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.

Sprotbrough And Conisbrough Viaduct With Chris And Jonathan

I've done this walk quite a few times but this was the first time for both Chris, my monthly summer Peak District walking companion from Leeds, and Jonathan, another friend from Leeds.

Chris is particularly interested in walking along the routes of abandoned railway lines and so the walk incorporating  climbing up to the the viaduct would be an ideal way for the three of us to spend a few hours as Chris' wife and her friend were going round the shops in Doncaster.

I met them all Doncaster Avoiding Lineat the railway station and then Chris, Jonathan, and myself walked along the river to Sprotbrough, where we called in the pub; Jonathan and Chris had meals but I only had a pot of tea and a soft drink...I would be eating later. 

En route we passed under two railway viaducts over the Don Gorge, one carrying the Doncaster Avoiding Line, and the other which is now only used as a cycle route; we also passed under the viaduct which carries the A1(M) motorway.

After leaving the pub at Sprotbrough we took the high level path through the woods, before returning down into the gorge. When we reached the viaduct Chris took the quickest, and steepest, route up, whereas Jonathan and myself took a longer but less steep route - I'd noticed he was beginning to struggle a bit by now after five of the day's six miles.

The views from the top were marred by poor visibility, hence no photographs.

Even though the viaduct is about a hundred foot above the river, we still had to climb higher to reach the road from where we caught the bus back into Doncaster; by now Jonathan had had enough.

Back in town we retreated into one of my favourite pubs; this time I had a meal whereas Chris and Jonathan only had a drink each.