How I cycled the entire Chesterfield Canal – Exploring England’s Quietest Canal by Bike

Join me on a relaxing (at times) yet fascinating cycling journey along the Chesterfield Canal, one of England’s most peaceful and historic waterways.

Starting near Chesterfield, I follow the towpath through quiet villages, beautiful countryside, and restored canal sections — before venturing onto the abandoned stretch, where nature has reclaimed parts of the old route. From disused locks to overgrown bridges, this forgotten part of the canal tells a story of history, change, and resilience.

Along the way, I share a mix of local history, route highlights, and tips for anyone planning to explore this unique canal by bike.

Whether you’re a canal enthusiast, a cyclist seeking new routes, or just love tranquil outdoor adventures, this ride showcases the best — and the most mysterious — parts of the Chesterfield Canal.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more cycling adventures and hidden routes across the UK!

Chesterfield canal cuckoo way

Route here:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/2619848922

route includes the 6 miles to hotel in Gainsborough

Check out Paul at the Wobbly Runner:
https://www.youtube.com/@UC5VupfZtxNFbMDgv26MZueg

https://www.instagram.com/bike_ventures_uk/

Oh, it feels like purgatory. Right. Good morning. That might give you a clue what we’re doing today. We’re doing the entire length of the Chesterfield Canal. All 46 miles. The part that’s ridable. There is some sections which foot path and I’m not going to go down them because they’re really narrow and the canal’s derelic there. But I’ll I’ll do as much cycling on it as I possibly can. We got about five or six miles to Stavely where we can follow the canal all the way. And then after that there’s nine miles that’s derelik. Some bits we’ll pick up. Some bits we’re going to have to go around on the road or bridal ways. And then from the portal at Kiverton, end of the Northwood tunnel at the eastern portal, we’re all the way to Westwith. So, I’m doing a quick twoight bike packing trip, 110 miles, but uh the Chesterfield Canal here just literally on the outskirts of Chesterfield Center. It meets the river Rother just here. So, the two converge and then at the other end is the River Trent. So, yeah, let’s crack on. I’ll tell you a bit about it as we get going and let’s enjoy apart from these nettles. Right, let’s go. Cheers, buddy. Thank you. Bank’s gone a bit there. Look. So, few facts for you about the canal, cuz you know I love my facts. Opened in 1777. This was James Brinley, the famous engineers last one of his last canals he designed. And sadly, he never got to see it open. So, 64 locks number one right there. Beautiful little bridges on here. really are stunning. Captain Millbridge number one and a finger post sign. If you’ve been watching my channel recently, you know I’ve got a bit of an ongoing project to bag these finger post signs. So, if you don’t know anything about them, they were put in in the year 2000 by Sustrands, funded by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and there are four designs. There’s over a thousand of them. There are four different designs and uh the upkeep of them is by local volunteers within each area. So, as you come across them, they’re all different colors and yeah, they’re fantastic to see. If you go on the Sustrans website, obviously I know Sustrand’s unannounced they’re going to be changing the name soon. It’s still Sustrans for now. If you go on the website, you can volunteer to to help and help maintain those finger post signs. Yeah, they are cool to see on him. Yeah. So, 64 locks. I think I could be wrong. 84 bridges and they are beautiful. Really are. Hello again. Thank you. Cheers. We’re just coming up to lock 18. two. Hello. I think tunnel’s 1A. Not sure why it’s called 1A. Yeah, Captain Tunnel number one A. And there’s a lot. So, this is Taptain Lock Visitor Center. It’s been closed for a bit, but I believe there is plans to reopen it, but had a cafe in it and stuff. Visitor center. Yeah. So those lock gates there 2016 they were put in and I believe a bit further up today turnwood after keton in there’s a pair of new gates just gone in they were fitted yesterday whether they’ll still be fitting them today I don’t know but nice to see won’t it so chestville Canal is probably one of my favorite canal house. Come