I didn't get much sleep last night and so decided to make an early start this morning. I'd already caught the train and arrived at Sheffield for 7:30, hoping to catch the 7:45 Castleton bus. It actually leaves at 8:05 now, and was running ten minutes late today - as it was though I still got to Brough, a few miles short of Castleton, just before nine o'clock.
I took a footpath I'd not used before, starting off down by the river and then climbing up to Townsfield Lane, which I followed into Shatton.
I only just entered Shatton; I turned to the right and left the village, then used a short stretch of footpath and another narrow country lane until I went up a fairly steep path across the fields to Old Lees Farm. This was another new route for me, that's probably why I got lost after following the footpath as it goes right through the garden of the farmhouse, right next to the windows and then diagonally across the well-tendered lawn.
[The sign reads 'FOOTPATH STRAIGHT THROUGH GARDEN LEFT AT BARN]
Fortunately the woman who lives there came out to give me directions and we ended up chatting for about twenty minutes: I was a bit reluctant to leave...and she probably wanted me to stay longer too.
There were some lovely views as I skimmed the northern edge of Offerton Moor.
I had a Diet Coke at the Millstone Inn at Hathersage Booths - my first time inside the pub.
I then walked up the road for a few minutes until I found a footpath on the left leading to open Access Land going through a wood.
I meandered quite a bit up on the moors, enjoying clambering on the rocks and boulders and wrestling with the bracken before leaping across the Burbage Brook and heading for the bus stop at Fox House.
The bus didn't turn up though; I think it might have been cancelled due to the road closure in the village for the Hathersage Carnival Parade, so...I had to wait an hour for the next bus - some notification would have been helpful.
When I arrived at Sheffield Railway Station it was chaos; a train had broken down somewhere and most trains were indefinitely delayed. I was getting very frustrated with constant automatic announcements apologising for the delay to each individual service...I just wanted a human being to take charge, assess the situation, tells us what's happening and inform us and advise us about our options.
After waiting for a train to Doncaster on every platform and therefore climbing up and down the steps maybe eight times to reach the next platform by using the overhead footbridge a train arrived that was going to Doncaster. This wasn't the most enjoyable end to a day's walking...not at all.
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