NCN 6 Nottingham to Sheffield

NCN 6 Stage 5.
111km
Nottingham to Sheffield

A fabulous route through the Dukeries of Nottinghamshire, visiting sites of old colleries, passing through huge ducal estates and of course the forest haunts of Robin Hood, before entering the heartland of England’s industrial north.

Ride details
Distance:111km
Start: Nottingham Market Square
Finish: Sheffield City Hall.
Nearest Mainline station: Nottingham
Nearest Mainline to the finish: Sheffield
Time needed: 1 day. (riding time approx. 6 hours)
Difficulty: Easy and flat.
Traffic and Surfaces: Shared paths, quiet country lanes, and forest paths with superb signage and good surfaces for the entire route.
Cycle Paths: NCN 6, NCN 67, NCN 674
Recommended café stops; Newstead; Newstead Abbey Cafe, Clumber Park; The Turning Yard, Rotherham; Fitzwilliam and Hugh (opposite the Minster), Sheffield; Tonto Restaurant, 2, Dyson Place, Sharrow - (a hidden gem in the north-west of the city, specialising in eclectic but simple plates and fabulous wine.)
What to see: (£) Newstead; Newstead Abbey, Clumber; Clumber Park, Chapel and estate, Sherwood Forest; The visitor centre and the Major Oak (the largest oak tree in Britain), Rotherham; The Minster, Sheffield; The Millennium Gallery, Cathedral, Winter Gardens.

Links to stage 4 and stage 6

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Stage 5
Nottingham to Sheffield
I ask a cyclist as we wait in the main market square at traffic lights if there is a good traffic-free route out of the city. He laughs - ‘Traffic-free, mate? Here? - You must be joking - car is king here mate. But you could take the river path out if you’re going that way’. So return along the traffic-free Derwent cycle path until you pick up Route 6 going north.

NCN 6, Linby — NCN 6 Linby - you would not believe that this was the site of the Europe’s largest coal mine, would you?

Sherwood Forest
The excellent route follows an easy path and joins the Linby Trail - an old coal-mine railway track. The surfaces in the county are superb, and the waymarking the best in the land. The route passes Linby mine - signalled by a huge winding wheel set into grass. The mine was, in it’s time, the largest in Europe. From here, you ride on well-surfaced forest tracks until Newstead Park, Lord Byron’s home. It’s well worth a stop, if nothing else, for the coffee in the good little cafe. A short road section follows before another splendid off road path through wonderful forest of Robin Hood. 1km off the route is the Major Oak, one of the oldest trees in Britain and rumoured to be Robin Hood’s base. The riding is through an arboreal heaven.

The Dukeries
Continue through the forests with the odd break for fields with distant views of preserved winding towers from the coal mines. There is almost no evidence that this was once the heart of Britain’s coal mining industry - the land has healed. You are now riding through the Dukeries, so named because four Dukes - Newcastle, Norfolk, Kingston and Portland owned enormous tracts of land around here. You pass Clumber Park, once the Duke of Newcastle’s seat. The Park is a quintessential English landscape, with stands of trees, long avenues of double lime trees, and an enormous ornamental lake.The only remains of the grand house are a chapel and lake - and a good National Trust Cafe - The Turning Yard Cafe.

Worksop to Rotherham
From Clumber, quiet roads and cycle paths through gentle cornfields and woods, lead to Worksop. Thereafter, a mix of quiet roads, paths and canalised tracks lead you through the Rother Country Park and on to Rotherham. The Minster in the centre of town, is a jewel of medieval architecture.

Rotherham to Sheffield
From Rotherham to Sheffield, you ride alongside the Tinsley Canal, through a mix of gentle countryside and some fabulous abandoned textile mills in red brick. Much has been done to restore nature to the Derwent valley. It is hard to believe that you are riding through one of the densest industrial areas of Britain.

Sheffield
After so many kilometres of tranquil forest, calm canals and gentle ex-industrial countryside to suddenly arrive in the heart of Sheffield takes a moment of adjustment. But the signage and the superb cycling facilities take away the strain and all that is left is to find a place to stay and eat. Sheffield is a vibrant university town which is undergoing significant regeneration. It is becoming nationally famous for its many restaurants.