Clayworth | nichepoetryandprose

poetry and prose about place

Posts Tagged ‘Clayworth’

virtual travel: Everton to Beckingham

The next stretch of my virtual cycling program (to visit the villages and towns of my ‘Spavold’ ancestors) took me from Everton in Nottinghamshire, to Clayworth, to Beckingham.

map showing route between Everton and Beckingham (Nottinghamshire) (Source: Google Earth)

Date	From	To	Distance	Time
November 4	Everton	Clayworth	5 km	20 minutes
November 5	Clayworth	Gringly on the Hill	4 km	18 minutes
November 6	Gringly on the Hill	Beckingham	6 km	20 minutes

flat land outside Everton (Source:Google Earth)

I began at Everton where the land is very flat. The area from there to Clayworth is dominated by fields and farms. The names alongtheu way are interesting… for example Drakeholes???? Death Lane???? The name Clayworth was once thought to represent the soils in the area but now it is thought to refer to a protective area of hills near the village.

road through Drakeholes (Source: Google Earth)

Death Lane near Clay worth (Source:Google Earth)

The cycle along the road to Gringly on the Hill was flat and also agricultural. Huge fields had been planted along the road.

Agricultural fields in Nottinghamshire (Source:Google Earth)

Also, there were wild pink roses in bloom along the way.

Pink roses along the road to Gringly on the Hill (Source: Google Earth)

The Double highway from Gringly on the Hill to Beckingham was rather dull, except for a large industrial site on the horizon.

Power plant in the distance (Source:Google Earth)

This turned out to be the power generating station at West Burton.

Power plant … the funnel-shaped constructions are cooling towers (Source:Google Earth)

Also, in aerial view, I found a large area near North Wheatley that looked, at first, like a large solar farm. With a little reading, I now think it is more likely to be a view of extensive strawberry polytunnels … the area is known for its strawberry production and the logo for North Wheatley includes the image of a strawberry.

Aerial view of extensive strawberry-growing polytunnels near North Wheatley (source: Google Earth)

strawberries from my drawing in Jennifer Houle’s ‘A Child’s Botanical Alphabet.’

The next leg of my journey will take me to Gainsborough and Walkingerham, Lincolnshire, where three early families with the last name Spaveld/Spaven/Spavalde lived in the 1400s.

All my best,

Jane