Scrooby, Blyth, and Langold

I travelled to Scrooby, the first village in Nottinghamshire. The village has connections with the Pilgrim Fathers and this year is the four hundredth anniversary of them setting sail for America. Of course because of coronavirus and the lockdown all the celebrations have been cancelled - some new signs have been erected at various locations though.

Although it's hard to see, this sign reads, 'ATTENTION ÉCOLE' -'école' means 'school' in French; there isn't a school in Scrooby, but maybe the geese in the photograph above are attending school.

After taking quite a few photographs I walked along the Great North Road for half a mile until I reached the footpath that goes over to Blyth, a very pretty village. On my way to Blyth though I stopped to take a photograph of the countryside and dropped my camera, and it broke. Why can't they make them sturdier and simpler to use? I'm quite clumsy because of my dyspraxia, which is part of my Asperger's syndrome.

I would have taken plenty of photos at Blyth, but instead I just walked straight through the village and out to the west. I had intended to walk across to Hodsock Priory, and take some more pictures, but I decided to choose a footpath I'd not used before. It led to Langold, where I originally planned to end the walk.

I didn't have long to wait for a bus returning to Doncaster; I popped into the CEX shop in town and bought two digital cameras for £20 - they should last me for a while.

Burn, Carlton, Camblesforth, Barlow, and Brayton

More disruption on the trains today so I travelled on the bus to start my walk at Burn, just about three  miles south of Selby. I had a quick look round the village then headed south east down the lane towards Carlton. After about a mile I reached my first footpath, at first going alongside the disused runway at the former Burn Airfield and then along farm tracks and across fields until I reached a level crossing. The railway line here used to be part of the busy East Coast Main Line running between London and Edinburgh but these days there's only a limited local service and a few Hull Trains services to London via Selby. When the Selby Coalfield was opened up in the 1970s the mainline was diverted a few miles to the west to stay clear of any potential mining subsidence. 

There were good views of both Eggborough and Drax power stations from many locations today...in fact I couldn't find many open spots were I couldn't see at least one of them.

I needed to use a short section of metalled road on the Quosquo Estate, an unusual name which looks Latin to me but I can't find any translation or explanation online. There's a lovely line of trees leading up to the hall here.

As I approached Carlton I crossed another railway line, this time the branch that goes to Drax Power Station; it's one of the largest power stations in Europe and there are frequent deliveries of coal. Just after I'd crossed the tracks a man driving a large four wheel drive car towing a trailer stopped and asked me about the driving conditions ahead, where I'd just been. I told that it was dodgy, a rutted track across a field, not flooded or muddy...but quite difficult I would think. I think he wanted me to make the decision for him as to whether or not to continue; we both agreed he should get out of his vehicle and go and have a look for himself. A few minutes later I could hear the noise of his engine as he was approaching me from behind, he'd turned round and was going to try to deliver his load of pipes by using another route.

I had a specific reason for wanting to visit Carlton - a linguistic peculiarity that can be photographed.

That reason is 'The Odddfellows' pub...yes, that's correct: I've not added the extra letter 'D'.

See here:

In the 1980s when the pub was being refurbished the signwriter made a mistake; the brewery wanted to correct the mistake but the locals persuaded them to leave it as it is.

Of course there were other things in Carlton for me to photograph; the first place I visited was Carlton Towers, adding half a mile to my walk to get this image.

There are Anglican and Catholic churches in the village, a Methodist chapel and a delightful tiny chapel at the cemetery.

In several of the fields near Carlton the farmers are using a new crop growing technique, I've certainly not seen it before anyway. It looks like some sort of fine biodegradable mesh or netting that's been laid in rows.

I re-crossed the Drax railway line; even on footpaths draconian railway byelaws still apply.

I got lost a bit and should have crossed the railway about half a mile to the west. This mistake had its benefit though; it meant that I was able to get sight of the cooling towers close up without the pylons and the transmission cables interfering with the view or the composition of the photograph.

I had to walk down the road for a longer distance though; this wasn't too bad because there was a pavement and so I had no problems with the camber hurting my feet.

I didn't go into the main part of the village at Barlow, I only saw modern houses and a school there.

At Barlow I was abused for the second time today by some teenagers as they rode by me on their bikes; the usual stuff, loud animal noises and strange contorted actions. If I was a member of a visible minority group I'd receive the protection of the law, but because Asperger's syndrome is an invisible disability I've just got to swallow whatever poison is rammed down my throat...plus having to deal with other people's scepticism and hostility who think I'm not disabled at all but just idle, a waste of space or a parasite - members of my own family have called me all of these things. 

By the way I'm not a 'special snowflake' - I believe that no-one has the right not be offended, ridiculed...or even bullied for that matter, but when someone calls me idle I demand a right of reply and to able to confront them face to face. I might not ever have had a job, something I received wages or a salary for doing but I did do ten years of full-time voluntary work on community development projects...and acting as a mentor and [hopefully] positive role model for young people. The unemployment rate for people like myself with a diagnoses of Asperger's syndrome and no other development or learning disability could be as high as 97%, far higher than for any other disabled or disadvantaged group. Over the years I have begged to be given a chance to work; on local radio, on stage in front of hundred of people, at conferences...whenever and wherever; God knows I can't remember them all.

I arrived at Brayton with plenty of time to photograph the church, although by this time it was quite cloudy.

This final photograph is the view from the bus stop.

My day ended well: as the bus passed through Askern a friend who I haven't seen for several years got on and we chatted until he got off just a few stops before the town centre. 

Sandal and Agbrigg Station, Walton, Walton Hall, Anglers Country Park, Royston, Monk Bretton, Monk Bretton Priory, and Stairfoot

It was forecast for light rain in the Peak District today. I didn't fancy that and so went to Sandal and Agbrigg station on the train, just to the south of Wakefield. I left the station and walked past the church and then turned left along Walton Road and headed for the first footpath, which I reached after about a mile.

I picked up the TransPennine Trail at the far edge of Walton and would be staying with it almost until the end of the walk, with only a detour to visit Walton Hall and the parkland, and then Anglers Country Park. The hall is now an upmarket hotel - located on an island in the lake.

For several miles I was walking along the old towpath of the disused Barnsley Canal; at one point I was actually walking in the original canal trough, passing by and through a couple of abandoned locks.

I ordered a couple of toasted slices of fruit loaf from the cafe at Anglers Country Park. There's a large selection of home-made cakes though; the service was quick and the seats comfy...I would certainly recommend visiting here - there are public toilets as well.

I slightly lost my way to the north of Royston and had to cross over the single track railway. I was perfectly safe though; there's only one train a week that uses this line, taking sand to the glassworks at Monk Bretton on a Tuesday. 

As I was taking my photographs at the priory some children were tormenting me by running up to me and loudly shouting 'Pennywise,' the name of a local Barnsley chain of discount shops I'm assuming...although I've never heard of the brand.

This is just the latest incident of abuse I've suffered because of my unusual, awkward, ungainly Aspergic gait. Throughout my life I'm sure this is the aspect of my Asperger's syndrome that's caused me the most problems. People soon spot that there's something not quite right about me and immediately start to draw all sorts of negative conclusions about me and my capabilities.

[I'm convinced that my knees are positioned too low down on my legs, by about a couple of inches.] 

I might move in a strange way that causes so many people to despise me, but it's an efficient way of walking for me...and it's the only way I know: I was able to jog down to the bus stop in time to catch the next bus back to Doncaster.


UPDATE: My brother has just told me that 'Pennywise' is a character from a novel or film, some sort of creepy clown he thinks.