on, M. Not because I live close to it, but it’s just so pretty. It’s a narrow canal, very narrow, which I think is what adds to its character. Yeah, there’s some absolutely beautiful stretches. I mean this stretch from Chesterfield to Stave is lovely, but the stretch from Kton Park to Shy Oaks on in probably my favorite stretch of canal. It’s absolutely gorgeous, which you’ll see when we get there. The sun’s out at the minute. forecast to rain this afternoon. The fact we’ve got morning fact we’ve got some sunshine and some lovely early autumn colors late summer. It’ll be lovely on there today. Water’s normally quite clear up there. So when the normal tunnel collapsed in 1907, basically severed the canal in two and this end kind of got left to rack and ruin really to restored. Well, it’s still undergoing restoration. The canal trust down here, Chesfield Canal Trust did some fantastic work. There is plans to restore the 9 miles that’s derelictked. But yeah, the uh normal tunnel collapse 1907 severed the canal, but the the end from Kverton, the normal tunnel portal to the river Trent at West Stock with still navigable and you do get quite a few people on canal boats using it. And there’s a ton of locks. I think there’s 24 locks on that short section up to workshop from Kibon. Stunning. There’s some trebles. Absolutely stunning. It really is. But you’ll see as we go along. So, I know further on off the repford the toe path gets a bit grassy and narrow. So, I’m hoping this rain we’ve had in recent days hasn’t made it too boggy cuz I’ve stuck with the gravel tires. So, we will see. This is Brimmington Wolf. No surprises. That’s a Brimington. If you’ve never ridden this section as well, this is the southerntherly point of the transpanine trail. Chesterfield starts from Chesterfield train station. So leads to uh sorry Chesterfield to leads. Start at first station. I did do a video on it earlier this year with Lisa. Come on in. And that is also a lovely stretch, the uh south to north, north to south route. Most people traditionally take the Trans Penitine Trail west to east. But yeah, I can highly recommend 67 miles. It is lock number three, Wen Millock. I might not point them all out cuz that could get a little bit tedious, couldn’t it? All 64. But I’ll uh show you now what can lock looks like. But I will show you the trebles and that log fly there cuz it’s oh it’s stunning. So ideal. Reminds me at times of the Monre canal in places. That’s another beauty. She under threat of closure I believe which would be sad. Come on him. Yeah, apparently the uh the use of the local the river, I forget the name of the river now. The use of the river nearby to top up the canal levels. I think it’s been revoked. They plan to be. So there’s a talk of just closing the canal which be a huge shape. It’s beautiful. And when we were there, when we were there in May and we rode up that stretch from uh I forget Crick Creek Powell, I think it was to uh reckon. So busy. I think it’s one of the busiest canals I’ve seen with dayboats and uh higher boats, canal higher boats. Lovely holiday boat. Yeah. A huge shame if that went bit windy. Thought it might be a tail today, but not looking like it, is it? So, believe it or not, late ‘7s, early 80s, this was derelict, all overgrown, full of weeds, and you wouldn’t recognize it as a canal. An absolutely fantastic job. See if I can find you some pictures. Transformation. Amazing. Thank you. Cheers. But I tell you what, I ride on this section a lot with Lisa, but so good for you. Just beautiful. Really is. Just coming up in about a mile, we got Hollingwood Hub. Used to be a railway station there, believe it or not. I have pointed out like previous vids a nice cafe there now. Come on in. That’s pixel. Stop it. Get boring. You start to think I’m a lock spotter. And this is block number 22. I’m not. I just think they’re cool. Here’s another Oh, got a full effect to me, aren’t I? Some useless, some not. The modern lock gate invented by Leonardo da Vinci. Yeah, there’s a nugget for you. Come on in. So yeah, a lot of gates existed before then, but they were just square at the end, put it up to each other and and subsequently leaked, whereas Da Vinci came up with that idea of the angles so that they close up tight to each other. And uh yeah, there you go. Cool fact that I only found that out myself a couple of years ago. Blast huge. So there’s Meline the canal boat. You