the building, which as been mostly restored, and enjoy the expansive gardens.
After Newstead, we’ll continue “a-roving,” as Byron might say, north, where we’ll see Rufford Abbey. Built as a Cistercian abbey around the same time as Newstead, Rufford too became a private home when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.
Rufford Abbey photo by Wikimedia user Russ Hamer.
But in more recent years, Rufford Abbey (and the park that surrounds it) is better known for a folk song that was written in tribute to an incident that happened on the Rufford Park grounds back in 1851. (Thanks to Cassandra Potts Hannahs for sharing this story!)
To understand that incident, it helps to know that before 1600, a portion of the lands held under the administration of manorial lords were considered held “in common,” and it was accepted that local people could set snares there to trap small animals for their subsistence. But from 1604 to 1914, a series of more than 5,200 “enclosure acts” fenced off this land as private, and made it illegal for people to hunt, fish or grow food on what had theretofore been common land.
Landowners could then charge a fee to give some people permission to hunt (hiring armed guards to keep others out), while poorer people who continued to scavenge for food on the newly-enclosed lands became “poachers.”
So, to get back to Rufford: locals were tired of individual poachers being caught and punished harshly by game wardens, so in 1851 they hatched a plan to overwhelm the gamekeepers with their own numbers. About 40 poachers gathered together, and were confronted by ten gamekeepers, and in the battle, one of the gamekeepers was gravely wounded and died. This led to four of the poachers being arrested, and ultimately sentenced to fourteen years of hard labor. Bristol-based vocal group The Longest Johns has recorded the popular ballad (first recorded in 1907) which recounts the tale.
A star resident of Sherwood Forest’s 1100-acre reserve is the Major Oak, which is more than 800 years old.
Continuing up the road, we pass through Sherwood Forest, a nature reserve, which is home to the well-loved Major Oak tree, which legend says provided Robin Hood with shelter. The base of the tree is fenced off from visitors, to prevent soil compaction which can damage the tree’s roots.
And finally, we end the week at Clumber Park, a beautiful 3800-acre nature reserve of woods, open heath and rolling farmland. As early as the Domesday Book, the site was a monastic property, then later a private home, but the house became too expensive to maintain after the Great Depression and fell into disrepair. It was finally demolished in 1938, leaving behind only the landscape.
Clumber Park today is a beloved network of trails where people walk and ride their bikes, so it was a shock when in 2018, vandals deliberately drove a car into the balustrade of Clumber’s ornamental bridge, then set it on fire. Divers rescued pieces of the old bridge from underwater, and the bridge reopened (to non-motorized traffic only) at the end of June of this year.
Clumber Park’s bridge after vandals drive a car into it, then set the car on fire. (Photo from the BBC)
Pallets of pieces of the iconic stone bridge, brought up from the depths by police divers. What a massive puzzle, with so many pieces! (Both photos from the BBC)
Next week, we’ll start with a stop at nearby Welbeck Abbey and Creswell Crags. ‘Til then, take care and see you on the trail!
Fancy a pint?
Unlike the Naylor brothers, who pledged to “abstain from all intoxicating drink” during their 1871 walk on this route, I’m not at all opposed to popping into interesting-looking pubs along the way. Here are a few along this stretch of the journey.
The Abdication proprietor and brewer, Matt Grace.
On our way out of Nottingham, we should stop to taste the beer, brewed in house, at The Abdication Micropub. Home brewer Matt Grace became so passionate about developing different beer varieties that he basically had no choice but to open a pub!
The Abdication strives to be a neighborhood watering hole, advertising itself as dog-friendly and kid-friendly, and reviewers note that it’s the type of place where strangers share tables, and become friends.
The Dukeries Lodge, in Sherwood Forest
Since the 18th century, the Dukeries Lodge has been welcoming travelers, offering them room and board (and locally brewed beers!) in a beautiful setting.
Reviewers praise the attentive bar staff, who apparently “know their stuff” when it comes to beer, and who also have good suggestions about local walks and bike rides.
And while the building is historic, the entire interior has been renovated, so travelers can enjoy modern comfort in this historic setting.
Sustenance for the Hungry Vegan
The quaint entryway to Rose Cottage Pub and Restaurant
Not far from the Sherwood Pines Forest Park sits the Rose Cottage Pub and Restaurant, which has an extensive list of all-vegan menu items, including mouthwatering choices like mushroom risotto, vegan cottage pie, or a vegan burger.
The dining room has an Alice in Wonderland theme, and the pub prides itself on being dog-friendly… even offering special dog treats for its “doggie tea” package.
The Crew Yard Cafe at Budby Antiques
Just beyond the Major Oak in the town of Budby, The Crew Yard Cafe offers a wide range of plant-based options from its site within Budby Antiques. The antiques shop is in a historic, preserved barn, and the cafe (which also serves beer and wine) is situated along the inner courtyard.
Every dish is made by Chef Jacky, using as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible, including from other businesses (the cafe buys all its breads from the Welbeck Bakery.) The vegan menu includes a veganized “English Breakfast” option, a butternut squash curry, and a casserole made with butter beans and lentils. Mmm!
