Derbyshire 5 - Ireland Colliery that was is now a country park

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Woke up at silly o clock in the morning and quietly tried to put all the bedding away, open cupboards in Suzy to find cups and plates to have our breakfast before I drive to the tunnel for our train home. At 3.15 the sounds from the van sound like thunder claps. It doesnt seem to matter how quietly you try to shut something in the quiet of the early morning it just isnt that quiet. All the site were asleep apart from us. Door opened quietly, electricity disconnected in the complete darkness. A lot of creeping round in the darkness. Guines is one of the few sites were there isnt a barrier which is locked at night. I guess they realise that people want to get off early and cater for that. We left the site at 3.45 still in darkness and drove slowly into Calais. Its not that far and it was surprising that we had one car following us all the way even at that time of the morning. The journey takes about half an hour.

We drove up to the Eurotunnel area which is beautifully landscaped with man made lakes. We seemed the only ones awake as we reached the automated barriers. In Britain the machines recognise your numberplate and welcome you which saves you keying in your details of the booking. Here in France not so. I had to get out of the van, walk to the machine, get the details, put the specs on and key carefully in the number. Once done I noticed that there was a sign saying the next train was at 6 . 30 mins later than the one we had booked on. Guess what - works in the tunnel overnight had overrun and the 5.29 was going to be late. This meant a long wait.

Once we had picked up our boarding pass we moved on to passport control. Only one open at this time of the morning. With a cheery hello I handed them over and we were waved through. We sat for a while in the car park next to the buses who too were waiting for the next train. Getting fed up we walked over to the shopping area which was virtually all shut up. One guy sat at his desk on enquiries fending off offended passengers who moaned about the delay. The only other place open a cafe area where we bought the usual disgusting espressos and capaccinos in plastic mugs and a flan to take home. The flan strangely is rather nice. It was cold waiting and pretty boring. Sometimes it's time to get home and you dont want to wait.

Our idea of going early was to get beyond London before the rush hour started and this we would have achieved if the train had been on time. The half hour delay meant we probably would get stuck in it unless we were very lucky.

Eventually the train arrived and we were called for checking. Was our gas off? Of course. Line up in lane 6 and there we waited for another 10 minutes. The clock ticks by slowly when you are bored and cold and it's still black as a bag outside.

The journey through the tunnel went smoothly as usual and we disembarked putting our watches back the hour. It was still black as it was only 6 o'clock. We travelled through Kent and the traffic was horrific for that time of the morning. Lorries particularly foreign ones flying by and the traffic building up as we approached the M25. This time as we needed to get up the M1 rather than the M42 meant a long drive round the M25 which is plagued by road widening schemes. It was stop, start, stop, start for mile after mile as we skirted round the capital. It seemed as if it was going to take forever to get to the other side but we did get there eventually. We stopped for bacon butties and coffee at Toddington Services and by now dawn had broken. The sky pink but it's still cold . Those temperatures in Portugal seem a dim and distant memory.

Ever onwards north until we reached Chesterfield and started house viewing. After a fairly busy afternoon we drove to Poolsbrook Country Park and the Caravan club site.

Poolsbrook Country Park was once the site of the former Ireland Colliery, but has been transformed from dereliction into a tremendous country park and amenities area according to the council blurb. And this is certainly true as there is no sign of the colliery having been there at all. Glenns father was born at Poolsbrook and his grandfather worked in the pits in the area, his great grandfather too so it was a sort of coming home in a way.



The Park was developed by Derbyshire County Council and Chesterfield Borough Council on the site of the former Ireland Colliery. This 180 acre park boasts 85 acres of woodland 42 acres of grassland and 23 acres of green water. It looked lovely to us and we plan to come back again when we have more time.



The site boasts a Visitor Centre that houses the Ranger base although this was closed when we visited, public toilets, community meeting rooms, a base for the Walk This Way Project and a Community Cafe which opens most days at 10 am . Also in the park are a Children's Adventure Play area, picnic sites, sledging slopes, four miles of trails of cycling, horse riding and walking and lakes for angling.



The park has become important for wildlife and has been designed to encourage wildlife diversity. Ornithologists are particularly pleased at the impressive range of birds attracted. These include Great Crested Grebe, Cormorants, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Pink Footed Geese, Wheatears, Yellow Wagtails and even a Red Throated Pipit and Siberian Chiffchaffs have been spotted. We spotted Heron when we walked around the lake.

The caravan club site is next door and has a friendly reception, a shop selling some produce including fresh milk, has hard standings and also grass pitches and a bus stop right outside the camp with regular service to Chesterfield. Each pitch has electricity and a tv point and some super pitches with drainage and water. The toilet block was exceptionally clean and there are undercover areas for pot washing and clothes washing. The wardens told us they were off to Spain to overwinter once they finished here. What a good life. If I have a complaint then it's the price - at £19 more expensive than abroad and being a caravan club site it caters for tuggers with their cars. They can travel to Bakewell or Matlock to Haddon Hall,Chatsworth and Bolsover easily. For the motorhomer its not that easy. Isnt it about time they remembered that not everyone is a caravanner and motorhomes are becoming more and more popular in Britain. Wishful thinking.

And so it was home . Homeward bound over the Pennines across the Woodhead Pass. It looked beautiful today.

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Photos

Sheffield
The industrial sprawl and the tram

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Woolly I found something to play on