Langold, Hodsock, Scofton, and Worksop

I thought it might be a bit cold and windy for going walking in the Peak District this morning; I don't like cold winds, they give me earache. I also got up a bit late and so it would be a rush to get to the station to catch the early train to Sheffield. So...I chose a local walk, just over the boundary in Nottinghamshire.

I got off the bus at Langold just before it goes round the housing estate, walked past the shops, and found my footpath just south of the village. It was sunny, but spitting with rain a bit; the only rain of the day though.

I walked along broad, well-maintained tracks for a couple of miles until I reached Hodstock. My view from the public footpath of the priory wasn't very good, I was too far away. Some estate workers were repairing some fencing, otherwise I would have ventured closer to take some photographs. This is the best I could manage from where I was.

About a mile later I reached a stretch of busy road, dead straight as it happens. I rushed along this section, always wary of traffic. I easily found the bridleway which goes down into Thievesdale and then along estate roads to Scofton. I stopped soon after leaving the road to eat my sandwiches. A woman with two dogs was walking towards me, all of a sudden both dogs sniffed something in the air and came running over to me, licking my fingers and trying to get to the food in my rucksack. Both dogs were friendly and passive and I didn't feel threatened at all by them, and their owner was very pleasant and apologetic - but I would have preferred that it didn't have happened.

Scofton is quite picturesque.

Just beyond the village I crossed over the River Ryton; I could have chosen to use a ford if I preferred. A few yards further I arrived at the canal, the Chesterfield Canal, at Osberton Lock.

I would be following the towpath back to Worksop. There are some pretty stone bridges, several of which I had to stoop to walk under. 

Not too far from Worksop there's a point where three bridges cross the canal very close together; I thought it made an interesting photograph.

A few minutes later I noticed some teenagers larking about as they walked along a sliproad leading to an industrial estate. I sensed troubled...and I was correct. As soon as they saw me they started yelling abuse about me being a weirdo and then started to throw stones, maybe aiming them at me, or maybe just throwing them in the canal so that they might splash me. Welcome to Worksop: this has never happened to me on a walk before, but I am abused, bullied, or ridiculed about once a month - I'm sure this is because of my Asperger's syndrome and how I walk, caused by my unusually long limbs and them being out of proportion...I describe my gait as a combination of an over-excited orang-utan and a Thunderbirds puppet.

I continued without incident all the way to Worksop town centre. At one point I passed what I can only describe as an old Italianate-style pumping house - I was able to take photographs from several angles as the canal loops round at this location.

As I neared the town centre I could see the towers of Worksop Priory; I wanted to incorporate a visit into the walk, but the timing wasn't right - it would have meant me waiting a long time for a later bus back to Doncaster. As it was, I only had a few minutes to wait.