As quickly as it had arrived, the thundering roar of the Kings Cross to Edinburgh express a few feet above our heads subsided to a distant whisper. We stood in near-silence again by a reed-flanked waterway reflecting a perfect blue autumn sky, fluffy clouds and the slowly falling Sun.

With its herons, kingfishers and water voles, the Chesterfield Canal leading out of Retford, Nottinghamshire had been a wonderful discovery near our hotel on North Road.

There’s something special about passing under railway bridges on walks. I put it down to connecting with rail travel’s last romantic vestiges, and how the tracks above hold the promise of exciting places where the trains start and end their journeys.

It’s the magic of being under the Boulevard Lefebvre overbridge when a westbound TGV leaves Paris’s Gare Montparnasse; or walking beneath the Gotthard line, arguably Europe’s most important trans-Alpine route, when hiking Switzerland’s Via Gottardo. Then there was the humble utility of the ‘underline’ bridge – officially named as the ‘Ecm1/307 Chesterfield Canal Bridge’ – above the idyllic place where towpath, canal and railway converge on the edge of Retford.

Not just another ‘Nowheresville’

Visiting the East Midlands market town, we quickly learned not to dismiss Retford as some ‘Nowheresville east of the A1’. It’s undoubtedly much more than just another place name on the A1 road signs or somewhere you only visit if you have to. As we discovered, it’s worth a stop to break up a journey. By the way, the Best Western, The West Retford Hotel, isn’t half bad.

Want to go really wild? How about staying a couple of nights to explore Retford’s several theatres, Georgian architecture and history? Before we visited, we didn’t know the Mayflower Pilgrims started their Separatist movement here before crossing the Atlantic and shaping modern America!

Beavers and starling murmurations

The Chesterfield Canal isn’t Retford’s only nature highlight. Nearby, a little further along North Road, wheelchair-accessible Idle Valley Nature Reserve offers the possibility of viewing A-list wildlife – including beavers!

The birding is world class too: Idle Valley is known for its breathtaking starling murmurations. Regardless of whether you see dam-building rodents or mesmerising aerial ballet, the coffee and cake is always a treat at Belmoor Lake’s visitor centre.

Finally, Retford is well placed for excursions such as Clumber Park’s ornamental lakes and walled gardens, or the Peak District’s spectacular Curbar Edge – they are slightly further afield but still easily accessible by car. Oh yes, the short detour down the A620’s ‘Straight Mile’ from the A1 really is worth the effort!