Marr, Barnburgh, Harlington, and Conisbrough

It's the first weekend of the National Heritage Open Week scheme. Since I was unable to arrange to go anywhere further afield in the car with my support worker I've decided to plan a short local walk visiting a few properties which will be specifically opened up for the day, or it will be free admission.

I caught the X19 Barnsley bus to Marr and then walked along the winding country road to just beyond Barnburgh Crags where I took a footpath going down to Barnburgh.

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I've never visited the dovecote at Barnburgh, it's located on private land - normally you can't even get up close enough to photograph it.

I've photographed the church many times before but think today might have been the first time I'd been inside. Like as it was at the dovecote there was plenty to see inside, mainly photographs and local history displays about the village.

I walked through the village to Harlington and then down the lane to the River Dearne and joined the TransPennine Trail. I continued for a couple of miles until I reached Conisbrough and climbed up to the castle.

I didn't climb up to the top of the keep, I've done it a couple of times before - it was busy, people were queueing...and I was tired by now,

The final photograph was taken from the bus stop where I would have caught the bus back to Doncaster, but because of the number of parked cars on the narrow streets the buses weren't serving Conisbrough town centre and so I had to walk up to the main road to catch one.

Bakewell, Youlgreave, Alport, and Haddon Hall

A loop walk today from Bakewell, heading south to Youlgreave. Outbound I went directly to Youlgreave accross the fields and along a stretch of road and I returned back towards Bakewell going via Alport. I finished the walk short at the bus stop for Haddon Hall though because I felt a bit out of sorts, tired and achy. After looking at the timetable I was expecting a wait of forty five minutes; there are two buses an hour but they both arrive within a minute of each other. Fortunately the TransPeak bus was running half an hour late and so I had only fifteen minutes to wait...I still had quite a long wait at Bakewell for the bus back to Sheffield though.

Warmsworth to Conisbrough

A hastily arranged walk this morning down in the Don Gorge, one of my favourite local places to go walking. I caught the bus to Warmsworth and then walked along Mill Lane to get access to the gorge by going down the steps at the side of the railway line.

I then just walked upstream for a couple of miles to Conisbrough.

I did a detour into Steetley Quarry, which I've read is going to be used for landfill...that's going to spoil this area.

As I approached Conisbrough Castle I kept taking photographs.

I caught the bus back to Doncaster from Conisbrough town centre, I didn't have too long to wait and there's a seat in the bus shelter anyhow.

Wentworth, Elsecar, Wath upon Dearne, and Manvers

I caught the train to Rotherham and then the Barnsley bus to Wenntworth to start my walk today. Wentworth is a really pretty village with plenty to see.

After exploring the village I headed across the field down to Elsecar to visit the Heritage Centre. On the way the path passes through a wood and a man went out of his way to tell me that he's very concerned because he's not seen any acorns this year and some oak trees are covered in a white fungus. For the rest of the walk I looked out for oaks but only spotted a few and there were definitely no acorns either on the trees or on the ground...I didn't see any white fungus though.

There has been some recent renovation work at Elsecar, improving the conditions underfoot.

I then headed northeast using the towpath of the Elsecar Canal until I reached the TransPennine Trail near to Brampton Bierlow. This section was rather boring and so I didn't take many photographs.

I called in for refreshments at The Bull Bell Inn; £6 for a pint of Pepsi Max and a bag of salt and vinegar crisps is rather expensive.

I had nearly an hour unril my bus to Doncaster was due and so walked to Wath town centre and then continued on to the bypass to wait for the bus.