Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.
Today Angela and I enjoyed a short circular 4.5-mile walk in Newark. The weather for the past couple of weeks has been very wet culminating in storm Claudia a couple of days ago. Everywhere was water logged so we chose a route with good paths.
We parked in Sconce and Devon Park – the largest open space in Newark. You may be wondering how it got such an unusual name. Well, within the park lies The Queen’s Sconce – a scheduled ancient monument and the river Devon. Neither of us had been here before.
Because it was early on a Sunday morning the park was occupied with dog walkers mostly. The Park Run team were setting up for a Children’s Park Run.
During the English Civil War Newark played a vital role. It was a Royalist stronghold and was besieged on three occasions. At the end of the second siege the towns defences were fortified by building two earthwork defences. A Dutch Engineer named Sir Bernard de Gomme designed the new defences – the word sconce is the Dutch word for fort. The two earthwork forts were named the Kings Sconce and the Queens Sconce – only the Queens Sconce survives.
The Queens Sconce would have been garrisoned by around 150 troops during the siege. The soldiers had their quarters close to the ammunition store in the hollow at the centre of the sconce.
The third siege lasted six months and the Royalist forces were weakened by famine and plague. Finally, the King ordered the surrender of Newark. After the surrender the parliamentarians left quickly, not wishing to risk the plague. Hence, the Sconce is still here today.
We crossed over the forts ditch using the attractive bridge.
There is a lovely sculpture of a canon on the high point of the sconce.
From the top of the sconce we could see the swollen river Devon below.
As we walked around the park we found that our access was restricted because the river Devon had flooded the paths.
As we left the park, to head for the Trent Navigation, we passed another nice sculpture (by Phil Neal)- a bicycle made from bicycle cogs to commemorate the Tour of Britain in 2017.
Reaching the Trent Navigation we could see that the water was moving quickly.
I love this walk by the Trent Navigation – its steeped in history. You can just sense it.
Our riverside path took us beside the ruins of Newark Castle.
It was pleasing to note that some restoration works are occurring and what looks like a visitors centre is being built.
At the town wharf an old barge is being used as a café. I imagined it with its sails hoisted.
We continued along beside the river until the path became too muddy. We then crossed a pedestrian bridge with the famous sugar factory stack billowing steam in the background. There was a distinct smell of sugar beet in the air.
Walking along the opposite bank we passed the entrance to Kings Marina and a bridge that we had crossed earlier.
Our onward progress was frustrated by a path closure and a diversion. We decided that we were not going around the houses and headed back to Sconce and Devon Park. We stopped at the café in the park and enjoyed a coffee.
We will return to the park in the future to enjoy the areas that we couldn’t see today because of the flooding.
Happy Walking! 😊🚶
My Walking Journeys 