Ladybower Inn, Hope, Castleton, Pindale, Bradwell, and Brough

I caught the bus from Sheffield to the Ladybower Inn, walked down the road to the car park at Heatherdene and then took the footpath which coincides with the start of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way.

Even though there were several empty seats on the bus a rather strange man dressed in pantaloons and canvas pumps, and definitely no socks, insisted on standing and holding on to one of the supporting stanchions to do some stretching and balancing exercises like a washed up ballet dancer who's well and truly seen better days. He got off at the same stop as me and after bending down several times started to jog off into the distance...carrying his M&S plastic shopping bag with him which he seemed to keep nearly tripping up over.

I walked down through the woods to reach the river at the bottom of the valley and then partially climbed up the eastern flank of Win Hill.

There were some nice views as I then crossed the fields, heading towards Hope.

I noticed this sign just before I entered Hope, the first of several interesting or unusual signs I photographed today.

I only skimmed the northern outskirts of Hope before coming down to the main road about a mile east of Castleton.

I didn't spend very long in Castleton; although it's a pretty honeypot village for tourists I've been many times and have seen everything. I left the village, going to the southeast, towards Pindale and Bradwell, passing right next to the Hope Cement Works.

Like with Hope, I only visited the northern end of Bradwell before turning left and walking along the road to Brough to catch the bus. Travelling back to Sheffield the bus was delayed for a few seconds by a family riding their bikes, and taking their large dog for a walk at the same time. It was quite a sight seeing the dog leading the way and setting the pace.

Today's walk finished at 1:30 and was only about eight miles; I hadn't planned for it to be any longer...I've had a bit of a cold for a couple of days and wasn't feeling a hundred percent well. My early arrival back home in Doncaster meant I could pick up a few items from the shops before they closed.

Burnby Hall Gardens Tulip Festival, and Pocklington

The first trip out this summer season with my support worker, to Burnby Hall Gardens and Pocklington in the East Riding. Pocklington is only about forty miles away but I've never been there before and so was really looking forward to going - I always enjoy visiting new places.

I was a bit disappointed with both the gardens and the town of Pocklington though. The gardens were lovely, but not very extensive in area, and I think the cost of admittance at £5.50 each was double what it was worth. The town was pretty enough, but quite small and although parking is free, both car parks were full...as was the car park at the gardens. 

The gardens are conveniently situated right on the edge of the town centre and so when we couldn't find a parking spot at the gardens we drove to the nearest of the municipal car parks. It was also full, and so was the other one...so we tried the gardens again, and then both car parks again, but there still weren't any spaces. We noticed that we could park on the street for up to two hours and hoped that would be sufficient time to walk round the gardens; well, we'd done that in just over half an hour and so had plenty of time for a cup of tea and to look round the small museum there.

We returned to the car and drove the short distance up to the Market Place and parked there so that we could look round the town.

We didn't go inside the church...there was a wedding taking place.

Epworth, Belton, and Carrhouse

Today's walk has been an easy four miles; I went walking with friends from Leeds, two of whom only come along for a natter and refreshments in the pub or tearooms, en route or at the end of the walk. I was picked up in the car at Warmsworth, just off the A1(M) and we travelled the twenty miles or so to Epworth on the Isle of Axholme, just over the county boundary in Lincolnshire.

Epworth is a good place to start a walk, there's free parking and free toilets in the town centre. We headed up to the church and ate our sandwiches in the churchyard - it was eleven thirty by the time we'd got there.

We didn't go inside the church; it was open but we could hear the congregation singing hymns for the Easter service and so obviously didn't go inside...it was a wonderful addition to our experience in the churchyard though, the music competing with some quite noisy and lively birdsong.

We continued across the fields, passing a watertower and two windmills until we reached the old railway line leading to Belton.

The Easter celebrations had just finished at Belton church and I was welcomed inside and given a brief tour as my friends sat outside finishing off the rest of their sandwiches.

Conveniently the village pub is right next to the church; we popped in for something to drink before continuing with the walk, heading westwards towards Carrhouse.

We then turned south back towards Epworth; there was an option of adding an additional two miles to the walk but Maureen and Jonathon were struggling in the heat...and when I mentioned the possibility of tea and cakes, that was their preferred option. The cafes in the town were closed and so we drove up to the Lemon Tree Tearooms at the garden centre - that was closed as well today though.

Hoylandswaine, Penistone, Cubley, Midhopestones, Bolsterstone, and Wharncliffe Side

The day didn't get off to a good start; the Barnsley bus was ten minutes late arriving at the bus station and then the driver wouldn't let anyone get on...he just drove off.  So, I had to wait another twenty minutes for the next one. There were no problems with this bus, neither with the one I caught at Barnsley to go to Hoylandswaine. I walked through the village and found a footpath leading over to the Penistone Boundary Walk, passing the farm shop en route.

It was about a mile until I reached Penistone. There was a stretch of road and then I continued along the southern fringes of the town and just briefly entered Cubley. At High Lea Farm  I had to wait for quite a few minutes for the farmer and his workers to move a few dozen cows from the cowsheds into a nearby field - I'm always wary of cows and so stayed well clear.

There was a good view of the railway viaduct a bit later..

I passed over an eighteenth century packhorse bridge.

Ye Olde Mustard Pot pub at Midhopestones was closed and boarded up and so I had to face the long uphill walk to the top of the moors without refreshment. I then headed for Bolsterstone, briefly entering the Peak District for a few hundred yards.

This time the pub was open and so I popped in for a pint of Diet Pepsi. I left Bolsterstone, still going eastwards and staying on high ground with views of More Hall Reservoir below me to the right.

I arrived at Wharncliffe Side on the main road at the bottom of the valley and started my journey home to Doncaster from there; two buses, a tram and a train...and a lot of waiting and confusion because it's the first day of track renewal work for the trams at Hillsborough.