Hooton Pagnell Village Fete 2026

My first visit for three years, on the previous two occasions I didn't go because the weather forecast was poor...but the weather actually turned out better. Today the forecast was accurate, cloudy all day but only a couple of very brief and very light showers.

Of course, for me the highlight was the music. The Doncaster Ukulele Group performed inside the church this year, they are now using vocals and a sea shanty they sang was very good, the men's deep booming voices certainly lifted it up - the rest of the stuff was a bit flat though. There was samba band, Banda Na Rua which was very loud and played original tunes and so it was difficult for me to really get into things. They weren't really a parade band either, only marching at the end of their last set when fewer people were around - I much preferrred the Trumptarn Guggenband from Barnsley which I'd seen in previous years. Doncaster Concert Band gave a competent performance playing some interesting and quirky medlies, whilst Brad Mack, a solo singer was probably my favourite this year with his extensive repertoire of songs from the 1940s to the present day - he even posed for a photograph at the end. There was also a rock band appearing out on the terrace at the back of the pub, but I didn't get to see that.

Braithwell, Stainton, and Tickhill

I caught the X2 Sheffield bus to Braithwell today and walked through the village and then across the fields and around the perimeter of a landscaped former quarry to reach Stainton.

[I think it's been a good year for the roses]

In order to reach the path that goes over to Tickhill I had to walk along a narrow road with several blind corners and no grass verge, fortunately it isn't very busy.

The footpath broadened out into a track as I approached the alpaca farm near Tickhill.

There was a sign stating that the church was open so I went inside.

There are other things to see at Tickhill but I then went straight to the bus stop.

The Hidden Gardens and Courtyards of Wirksworth

A visit to the Hidden Gardens and Courtyards of Wirksworth today. The weather was forecast to be just as hot as it has been recently so I was prepared with a couple of litres of orange squash in my rucksack. With Wirksworth being a town there would be shops where I could buy sandwiches or snacks; there were also refreshments being served at several of the open gardens.

I arrived with nearly an hour before the gardens would be opening and so I wandered around the town and popped inside the church.

It was a long day with twenty five gardens which were open; I did quite a bit of walking around the hilly terrain and managed to visit twenty of them; there were three situated at quite a distance from the town centre up a steep hill which I decided not to visit and two gardens that were so well hidden I couldn't find them. At these open garden events the gardens are usually marked with brightly coloured balloons or bunting, but today it was just black arrows on white card.

Scrooby and Ranskill

Another local walk today so that I could get an early start before the weather got too hot.

I travelled on the Retford bus to Scrooby, the first village in Nottinghamshire, and then headed southeast to Mattersey Grange and then the road going back east to Ranskill.

The level crossing at Scrooby is now pernanently closed; a man in a van was on his mobile phone asking for instructions because he didn't know about the closure either., I had to use the pedestrian only crossing over the railway a few hundred yards south but was soon able to continue along my originally planned route. 

I left the road as soon as possible, cutting through Birch Wood and coming out near to Ranskill level crossing [which is open]. I walked up to the bus stop on the main road, stopping at the shop for an iced lolly, and had half an hour to wait for the bus back to Doncasster.. 

Thurnscoe, Billingley, and Darfielld

I needed to visit my brother at Thurnscoe today and so I caught the 203 Wombwell bus; it's a lovely route, passing through the pretty villages of Brodsworth, Hooton Pagnell, and Clayton. After staying for nearly an hour I set off heading towards the site of the old sewage farm which is looking quite a bit different since the last time I was there. I climbed up to Billingley and then went down the lane and the disused road to Darfield to catch the bus back to Doncaster.