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.

 

Conisbrough, Ravenfield Common, Firsby, and Conisbrough Hill Top

The weather forecast was for rain by noon today and so I was restricted to another local walk. I caught the Sheffield bus to Conisbrough, travelled to the last stop and then had to walk back along the main road  [a section that the bus doesn't use] until I reached a footpath heading south. 

The cemetery chapel is quite nice.

When I took the next photograph, looking back towards Conisbrough Castle and the church, I'd just climbed over a broken stile and had stretched my thigh muscles far more than I wanted to.

I passed the ruins of Conisbrough Lodge and continued down to the Braithwell road, turned right heading towards Ravenfield Common and then took the footpath that heads back north. 

Near to the village of Ravenfield I met a dog called Colin, in fact I saw a lot of dogs today.

At the hamlet of Firsby I had a choice of locations to head for to finish the walk. The route to Hooton Roberts is slightly shorter and a lot more interesting but the line of the path across a recently ploughed field was still indistinct. Conisbrough Hill Top, going straight ahead was my choice though because rain was in the air by now and there's a bus shelter there.

Mount Pleasant Hotel and Rossington

Just a short local walk this morning organised at short notice so that I could get out in the countryside for a couple of hours to enjoy the sunshine, which has been very rare in recent days.

I caught the Worksop bus and travelled south on the Great North Road for a few miles to the Mount Pleasant Hotel and took the footpath that leads to Rossington Hall. I was assuming I'd be able to access the grounds of the hall, which I have done previously, but the route is now blocked by a locked gate. I then meandered through the local countryside, generally heading in a northerly direction back to the church at Rossington. 

The last time I was here this pile of rubble was a building, part of what remained at the time of an old quarry I think.

I noticed two of these remote-controlled machines painting the lines on the football pitches as I was heading towards the bus stop near the church. When I got there it was just after eleven o'clock and they were holding a Remembrance service at the cenotaph across from the church and so I stayed well away.