get trips on that tap and lock up to here which is cool. just left and right here. There’s a bridge abutments and I have mentioned it before. I’ll just very quickly show you that uh placard there 1892 that used to be over the tunnel in Chesterfield where the train came in which is now the A61 that runs sort of on the outskirts of Sheffield center between the train station and the crooked spire. You look on a map and the tunnel, believe it or not, or the bulk of it still there hidden behind that huge ugly concrete wall. There’s videos on YouTube of people going in it, but you’re not supposed to. Yeah, it’s cool that it’s still there. So just down to our left around this bend just here. The canal actually carried on here went down there into a little warf many many years ago. So this is another really pretty little section. I’ve never seen a canal boat on it. Only paddle boarders and kayaks. It’s absolutely lovely. So serene and the council have recently resurfaced it in the last 6 8 months I think which is pretty good. It used to be a bit of a bog fest down here. So it’ be interesting to see what it’s like in winter. This should be the first winter with it uh resurfaced. We’ll see. Yeah. Lovely. Look at that beautiful place. Stopped and had a spot of lunch there a couple of times releases. Lovely. So the Chesterville Canal is also known as the Cuckoo Way so called because it was named after the boats that used to use here to transport coal and iron and stone [Music] which were all cuckoo boats. So there you go. That’s where that name comes from. Now the cuckoo does actually you can walk part of it off over to the right. Uh but why not? Following the canal. [Music] So like I was saying earlier there is plans that this will be restored this 9 miles. I’m going to put a new tunnel in cuz the normal tunnel’s irreparable and I need to get some locks in. And hopefully we can show you the old lock fly that’s now der [Music] uh so the boats can’t get up. So it be extensive and there’s quite a lot of houses gone up on the path of the old canal. Some stretches you can still walk alongside and it’s obviously it was a canal and some bits are just gone. Got the plans to reroute sections. It’d be amazing if they could. Whether I’ll see it in my lifetime or not, I don’t know. It would be nice, but you know, big ass. Take some money. Probably getting there. So, we’re just about to come up on the new bridge that was put in uh nearly a year ago now. Places little railway bridge that went over the canal. There’s no railway bridge. Look, directly under us was a railway show. Yeah. So you can just see just down there is the canal and that’s where it ends. And that down there is the path of it. So the the original path of the canal goes round right around round to the left there. And that’s going to be the next section they plan on restoring. So for now, we’re going to have to run along the old Great Central Railway on the Transpanine Trail up towards Rother Valley Country Park. But we’ll pick up the canal bed before we get there. So let’s crack on. The canal’s come back to us. Literally just over this little here just to our right dry all overgrown. You can even tell it’s a former canal bed on this section. Nature’s really reclaimed it. Then further up it opens up. So I’ll show you that when we get there. Here you are. Look. So the great central is just there. 5 6 m that way. So, I’ve never been on this section, actually. There’s the canal. Look all there. Look. So, it’s very overgrown. Here’s the toe path. So, we’ll follow this for a few minutes. I’ll show you where it’s packing water and then we’re going to nipple on the GCR until it picks the canal up again cuz the canal meanders off and round. Yeah. Cool. I’ve never seen that bit. So, you’re discovering new things with me today. Once we get past workshop, all uncharted territory for me on this canal. So, we’ll be discovering it together. Yeah. Oh, I tell you what, it’s quite deep here. The bank’s quite wide. Uh quite deep. Sorry. Yeah. This section doesn’t look like it much to restore, to be honest. [Music] Oh yeah, cool. There’s actually a bit of water in it. There you are. Look, there’s the canal. And as you can see, hopefully you can just ends there just under that bridge. It’s all blocked off. There’s a housing estate around the corner. Yeah. Cool to see, right? We’re going to follow the GCR for a bit cuz it just goes round