Cycling on a tiny portion of Route 67 today. Cycled from North to South down the Five Pits Trail for the most part heading out from Chesterfield. The trail takes in 5 old reclaimed colliery sites, the clues in the name. Once upon a time Derbyshire was a major player in the coal industry but now it’s only the names and pockets of adjacent housing that remain of the old industry. The trail itself is a pleasant pedal with a number of ponds on the route. Derbyshire County Council maintain the trail and so it’s in good condition very little graffiti and no burnt out benches. Some gradients on route make the trail a little more interesting than the archetypal old railway line trail. Plus there’s a new off road cycle route half way along. The journey from Chesterfield to the ‘end’ of the portion of NCN 67 as marked on the Ordnance survey is just short of 13 miles (taking in a section of the Silverdale trail near Newton; itself an old rail line). The route ends on the south side of Tibshelf. Unfortunately the absolute very end of the cycle route is a little ‘distressed’ currently with litter and some minor fly tipping creating an unwelcome sight. It would be great one day if the 67 was joined up all the way. It crests momentarily and then dives under the surface of the paper again like a sea serpent swimming up the ordnance survey map through Derbyshire.
pedallingthere 