Hickleton To Conisbrough

 

A local walk today since the weather forecast for the Peak District deterriorated somewhat yesterday. I caught the Barnsley bus to Hickleton. 

I wasn't able to take many photos of the church because there were workmen there putting up scaffolding.

You can't get up close to the hall, this shot was taken from the road.

I walked down the road to Barnburgh until I reached the footpath that goes along the base of the crags.

I'm certain there are a few more stone carvings, but these two were the only ones I could see from the path.

I than briefly walked along the next road and found the path going down to the Crown Inn on the edge of Harlington.

Next I passed through Barnburgh Grange and came out at the bottom end of High Melton. It was a short walk to the TransPennine Trail which goes alongside the River Dearne here. After about a  mile and a half I arrived at Conisbrough Railway Station, as I approached though I saw the Doncaster train leaving from the platform and so I continued, going up to the town, the climb being quite steep in places, to catch the bus.

Rivelin, Rails, Stopes, Storrs, Loxley, and Malin Bridge

I got off the bus at the Filter Houses at Rivelin, just inside the boundary of the Peak District. I soon reached my first footpath, which initially appeared to be blocked, but as soon as I pushed against the barrier it swung open.

Maybe the route was actually closed though because the path soon disappeared. I soon found another well established path though and continued to climb up to the hamlet of Rails, and then Stopes, which now consists mainly of a new housing development built on the site of a former mill.

 

I needed to walk along the road for a few minutes to reach Storrs and then the footpath taking me down into the Loxley Valley.

I followed the River Loxley downstream until I came to a path that was definitely blocked this time. Just a few yards beyond where the stile in the photograph is located I came across a fallen tree, an overgrown path, a cliff face and the river. Looking at my map it looked like there should be a footbridge somewhere here; my map's old though, about forty years old. Fortunately I didn't have to double back too far to pick up the footpath on the other side of the river.

The rest of the way back to the tram terminus at Malin Bridge was easy going...I only had a few minutes to wait for the next departure to the railway station.

It looked rather murky over to the west on the high moors, just as it did last week when I also stuck to the eastern fringes of the Peak District.

Totley, Holmesfield, and Owler Bar

I travelled to the Cross Scythes pub at Totley and headed south, using the Sheffield  Country Walk. Where the route takes a sharp turn to the left I continued straight ahead for Holmesfield.

I  continued to head south, taking a path that goes next to one of the pubs; the gate I had to pass through was, by a long way, the most complicated and difficult to use and the most physically demanding that I've ever encountered.  I had to check my map several times as I progressed, there are a lot of criss-crossing paths in this area. I don't like passing through fields where there are cows, but it has to be done - I've never seen all white cows before though and so did stop to take a photograph.

There was a short section of road to walk along and then a footpath heading west mainly going through woodland until I reached the path that intersects with Car Lane, a wide track that leads up to Baslow Road. The bus stop is over to the right, back towards Sheffield, and uphill.

I had to wait over an hour for a bus because two didn't turn up. It's a rather uncomfortable place to be stranded for so long, it's very exposed to the weather [which fortunately wasn't too bad], there's certainly not a bus shelter here but neither is there anywhere to sit - there's not even a wall, a boulder or even a grassy bank. I did notice that there's a phone number on the bus stop to ring for information and updates; I'm not sure if the buses on this route have trackers though. Even if I were able to acquire some information it wouldn't really be any use to me. There aren't really any options from this location; the next bus stop is at Owler Bar, a mile away along a busy, dangerous road. There's a wall to sit on, or maybe lean against, and a couple of pubs, one of which is closed for renovation. 

 

Knaresborough

I'd not been to Knaresborough for a few years and so I really enjoyed my day out with Siobhan today. We stayed in the upper town and diddn't venture down to the river because of her sore hips meant she would have struggled with the steep hills; I think I would have been fine now that my legs have almost made a full recovery.

Braithwell, Micklebring, Firsby, Ravenfield, and Hooton Roberts

I usually start my day walking early, sometimes leaving the house at 06:30 but today I spent a couple of hours online waiting for it to warm up a bit before catching the 08:14 bus to Braithwell, and after taking a few photos I walked along two bridleways and a short section of road to get to Micklebring. It was a dangerous road out of Braithwell, narrow, high hedges, and a couple of blind bends.

 

I walked through Micklebring and then took a steep, narrow snicket between two houses down to the bottom of the valley, passed under the motorway and continued to the hamlet of Firsby. I re-traced the route I took last week for a few hundred yards but in the opposite direction until I reached the footpath going across a field to Ravenfield Church, located on the northern edge of the village. 

I finished by walking along the road to Hooton Roberts and waited for the bus going back to Doncaster; I noticed a sign for a 35mph speed limit, I've never seen one for that speed before.