through a housing estate and comes back and joins alongside the old railway. I’ll show you that. So the canal is currently 250 m over to our right and then it comes back round to the long side. Come on in. What I’ve never been able to work out is we’re on a big embankment and then the canal disappeared. So, I’m guessing the canal stayed high up on the hillside to our right. There must have been a couple of locks to get it up there. So the canal is just about to join back on the old great central railway just here. The canal is just coming in from our right now. Yep. The canal’s alongside now. There we are. Look, that’s the tow path. There’s the canal. And there is looking back down the toe path. Look, great central railway there. Tow path here. Canal there. It’s awesome, isn’t it? Look at that. Like a little tunnel taking you down. It’s cool, isn’t it? Right, let’s crack on. So, there’s the canal again. Look, you can see it’s now a path running through it. The GCR is just down there. So yeah, there’s the tow path running along. We’re not going to take it cuz it goes up and just cuts through a housing estate in the canal door to that disappears. You just end up walking on a road. So we’re going to follow around and we’ll pick it up where the uh abandoned locks are that took it up towards the Norwood tunnel. Right, pick the canal back up. Look, lovely little bridge there. So yeah, we picked the canal back up and then just past these houses here is the old uh abandoned locks that took it up towards the Norwood Tunnel. So happy days. I’ve just come out of Rother Valley Country Park, so it weren’t too bad. I’ve not missed a massive amount off. I mean, you’re missing out an industrial estate. So So I’ll leave you the camera on and you can see this is a stretch. I’ve never done this stretch before. I’ve always come down the road from Ketton. So, it’d be cool to see now. Yeah, you just see the old locks on the right there. Look, actually now just bits of brick and stuff all damned up. The canal looked full of leaves and stuff. Just see the remnants of the walls along. See been break. So whether they could be restored, they possibly could. It would be cool if uh couldn’t m again. The it kind of disappears here. Can’t see it cuz it’s someone’s house now. Yeah, you can see what’s uh you just see bits of the outlook. Oh, wow. That’s cool. Wow. Black swans. Never seen black swans before. Beautiful. So, this is clearly part of looking out. Yeah. Look at them. They’re beautiful. Wow. Never seen them before. Very inquisitive. Inquisitive or aggressive. One of the two. But there’s an old lock. Look. So yeah. Hello. Beautiful. Look at the feathers. Wow. Wow. That’s awesome. That’s so cool. [Music] Hello. Slick here. Yeah, there you go. Lock and and the canal disappears again. So, you just get bits of it. I’m not sure how they’d install this section. I’m going to go under the M1 soon. And it looks like we’ve got canal again. So these were these buildings were part of the canal system called lock cottages then. Yeah. And we’ve got the canal again just the other side. Yeah. Bizarre. There’s actually a lock just there. Look, it’s coming up there. And then this opens up into this basin. Um, and I’m guessing the tunnel portal probably somewhere up here. At the time when it was built, one of the biggest tunnels on the British canal network, the Norwood tunnel when you think it’s built in 1770s. It’s impressive engineering that they could do back then, is it? when you consider the, you know, there’s no heavy machinery like we have now. So, yeah, it’s pretty cool. So, the canal path’s just down to our right, but I can’t see much that resembles a canal. From what I gather, the M1 did cut quite a bit of it out. So just the other side of the M1 is the old collery site. I think it was Kiverton collery. Oh, I can see the path I think. Just down to my immediate right. Well, glad it’s not winter. So the tunnel somewhere underneath is now just heading into the old kibbit and collar side on this one. Looks like the ground’s not too bad though after even after the rain we’ve had this week. I was a bit worried it might be a bit uh squirrely under the wheels on some sections, but it seems to have fared up quite well. There’s a bit of a breeze which normally uh dries ground off pretty quick, won’t it? There’s a nice bit of gravel. So, where we going, Bob lobster down here? Chunky gravel. I’m riding railway