Darfield, Edderthorpe, Cudworth, Royston, Ryhill, Wintersett, Walton, and Sandal

I wanted to catch as much of the sunny weather as possible this morning and so made an early start, catching the Barnsley bus to Darfield. Having just mentioned the weather though, the forecast was for it to start clouding over in the afternoon but as it was, apart from a couple of brief showers, the sun shone throughout.

I headed out to the northeast along the Dearne Way footpath to the hamlet of Edderthorpe and then along the road to Cudworth. The road is narrow with a lot of blind corners; a couple of drivers came far too close to me, coming within a few inches of my left elbow. Another two drivers were very careful and courteous and beeped their horns as they approached a blind corner or a hidden dip.

I was walking through Cudworth for quite a while before I reached the bridleway which leads to the road which goes to Royston. On the outskirts of Royston I joined the towpath of the disused Barnsley Canal for a couple of miles...it's not really suitable for cyclists though.

It's not much more suitable for horses either, but it is classed as a bridleway and so they can be ridden along here. Along a stretch that wasn't right next to the water a woman on horseback caught up with me. I commented on the unusual coloration of her horse, she told me that it was a leopard spot Appaloosa - here's a photograph I found online.

Another stretch of roadwalking followed, just to the edge of Ryhill before turning down the lane that goes alongside Wintersett Reservoir for part of its length.

This isn't anything to do with the reservoir...there's just been a lot of rain recently.

I continued to Anglers Country Park; there's also a reservoir there. It was then a lovely walk across the fields to Walton; none of my photographs was really any good...but this one of a pretty cottage at Walton is okay.

I needed to walk along the road to reach Sandal.

I was walking for at least a mile until I reached the castle. I arrived there at 2:20 and went over to the cafe to see when it closes. A sign on the door informed me that it closes at four o'clock but meals from the menu are only served until two thirty. Not wanting to miss out I went in and ordered a scone and a pot of tea; the scone was a flavour new to me - orange and chocolate chip.

I had plenty of time to explore the castle ruins in the sunshine and take plenty of photographs.

The walk to Sandal and Agbrigg railway station wasn't as far as I'd thought - I could have spent more time at the castle.

Darfield, Edderthorpe, Stairfoot, Broomhill, and Low Valley

I travelled on the X19 Barnsley bus this morning and got off at Darfield and immediately walked towards the church, going in a generally southerly direction.

I looped back north and went along the Dearne Way to Edderthorpe, and then continued following this designated footpath almost to Monk Bretton Priory. The countryside is quite open and pleasant, but there's nothing to see at Edderthorpe.

Beyond Edderthorpe I still walked across some open fields but there were also woods and an old railway embankment - I also spotted a deep abandoned railway cutting and a blocked up tunnel entrance. there were few opportunities for taking photographs because power lines and pylons were usually spoiling the view.

Just before reaching the priory I turned south onto the TransPennine Trail and was now following another abandoned railway almost to the nature reserve at Old Moor  several miles to the south east.

[Along this stretch a chubby male cyclist wearing only a pair of shorts was showing far too much bum cleavage...I never complain when attractive female cyclists approach me from the opposite direction at this time of year though...think about it.]

On the subject of attractive female cyclists; a few minutes later I passed two young attractive female cyclists having a ding-dong of an argument in Dutch; every third word sounded like a pornographic expletive...they didn't break off to say hello, or even smile at me.

I popped into the Ash Inn at Stairfoot for a cold drink; it's right alongside the TransPennine Trail and has a nice large garden at the back that I sat in, under the shade of some trees.

I left the trail and climbed up to reach the road that goes to Broomhill, briefly visiting Broomhill Flash Nature Reserve on the way there. There's only access to a two storey viewing hide though, you can't walk all the way round the lake.

Another argument, this time in English as I was passing by one of the houses in Broonhill; a man was unhappy because someone wasn't visiting him often enough.

On my final approach back to Darfield I wasn't concentrating and missed my turn-off and so had to go the long way round via Low Valley. I still got back with plenty of time to wait to catch the bus back to Doncaster though.

Denby Dale, Thurlstone, and Penistone

Denby Dale Railway Station is sited at the end of a high viaduct and so there are quite a few steps down to the main road: I walked along the road for a few minutes; it was quite dark due to the large overhanging trees. I reached the junction with the Barnsley road and soon located my path, a short section of the Dearne Way along a metalled track leading to a farm. It was a bit of a climb up to the farm through more glowering trees, but I was soon in open country; grassy fields delineated by drystone walls.

The next section led up to a prominent ridge with extensive views from the top, to the east I could see a long way today, well beyond the Aire Valley power stations; possibly as far as the Yorkshire Wolds.

I then ended up walking a bit further along a stretch of minor road than I had planned, due to a slight navigation error; I missed my intended footpath by no more than a few dozen yards. This mistake did have its bonus though; the sight of dozens of birds perched on power lines; like a short section of sheet music hanging in the sky.

I was back on course as I was walking down Green Lane, a wide track which eventually became a footpath leading across more grassy fields. I stopped to eat my sandwiches here and listen to the cricket commentary; in sight of twenty one wind turbines, some turning at various rates in the breeze, others not. I should think that there's a simple mathematical relationship between the size of the blades and the speed of rotation.

I reached another country lane which led down to Ingbirchworth Reservoir then took the southerly lane going uphill to reach the Barnsley Boundary Walk which is rated as a bridleway, but isn't up to the required standard here. Just before reaching Ingbirchworth I turned right and walked along the path which goes parallel to the bottom of the dam wall of Royd Moor Reservoir. 

A bit further on there's a folly marked on the map; I did a short detour to have a look at it - I couldn't see anything though; all I found was a farm which referred to the folly in its name...the lane was called Folly Lane too!

The path I selected went along the southern shore of the reservoir and came out onto the road above Thurlstone. I walked down into the village; there are some impressive stone-built houses there. I didn't go into the village centre though; I took a path across a couple of fields which drops down onto the main road going to Penistone. On the outskirts of the town I took a photograph of a roadside hoarding advertising a local pub; I don't know if it's clever wordplay...or if the pub was ever called 'The White Hart' at one time.

I arrived in Penistone town centre just after two buses had left for Barnsley. Since it was nearly an hour for the next one I thought I might as well get the train. I still had fifty minutes to wait for the train though (not very good scheduling of public transport there) and so looked round the shops before setting off for the station.

The train arrived on time; the Cleethorpes train was five minutes late at Meadowhall...which worked to my advantage for once.