I walked to one of my local country parks this morning, Cusworth Hall, about three miles out to the west. It was really quite busy there, naturally with it being Boxing Day, the hall, which is a museum, was closed, but the tearooms were open. I had a pot of tea there; it really was too early for cake though.
There's been a restricted service on the trains today because of a strike and so I'm stuck with the buses. I travelled on the Barnsley bus to Marr and headed south across the fields to Sprotbrough. I went down into the Don Gorge at Lower Sprotbrough and walked along the high level footpath and then the TransPennine Trail alongside the river until climbing up on to the Conisbrough Viaduct. I walked across it and then caught the bus back to Doncaster from Butterbusk, near to Conisbrough.
When I got off the bus at Marr at the start of the walk I had to wait for several minutes to get across the road; fortunately a lorry driver held back to allow me to get to the other side. There's nothing except the church to photograph at Marr.
I had to walk along a narrow country road for a few hundred yards because I couldn't follow the alignment of the bridleway - I didn't bother bringing my map today.
A short walk today with better conditions than I was expecting; the toes on my right foot felt like they were on fire though...something I've never experienced before though.
My third choice of walk this morning because the train was cancelled. When I finally got to Sheffield I caught the bus to Baslow Nether End and went exploring in Chatsworth Park before crossing over to Edensor and continuing on to Bakewell. Nothing too exciting or challenging but nonetheless a very pleasant walk.
No problems with my knee today; I'm still strapping it up though.
On a stall outside one of the houses in Edensor there was the best selection of produce for sale that I've ever seen.
I caught the bus to Ladybower Inn and walked along the road until I reached the track that goes alongside the reservoir, heading north towards the visitor centre at Fairholmes. I returned, heading south now along the western shore; there's a path through the woods and I was much nearer to the water's edge.
There's a lot of new signage and artwork along the route - the small metal sculptures haven't been placed with photography in mind...the angles are awful.
I retraced my steps going over Ashopton Viaduct and caught the bus back to Sheffield at Heatherdene, with nice views of the reservoir to enjoy as I waited.
Early on I saw a squirrel and so decided to count how many I saw today; my tally reached fourteen, and I heard a lot more. I tried to take a few photographs but they were far too quick for me.