balance that this is the former site giverton park collery black open s nature reserve gravel path that’s when they repurpose things isn’t Yeah, [Music] I will be uh picking the canal back up in about 5 minutes. Tunnel still underneath. [Music] Oh, these are narrow. These ones squeeze with flared bars. Sure. We got 32 miles left for the River Trent. So, this is technically a footpath. However, it’s very wide and more than passable on a bicycle if you don’t mind going through one of these daff gates. The horses on here are quite friendly. Well, I say friendly. They leave you alone. Put it that way. They’re always on here. I’ve never had a problem with them. So, tunnel’s still underneath. In fact, we’re very, very close to the actual alignment of the tunnel. Surprisingly, we’re directly on it. We’re not far off. Morning, Mr. Horse. Right. So, there’s the Norwood tunnel, eastern portal log. So, we’ve come directly over the top of that and there’s a canal. Look, you see it down there. So, what I would say is if you’re going to come across that foot path I’ve just shown you on an ebike a little bit heavy. If you can’t get through these gates, I won’t bother cuz you’re going to have to pass your bike over there if not. Yeah, there’s the canal again. Look. So, it is still in water in the tunnel. They open it up every 5 years or so and sail a little boat in and check it’s not collapsed anymore. Yeah. So that’s the canal. There’s a winding hole just down here where you can navigate from the tren to here. I won’t come past it cuz it’s very shallow. You can do that. But we’re going to ride it. So we’ve got I forget now. I’ve just said it’s a 32 some distance anyway. Right. So let’s crack on. So this next section after Gibbon Park station probably my favorite section of canal. It’s stunning. So yeah, let’s go. Oh, we’ve just come past Kiviverton Park train station there and we’re now on the 31 and a4 mile stretch to West Stockwith where we meet up Trent. Lovely stretch. [Music] Thank you, buddy. Cheers. So, Just down here we’ve got not far a couple of miles. We’ve got 22 locks in a fivemile stretch. So that’s a lot of locks. If you’re on a canal boat, you have a very busy day coming up here. You do. People do see it. I see posts on Facebook all the time of people navigating it, but it’s such a lovely quiet stretch. Like I said, the stretch from Kton to Shy Oaks is beautiful. Probably the best stretch. Lovely little bridges which we’ve got coming up. Lovely peaceful deli. It’s absolutely stunning. Really is. 32. And when you think bridge is coming out of Chesville, we probably got up to about six or seven before the canal turn. So that’s how many bridges were on the section and locks as well. I think I think we were at number three or four and then I think we pick up 20 something down here. I can’t remember. Have a look when we get there. But anyway, as I was saying, this canal’s most famous shipment was from a quarry at North Anom, which is very close to here. And when the Houses of Parliament was burnt down and rebuilt in the 1830s, the stone from that quarry shipped down the canal to the Trent. So it could be shipped down to London. So there you go. Thank you. You were going that way. She were going that way. Thank you. It really is. Don’t matter what time of year you ride this. Very wet in winter this tall path and muddy, but it really don’t matter. It’s stunning. Look at that. Absolutely beautiful. Fortunately, the sun’s kind of gone behind the cloud, but normally you get this lovely dappled sunlight. Oh, there it is. Look, just as if to say, you go, I’ll turn your light on. Beautiful. Look at that. Where the light just comes down through the trees, lights up the water. It’s beautiful. Really is. I mean, I gather from people who live on canal boats that this is one of the most picturesque stretches you can get. Beautiful. So quiet. Generally always quiet. Bridge 33. A stop I’ve stopped numbering locks and start numbering bridges. It’s number 33. Come in. Yeah. Not as clear as it normally is today, but you can see you can’t see the bottom. Normally you can see all the way across. There’s your first treble lock. Look. Beautiful. Look at that. Awesome. Absolutely glorious. Now this is the fifth one. You get a treble, two singles, then third single. Just beautiful. Such a gorgeous spot. Love it. So peaceful. Here’s number seven. Just in this little section. This is a double. A little treble. Another treble. Four blow treble. So you got upper and lower and then and in between. Yeah. