Tuesday 12 April 2011

Shireoakes

On Sunday morning, hubby and I took ourselves off to discover Shireoakes in North Nottinghamshire, just a 15 minute drive away from home. We had never been to Shireoakes before we did the Cuckoo Way that Deb had recommended on her blog and we had been surprised how really lovely it was. We had driven past the end of the road to Shireoakes many times, but had never had reason to visit. We decided to start at Nona's for one of her lovely breakfasts. Nona's is a wonderful little cafe. If you live nearby make sure you visit soon as she is moving further down the canal in June. The inside of this tiny cafe is like your granny's kitchen and so cosy. Nona makes all her own cakes and scones etc and serves delicious coffee. When I took my mum and sister a few weeks ago, my sister mentioned how me and her used to fight over the mixing bowl when mum made cakes. Nona gave us the bowl to lick clean - its that kind of a place. Nona and her mum are sooooooo friendly. This time we walked from Shireoakes to Worksop. On the way, you pass Shireoakes Marina where they are building a replica of one of the barges that would have worked on the Chesterfield Canal.

We crossed over one of the pretty little bridges - this is the one in the suburb of Worksop called Rhodesia.
As you approach Worksop, the houses on the canal side get bigger and have lovely gardens down to the water.
I couldn't resist this shot - so cute.
Back in Shireoakes we decided to have a good look around the small village. St Lukes Church is very pretty.
I always thought Shireoakes was just another pit village (the colliery, like many in the are is now long gone). We wandered around the common area and found Shireoakes Hall . Such a shame that it is ruin, I thought this place looked quite french.

In front of the hall is an old barn that has been turned into a pub, and a couple of fishing lakes, which were very popular on this very sunny Sunday.
Somewhere else discovered on my doorstep.

20 comments:

ted and bunny said...

not quite sure how I landed here, but so pleased I did!
As soon as I saw your little heart-shaped stones I knew it would be lovely.

Thankyou for the post and great photos; I feel like I've visited this wonderful place with you
xx

Anonymous said...

Oh that looks so nice and not a million miles away from us. I hope we will manage to spend a day there this summer. feel quite inspired.

potterjotter said...

I'll have to suss it out when I next visit the parents as they live on the South Yorkshire/Nottinghamshire border so its not far away! You find the most marvellous places Diane.

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Isn't our country so beautiful. I was away in Devon this past week and marvelled at the beauty of our English countryside all the way home to Cornwall. Not long now then ... sweetpea ! xx

Carol said...

Another beautiful local discovery.
A little further afield between Worksop and Mansfield is the Harley Gallery and at the moment they have the Smile exhibition http://www.harleygallery.co.uk/
Carol xx

Mister D said...

Lovely tour - must discover nonas soon

Vintage Tea Time said...

What a lovely walk - thanks for sharing! x

Roger Bunting said...

That is really annoying. Every day I walk round Godfrey's pond and down the canal from Morse lock to Worksop and I've not seen any ducklings yet. They're beautiful and I can't wait to see some.

Did you know that there's a very odd gravestone in Shireoaks churchyard?

Miss Holly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Miss Holly said...

What a lovely stroll.....and the ducks and ducklings.....so sweet! Thanks for stopping by my site....anytime you would like to start an embroidery I would love to help...just pop back with any questions!

Lisa said...

What another great discovery. I like the start to your day!
Lisa x

Rosie said...

Lovely! Even though we lived not very far away I don't think I've ever been to Shireoaks. I used to spend a week every year at Worksop when I was a child staying with an Aunt and cousin - we used to have great fun! It looks a lovely walk and Nonas cafe sounds wonderful:)

two bones and a bagle said...

Oh lovely post stil not been to Nona's will have to visit soon. The duckings are so cute when I told Mr K that there were ducklings on the canal he was impressed that I found out via you. The wonderful word of blog. Have you been to Mr Straw's house in Worksop you would love it - it is fascinating I loved it so much in the Kitchen I nearly fell over trying to see a old knitted jumper I forgot there was a wire to stop you entering. So funny. TTFN.

made-and-found said...

Thanks for sharing such a lovely walk.We're so lucky to have so many lovely places on our doorstep.
Anne x

diane b said...

Another interesting English village. It is fun to find places you didn't know existed close by.

Ray+Joan said...

What a lovely village it looked so peacefull

Virginia said...

I love the photos of this pretty place but I really coudn't get past the scones! HA
V

HippieGirl said...

Man, seeing all these pictures of some of the little villages in England makes me want to visit it that much more. The picture of the ducks were cute, I love ducks, they're so adorable. The St. Luke's Church is very beautiful, it looks so pretty, it makes me want to visit England so badly, the beautiful countryside outside the cities is almost beckoning me to come visit it! Hopefully someday when I get a passport and some money I'm coming to see England, my first stop, as a major Beatles fan, will be to Abbey Road studios in London, at least I think that's where it is. :) :)

Diane said...

You find the most amazing walks. I never knew there was a suburb called Rhodesia in the UK, I want to see it :-) Diane

Roger said...

Found the ducklings!