Penistone, Langsett, Brightholmlee, and Wharncliffe Side

A walk starting at Penistone today; after taking several photographs of the church I headed straight for the Transpennine Trail and out into the countryside.

I located my footpath going across the fields towards Hartcliff Tower; I never got to see the tower though, it must have been out of sight behind the summit of the hill.

I crossed the road and then continued south and west, and downhill, to Langsett. On the bridleway approaching Langsett I accidentally broke a gate - I did my best to fix it but it was rather heavy...fortunately no livestock would be able to get loose.

The photograph shows it after my first attempt to get it upright; the hinges had broken off and so I couldn't improve much on this.

It's easy to spot the Bank View Cafe at Langsett but I nearly missed the entrance door because it's hidden away at the back of the building. I went inside and had a pot of tea and a slice of flapjack and enjoyed looking at the Tour de France memorabilia on the walls and shelves as I waited for my order. 

I walked along the dam wall of the reservoir and then made my way down past Midhope Reservoir, Broomhead Reservoir, and More Hall Reservoir...and then climbed up the hill to Brightholmlee.

In the woodland along the southern shore of Broomhead Reservoir I photographed a couple of brightly coloured toadstools and an unexpected white chequered board.

As I was approaching Brightholmlee along a narrow single track road a lorry was heading towards me: I made sure the driver saw me, and he did. He pulled right over to one side of the road and stopped so that I could safely get by; he still had to pull his large wing mirror out of my way though.

I only had a few minutes to wait for a bus at Wharncliffe Side and the tram was waiting for us at the terminus at Middlewood. I travelled all the way to Meadowhall on the tram...and then had over half an hour to wait for a train home.   

A Daytrip To Blackpool

I travelled on the train to Blackpool with my friend - and thank you to Justin for paying my fare. It takes three and a half hours to get there and so meant that we only had four hours there but I managed to take a few dozen photographs.

From the North Pier I could clearly see the fells of the Lake District over to the north and the offshore wind turbines to the northwest. The camera didn't do a good job in picking them out though...I can just about see them when I view this photograph on my laptop's thirteen inch screen...and I know precisely where to look for them.

As I crossed over the tram tracks, a few yards away I noticed that an old man had caught the wheels of his walker in the tracks and had fallen over. A young couple immediately rushed to his aid; I saw a tram approaching and although I assumed the driver could see what had happened I stood right out in the middle of the tracks and held my hand up in front of me for him to stop - before he'd come to a halt the old man was up on his feet and safely out of the way. 

It started to spit with rain just as I was walking past Yates's and so I went in and ordered a large portion of fish and chips from the menu - I enjoyed watching the tide receding and the trams going up and down the promenade from my windowside table upstairs.

The rain got heavier and stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon and so I spent my time seeking shelter in the shops.

Hathersage to Sheffield

I travelled to Hathersage today and specifically found two short footpaths I'd not previously used, something that's becoming increasingly rare these days.

I then headed northwards towards Stanage Edge and Stanedge Pole.

I walked down to the Redmires Reservoirs and then took the path which skirts to the south; my third new footpath for the day. I then had a selection of routes to choose from down to Porter Clough, using footpaths, bridleways and narrow tarmacked country lanes.

Although it had stopped raining a few minutes earlier I was still glad to reach the cafe at Forge Dam and have a hot pot of tea and a toasted teacake...and somewhere dry and comfortable to sit down for a few minutes. There's now a hi-tech system in operation using radio controlled flashing, beeping, and vibrating plastic blocks to let you know when your order's ready - to be honest I found it all rather annoying.

There's also a cafe in Endcliffe Park, a couple of miles further on; it's quite an attractive building.

I could have just walked down to the bus stop and finished the walk there but I kept on going down Ecclesall Road because the weather was fine and I could easily get a bus into the city centre if it started raining again. I almost reached the city centre by the time the next shower arrived; I kept on walking though and took shelter from the worst of it inside the Winter Gardens.

Fitzwilliam, Nostell Priory, and Hessle

I used my new travel pass for the first time today. It's been renewed for another five years - so that's plenty more walks and days out to look forward to.

It was free admission at Nostell Priory today so I met my brother at Fitzwilliam Railway Station and we walked down the road to the property; it's about a mile and a half. Nostell Priory isn't a priory, it's a Georgian period stately home that was built on the site of a mediaeval priory.

Before walking up to the house we visited Wragby Parish Church which is located at the entrance to  the estate parkland.

The house didn't open until eleven o'clock and so we had a walk round the walled garden and continued on to the lakeside walks. We were both impressed with the walled garden and the formal borders and were particularly interested in the large banana trees that were growing there...they had even produced fruit; I doubt there'll be enough time for it to ripen though.

Unlike yesterday when I visited Beningbrough Hall, I took some photographs inside the house today.

We left the house and walked through the parkland heading east until we reached the lane that leads to Hessle. At Hessle I made a navigational error, but was glad that I did. It meant that we looped back to Fitzwilliam instead of continuing on to Badsworth and finally South Elmsall. My feet were starting to hurt me and the shorter route was appreciated. I wasn't wearing proper walking boots, rather some footwear more appropriate for walking around a stately home and they were a bit too tight and were starting to nip and rub me.

I caught the same train as my brother and travelled to Goldthorpe and then got the bus to Doncaster. I arrived in town about ten minutes earlier than waiting for the Doncaster train at Fitzwilliam.

Beningbrough Hall

A trip with my support worker today to Beningbrough Hall, near York. We only went there because it was free admission - it's included in this year's Open Heritage Days scheme.

I didn't take any photographs inside the house because there's not a lot to see; the gardens are well worth spending an hour looking round though. 

Siobhan was feeling a bit thirsty and so the first thing we did was go inside the cafe for a pot of tea There was a large choice of cakes and several people were already enjoying them; the most unusual one I saw was a courgette cake - I had to Google that one.

We had our cream teas a couple of hours later at the farm shop tearooms. We sat outside in the warm sunshine but ended up being annoyed by wasps.