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Look at that. Something like that to make you feel good. Nothing will. Absolutely amazing. Look at this. Oh, I’m getting nowhere faster cuz I just keep stopping to take photos. Every time I come down here, it’s just Oh, I tell you what, it just grabs me. So beautiful. Absolutely stunning. And I hope the camera is showing how beautiful that really is. Just chatting to a chat right there was saying probably one of the most beautiful in the country. And he was saying he’s a local, but he don’t just go up and down here. But he said a lot of the bers will say to him it’s probably one of the prettiest. Really is stunning. If you watch the YouTube channel Wobbly Runner, Paul is namely guy. I met him. Um he does a lot of like historical explores around this area and he’ll show you the canals and the history of them and the railways. He did a fantastic one on this canal, not a long actually. Wobbly Runner. I’ll pop the link in my video description because if you’re into history of railways and canals and stuff and Paul does some fantastic videos and if you live sort of in the South Yorkshire Darbisher area wealth of videos definitely worth watching. Thank you very much. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it? Not a problem. You have a nice day. This is nice. Here you got a double lock, Turnerwood double. And um just the other side of this little bridge. Lovely little cottages. The foot back goes down another little steps and the steps this way as well. Re-engage there. They don’t look new, do they? Must have been open every time I’ve come down here. Yeah. Look at the swamps here. Beautiful. Look at that. Help me ducks. Age 3. Stop it. Page 36. I ain’t got for you. I’m sorry. Well, I have, but my dinner didn’t [Music] sign. Look, [Music] can you imagine living in one of these houses here? They’re uh not fun. Higher. [Music] Thank you. You attempted to push in that way. Oh no. Shy Oaks Marina. Look. Looks like used to be able to get out over there. Long bridge 38A. Look at that. Heat. Heat. [Music] A pretty lock and a qu little bridge. Not going to tell you what number that one is. Heat. Heat. Have you ever noticed on canals little cycle paths whenever the tarmac they always get bumpy where the trees undermine them, push the tarmac up? You don’t really get that on gravel. But wherever there’s gravel, you don’t get the trees pushing under. Very strange. I mean, I’m guessing perhaps the gravel and the hardcore below it. It’s got a bit more wiggle room, so it tends to move a bit more under it. Therefore, you don’t notice the humps, I guess. Very clear here. The canal Oh, I’m about getting ready for me lunch though. Let me stop after work. That section around worktop’s a bit horrible. where it is just down here, a couple of locks down, there’s a pub right on the side of the canal, which uh nice beer. Probably not stopped today. It’s still early. Only 20 to 12. I’m not alcoholic. So, a bit early to be stopping for a beer. I think it’s a Mars. It looks like it’s got um hotel accommodation as well. This one. Oh, there you go. Not even sure it was open yet to be honest. It is. Yeah. So tempting ain’t it? Nice day. Pretty boats. Another lock. Not a lot count for a while. See what number we’re on. Number 48. We started on one. There you go. So, there was quite a lot missing out through the abandoned section. I mean, obviously, I showed you the three or four locks on where they used to be that were now just a bit overgrown and bricked up, but at least we saw them. Don’t know how many are on the section. that we didn’t ride along. Nice bit of all industrial heritage there, so I’m in uncharted territory now. Workshop’s just there. I’ve not done this stretch before, so it’ be interesting. The path’s turned straight away. Look, I don’t even know if I’m supposed to be on it. We’ll see, won’t we? [Music] I’m led to believe that some parts of this are footpath, some bits are multi-user. However, if you go on the canal and rivers trust site, there is a section called cycling the Chesterfield Canal and then it just sends you the whole way. So, I don’t know. It’s just blood on see what we find. Probably narrow here. Look, the next town on route is Rexford. Very shallow in the edges there. You never know. Just been through