Blyth and Langold Lake Country Park

Today didn't turn out as planned, it got off to a good start though; as I passed through the park to reach the bus stop I lingered for a while to watch the squirrels. Without moving from the main paved path I spotted three of them.

I caught the local bus to Blyth and took the footpath that goes over to Hodsock.

I got lost before reaching Hodsock though, the fields had been ploughed and I couldn't locate the route of the path. I decided to head in a general westerly direction to find another path going to Hodsock. Although this wasn't a footpath it was easy going and I could see horses had been using the route.

On the subject of horses....I heard a strange noise, as it got louder and closer I could see what it was, it was the local huntmaster blowing his horn followeed by a pack of yapping beagles.  I stayed out of sight until he'd passed and then got onto a wide track, not the one I was expecting though. I sat on a conveniently situated boulder to check the map and then all of a sudden dozens of horses came galloping towards me. I was safe, the rock was set well back from the track by several yards. After they'd passed I continued on my way,  only to be confronted by more people on horseback, this time a lot less threatening. There were more people, and parked cars further on; to be fair everyone seemed quite friendly, but I decided it was better to not take any photographs.

Somehow I'd managed to completely miss Hodsock and was now on the lane that goes to the main road and the entrance to Langold Lake Country Park.

Fortunately there was plenty of room to get out of the way of two tractors.

There's a cafe at the country park; I popped in for a Viennese slice and a pot a tea. I finished off the walk by doing a short circuit in areas of the country park I'd not been before - I ended up not seeing the lake though.

I didn't even need to walk up the road to Langold to catch a bus, there's a bus stop right outside the entrance to the car park.

Map My Visitors

It seems that the Map My Visitors app has stopped working, the one with the map at the bottom of the page. I only installed it about a month ago when I discovered the the previous app, Revolver Maps had closed down in April. I've now installed another one called Live Traffic Feed; I don't really like it though, the map's not zoomable and I don't think there's a cummulative tally. I like maps, and several years ago I included a route map for each walk but for some reason that I can't remember now I had to stop doing it.  

UPDATE: It's now working again.

Head Cold

I was all set to go walking in Nottinghamshire tomorrow but I've had to cancel because I've got a head cold that's just come on from nowhere. After having my tea I felt fine and got everything ready, my sandwiches, my drink bottles and my map...but a couple of hours later and my eyes are stinging and I'm sniffling and sneezing.

I hope it's only going to last 24 or 48 hours, they usually do, and I'll be fine for the weekend - I haven't checked the weather forecast yet though.

Hathersage, Leadmill, Offerton, Shatton, and Bamford

Today's walk started by going downhill and then uphill to Hathersage Church and then taking the back way to the centre of the village. I was interrupted though by two cows which were blocking the path at a narrow chokepoint. I couldn't go around them so I had to wait for one to move, and then the other one followed it. Another man was already waiting to come in the other direction and as we waited we had a rather pleasant conversation for a few minutes.

I then left Hathersage, going to Leadmill and briefly along the riverside path before climbing up to Offerton.

Like Leadmill, Offerton is just a collection of a few buildings. I continued walking down the lane into Shatton, a decent-sized village, and then along the road to the bus stop at Bamford Station.

Braithwell, Micklebring, Clifton, Old Edlington, and Edlington

A short local walk today to take advantage of the nice weather; well the weather was okay, but not as pleasant I was expecting after reading the forecast last night. I caught the Maltby bus to Braithwell and took a couple of footpaths to get over to Micklebring; the road is more direct but I remembered from my previous visit that it's a bit dangerous. Even by taking this route there are still a couple of short sections of roadwalking where there isn't a causeway or a verge, just high hedges which come right up to the tarmac of the road surface.

I then took a path heading north to Clifton, passing under the M18 motorway and then the bridleway that ends at the church at Old Edlington. I finished the walk by heading down the hill to the first stop in New Edlington which all of the buses going back to Doncaster use.