Group Walk To Langold Lake And Firbeck

Last month the highest number of people came on the group walk; twenty two people went to Clumber Park. This month there were only seven of us, the fewest ever. Maybe it was because it's a Saturday and people had other things to do -  the day was chosen so that it would be easier for those using the bus to get to the pick up point in town though, and we were expecting more people to be there.

The travel plans went according to plan and we arrived at Langold Lake at just after ten thirty. 

We walked round the lower part of the lake and then headed off towards Firbeck where we ate our sandwiches and collected some conkers for the children. They were easy picking, just lying around on the grass. 

We returned back to Langold, partially retracing our route.

There's usually something new to see on a walk; today it was these neatly trimmed hedges and overhanging branches at the edge of a field.

Sometimes there's also something unexplained that I come across; today it was this curved metal barrier down by the beck at Firbeck.

Any suggestions as to what it might be?

A Visit To Temple Newsam House, Near Leeds

Another day out with my support worker.

It all  started with the saga of the two hand-written notices. The first one was on the parking ticket machine at the car park. I followed the instructions as best as I could, but after a dozen failed attempts my finger was sore and so I gave up and we returned to the car and placed our own hand-written notice on the dashboard....I don't think anyone paid to park there today though.

I soon noticed that Temple Newsam House isn't the prettiest stately home as you approach it, but once inside it turned out to be one of my favourites to visit so far.

I've never seen so many beautiful paintings and items of furniture in one property. It's a large house, and there are a lot of stairs and I think Siobhan, my support worker, was quite tired after exploring the building. There was only one thing that I didn't like, some garish modern paintings by Grayson Perry hung on some of the walls; neither of us liked them and we told one of the volunteers who worked there that they were inappropriate and intrusive...she said that many more people had also gone out of their way to make the same point.

Next up we walked over to the stable block and had a pot of tea in the café, and then explored the courtyard.

There's also a farm at Temple Newsam that's fully accessible to the public. It's quite extensive and includes a couple of dozen buildings housing livestock, or displays and exhibits, and a large area of enclosed paddocks with a winding path allowing access to many areas to view the animals. 

After leaving the farm we would have spent an hour or two walking around the grounds of the estate but by now it had started to rain and turned quite cold, so we decided to stop off at Selby on our way home; a pleasant market town with an impressive abbey.

We had time for a pot of tea and toasted teacakes...and a quick look round the charity shops.

Panoramio

Here's a link to my Panoramio page where I store all of my photographs online which I've taken on my walks or days out; there are 354 of them at the moment.

http://www.panoramio.com/user/7203993

Moscar Lodge, Ashopton, Yorkshire Bridge, and Bamford

A perfect day today on public transport, including me timing my arrival at bus stops and Sheffield Railway Station so that my total waiting time was no more than five minutes. I even caught one of the few non-stop trains back to Doncaster.

Anyhow, I got off the bus at Moscar Lodge, right on the county boundary, and took the path that leads northwards, right past the lodge. There's no footpath sign, and someone who's not confident about their mapreading skills might be hesitant since the path goes right up the private drive belonging to the lodge....I wasn't hesitant though - I don't think anyone was at home to challenge me anyhow - it looked like the building was being renovated.

Just beyond the lodge the path merges with a byway and then I was heading in a westerly direction, with this being the view straight ahead.

I soon reached a road and a well-hidden location which seems to be an intersection of major gas pipelines; there's something similar further south at Owler Bar.

For the next half a mile I was walking in a southwesterly direction. I passed through the farmyard at Moscar House, serenaded by the two, or maybe three, resident dogs.

Without looking at my map I wasn't quite sure where my route ahead lay, but a couple of joggers overtook me and were heading up onto Derwent Moors, just where I needed to be...so I'd be able to follow them. In truth, the path was very well trodden and I wouldn't have needed to consult the map at all.

Although the heather was probably a week or two past its best, the entire moor was still tinged with purple, and was very impressive. For most of this section I was walking past a line of very well constructed grouse butts; I could imagine them being very comfortable for the shooters during the grouse shooting season in August.

It was a steady climb for about a mile and a half and then I reached the ridge where the land started to drop away. I soon got my first glimpse of Ladybower Reservoir and the Upper Derwent Valley. The reservoir would be in view until I lost enough height so that it was blocked by higher land in the foreground....my view of it would soon be re-established though, further down the hillside and then as I walked along the track which skirts the shore.

As I reached the main Snake Pass road and was crossing the Ashopton Viaduct over the reservoir I made a decision. I had noticed that for the last mile or so the Achilles' tendon on my right heel had been stiffening up, and so I would be ending the walk at Bamford, and not Hope as I planned to. I'd never had any problems with my Achilles' tendon until I played a bit of football at Clumber Park last week - since then I've had varying degrees of discomfort every day.

At Bamford I caught the number 244 bus for the first time; unlike most of the other services in the Peak District there weren't many people travelling on it.