work, so it’s just instantly gone quiet. But it’s lovely. I can find a bench, stop and have a bite to eat. Nice walk coming up. [Music] No swimming. Not kidding. Oh, I definitely got a bit more uh rugged. This is going to be a slow afternoon. This This is not quick. Oh wa. Remember to keep standing up and hit these divots. God, saddle’s just firing up through my spine. Thank you very much. Thank you. Whoa. Definitely got to have your wits about your ear. Luckily, some uh geese has just been cut in the grass, so it makes it a little bit easier cuz there’s places where you can’t bloody see a thing. And you’ve got about three foot or what you think’s three foot river bank to the side and it’s not. You’re about a foot from the water and it’s just all weeds. So yeah, it’s uh definitely a lot less civilized after work. So you’ve really got to be paying attention. and you can’t look around as much, which is a shame cuz if you hit a rope, you’re in. So, I’ve got to be got to kind of be on it as to where my wheels go in. I mean, these little roots kind of just got to ride them. But it is lovely. Still haven’t found anywhere to stop and have me lunch. I should have had it at work, shouldn’t I? Oh, I feel like I’ve got a puncture. I have indeed. Oh, it’s bloody back wheel and all in it. Hello sheeps. All [Music] right, let’s get this changed then. Flat as a pancake. Never mind. not take long. It’s pretty uh it’s pretty narrow. Look, I was just chatting to that guy who was in the grass cutting when I got puncture. He said it’s pretty much like this all the way to Westtock with now about 20 mile. So, I’m going to guess it’s going to be a bit of a a slog this, but we’ll see. [Music] Can’t find anything in me tire unfortunately. So I’m not sure what punctured that tube. obvious signs some patches. So probably that tube tonight just as a spare me dinner. Pretty hungry. I mean, this ain’t bad. Instead like this, it’d be all right. It’s It’s not It’s the ruted bumpy stuff. I’m using a lock as well. Locked as well. help. This is Osbert and Lock. [Music] Jackie, come on. That’s crap in it. That gate was locked. I had to crawl under it and I used to have snag me jacket on a nail or somewhere. Not even that old. Very frustrating. Oh, it feels like purgatory. Oh, I tell you what, it’s just so bumpy and ruted. Progress is very slow. I mean, I’m lucky if I’m doing 7 mph. [Music] It’s anywhere from 6 to 7 m an hour at a push. She just about get a little bit of speed up and then scrubbed off again. I don’t know if you can see how bumpy it is. So, uh, just coming up towards Rani and then we got Repford next. [Music] Yeah, this is hard work. Lovely up to work and then after it torturous. Probably won’t be so bad if you’re on a full sus or a hard tail mountain bike, but on a gravel bike. Who? Yeah. It’s hard going. Still pl on. About 16 17 miles left, I think. Very slow going. Very slow. Oh, I tell you what, I was going to ride it there and ride it back the next day. I’m glad I made that decision not to. There is some sections which are not bad to a pub. Tell you what, could definitely do a pint. I can get over there. I’m wait for the pint. [Music] That’s calm. Too bloody easy, wasn’t it? Damn. I was hoping there was a bridge around corner. I could just find Never mind. We keep plotting. [Music] I’m just having a spot lunch at Redford at the minute. It’s about half one. So, just as I got past work, so I thought I just find a bench up here. There was literally nothing. Absolute it was rubbish. And then obviously got the puncture. Just a bumpy, ruted, horrible surface to ride on. So I don’t think I’ll be recommending this one after work up. Although this stretch is nice. I’m at Redford, but it’s only been like this for about a mile if that. So um yeah, I’m going that way. So I’ll have to see what it’s like. Um not sure how far we’ve got left. 15 miles probably. might be a bit less than that. But if it’s anything like that last section, it’s awful. You’re so close to the edge, but like my M just said, at least you can say you’ve done it. At least you know it’s not one you want to do again after work. So, but if I’d not done it, I’d always think I need to do that. Anyway, right, I’m going to grab a sandwich and then uh chuck you back on the bike. And we’re just leaving Repford now. We’re rolling through Nazda there. Right side of the canal. Steps down to it. If you wanted anything had a sandwich and me