24th February 2014
You may recall our article from 2011 about this group of Scouts walking the canal (click here); well they’ve done it again. Congratulations to all of them.
This report is from Kenny Newstead, the Scout Leader.
Members of 7th Retford (St Swithun’s) Scout Group have once again risen to the challenge and have walked the length of the Chesterfield Canal, along The Cuckoo Way.
On Saturday 15th February, a group of two adults (Kenny and Andy) and five young people set off in Chesterfield with aim of walking to Kiveton by tea-time. Molly was the youngest in the group of young people, and she was 10 years old in January. Freya and Ellen are both aged 11, Alyce aged 12 and Matthew is 14 years old.
Hazel who was providing back up, met the group at various points along the way. The weather on Saturday was not brilliant, raining on and off throughout the day, but the group kept going. From Staveley through to Kiveton Waters, the canal is no longer there, but they followed the route of the canal through lots of mud along the country footpaths. They reached Kiveton Waters by 4pm and stopped there. They were transported back to Retford to the Scout HQ for their overnight stop.
On Sunday, Molly was unable to walk with us due to a prior commitment, but her brother Bertie, aged 7, came out with us instead. The group set off after breakfast and were taken back to Kiveton Waters. The weather was a lot better today. The group walked through Shireoaks to The Lock Keeper at Worksop. Freya and Ellen chose to retire here after doing about 19 miles of the walk. The group was then joined by Callum, aged 15. They continued to walk towards Ranby where Matthew’s mum and brother met them with bacon butties. The group continued to walk to Retford for their overnight stop.
Another night in the Scout Hut and the group set off again by car, this time to be dropped off in West Stockwith where the canal meets the River Trent. The group now consisted of Matthew, Callum, Alyce, Bertie, Bertie’s mum and Kenny. The group followed the canal back through Misterton, Gringley-on-the-Hill and on to Drakeholes. Lunch was eaten here. The group continued to Clayworth, Hayton, Clarborough and the home straight into Retford.
Matthew, Alyce and Kenny did the entire walk of 46 miles. Callum did 27 miles, Ellen and Freya each did 19 miles and Molly walked 15 miles. Bertie, aged 7, is the star of the group covering about 25 miles as he had a couple of short rides on Monday in the car. Andy and Justine each did about 15 miles. Matthew was sponsored to complete the walk and he has raised over £200 for MacMillan Nurses – the final total is still to be confirmed.
In case you think this sounded like hard work, Matthew, Callum, Molly, Bertie and their mum, as well as Kenny, all came out and walked from Clarborough to Retford, including some of the canal again on Thursday evening with the Cubs. The scenery along the canal is fantastic and it is all well kept and the information boards found along the route are very interesting.
Setting off in Chesterfield.