brute at side of Canal had a look on the map. Looks like that’s 159 by the way. I said there were 64. There will not be many now. Um, next couple of miles are like this and then it goes back to [Music] Hey. Yeah. Watch red on here. Oh god. It’s a rubbish surface and rather than pumps, it’s like rigid potholes. It’s almost like someone stretched it apart and ripped. I don’t know better footpath or bumpy charm. Thank you. No problem. Cheers. Oh, that was me thinking it might be quite a nice run this next couple of miles long. I don’t know. I’ve got about 25 miles left today. So I did ride to the start Chesterfield Canal. So that was about 6 milesi. So I think be about 60 mi today similar tomorrow. Oh yeah. Thank you very much. 57 about 84. Not a lot of bridges left. Not a lot of locks. How deep it is. It’s about five or six foot deep. Very clear here. It’s clear as I’ve seen it today actually. Come on, bat. Bridge 83 Mistton. So, we got about half a mile to the end now. We just got a a bit of nice Well, I think it’s just the landing, isn’t it? It’s a bit more grally up this end, but it’s been awful. There’s a couple of place I’ve even had to just nip off and do a mile on the road. Just give me back end a rest. Oh yeah, been a tough one this. Right, I’ll take you back on last half hour and then I’m going to meander down to Gainesburgh where I’ve got a hotel tonight and then we’ll tell you about tomorrow. Oh, feels like I’m going to have a bit of a headwind as well on the way to Gainesburgh. Feels like when the wind has it in the camping often, it’s felt like it’s been from behind. Probably means when I turn to head south, it’s going to be a headwind, isn’t it? Never mind. I only need two car to get in. 8 to 10 mile or something. So, we’ll see. Thank you very much. Cheers, buddy. So yeah, definitely a canal of two halves. Well, literally is a canal of two halves, isn’t it? But I think you stretch the field uh workshops. Lovely. And then literally that second lock on the outskirts of workshop where I showed you that big old cooling tower, that chimney next to I think it was an old pumping engine house literally just changed there like Yeah. 30 miles of that. 30. No, it’s not. 20 25ish, something like that. Oh, yeah. Pretty brutal. [Music] I see some boats on here though. I’m going to lock these all permanently. side fish. I believe there’s a basin here as well. And then your final lock there to get into the tren where you coming it. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Right, we’re stuck with end of the Chesterfield Canal. There’s the last lock. Look, I’m stood on the last bridge. So, bridge 84, lock 64. Yeah, been a battle since workshop, I’ll be honest. But glad I’ve done it. I take it off and and I think I’ll come and do it again. So, I’m going to have a meander down there just to pick up the tren and I’ll show you when we’re down there. All right. So there we go. Walk 64. We stop with Oh, 65. Don’t lie. 65 there. River Trent log some reason. And I don’t know. I always thought the trend would flow that way. It’s kind of flying north is it towards Ghoul. Must be going towards the Humber estury then. Yeah. But yeah, that’s it then. So thoughts on that? I would say Chesterfield to Workshop. Beautiful. One of my favorite stretches. Literally the second lock as you’re exiting workshop. Horrible. Honestly, it’s 25 miles of I don’t know how to describe it. Probably be better on a mountain bike. There was some bits that was so bad I had to come off the canal and just like do a mile or two on the road just to give me back end a rest. But it was absolutely just bone shakingly brutal and sort of narrow in place. It was like two foot wide. You’re thinking I’m in these ruts. If I go wrong here, I’m straight in. really enjoy it. It was quite unnerving, I suppose, is the way you could say cuz it’s constantly focusing on Right, I need to look at where my wheels going. So, glad I’ve done it. I won’t do it again. So, now I’m going to head down to Gainesburgh. I’ve got about uh well, I ain’t got 180 miles, have I? That’s helpful. Got some miles. I have no idea. I don’t think it’s that far. We’ll see anyway. I think it’s less than 10. Right, let’s get going. Look at them angry skies. Not got far to go to be fair. But yeah, it might get wet. Might not. Oh, the train coming. Result. [Applause] Cool. I’m not a train nerd. Honest. It’s cool to see it. Nice bit of engineering.