Hardwick Hall, Hardwick Park, Darfoulds Garden Centre, and Langold Lake Country Park

I've been posting a lot more often on the blog recently, that's because I've been walking and going out with my support workers at every opportunity for the last two months. I need to keep busy; something happened in May that I'm having difficulties coping with. I'm really struggling to self-actualise at the moment and I'm needing a lot of support and feedback. Basically, I wake up every morning not knowing who I am and what my place in the world is, what I need to do to feel that I'm contributing to society...how I can become the best person I'm capable of being.

I'm stumbling about in the dark and so I've decided that the best short-term solution is to keep busy, tiring myself out, both physically and mentally...leaving me with little time or energy left to fret about things or do anything stupid.

So...I went for a trip out to Hardwick Hall today with Siobhan, one of my support workers. I'd checked online and there wouldn't just be the Hall and gardens to look at though, there's also extensive parkland areas with lots of walking routes.

Hardwick Old Hall is nearby, less then a hundred yards away actually, and I would have liked to see both sites. However, the Old Hall is managed by English Heritage and we're only members of The National Trust and I wasn't prepared to pay £13 for the both of us to visit the ruins.

It's situations like this that really pisses me off about contemporary Britain; not only having to pay once, but then you're expected to pay again. Why on Earth are there two rival competing heritage organisations in England? 

We arrived at Hardwick just after eleven o'clock and were told that the hall was closed, as it is every Monday and Tuesday, and so we'd only be able to look at the gardens and the parkland. I told the staff who worked there that it wasn't obvious on their webpage that the property wasn't open today....they disagreed and thought I was some sort of time travelling saboteur. 

Here's a link to the page stating the times and openings; in order to find out that it doesn't open on a Tuesday you need to scroll down the page...something that's not obvious - and shouldn't be necessary. THIS INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED.

Hardwick Hall Opening Times

We still enjoyed ourselves though; the weather was lovely - a little too hot really though, especially for Siobhan. I bought a new [secondhand] camera yesterday after breaking my previous one on Saturday, and so had a lot of fun experimenting with its features...and took a lot of photographs.

After we'd eaten our sandwiches we drove down the hill to the bottom part of Hardwick Park and walked round the fishing lakes and through some very nice meadows.

At this point I noticed that Siobhan was struggling a bit in the heat; she's a few years older than me and walks with a slight limp anyhow, and so I decided to abandon my plan to call at Creswell Crags on the way back and walk through the gorge, having a look at the caves.

I formulated an alternative plan; cream teas at Darfoulds Garden Centre, and ice creams at Langold Lake Country Park. At the garden centre we sat right next to a 'geranium wall;. Everyone seemed to be very impressed by it - we were told that the set-up would cost £900.

Maltby, Roche Abbey, Laughton en le Morthen, Brookhouse, Carr, and Hooton Levitt.

Another local walk today; this time travelling just over the borough boundary into Rotherham.

I've visited Roche Abbey before, but never actually paid to look close up at the ruins. Now that I'm a member of English Heritage I was able to go through the entrance to explore for a few minutes - it wasn't for long though, there's not that much to see.

The day started with a long wait at the bus station, half an hour longer than expected: the nine o'clock bus didn't turn up. With it being a bank holiday a Sunday service must have been in operation on this route.

I arrived at Maltby at ten o'clock and walked down the steps near to the war memorial and started the walk in the churchyard. I don't think the church is very old, but it was looking rather attractive this morning.

The path I walked along follows Maltby Beck all the way to Roche Abbey, passing through mainly woodland, but also some stretches of open meadow which were carpeted with buttercups, daisies and dandelions.

It only took me about half an hour to reach the abbey. The young woman who was working there went out of her way to tell me that there's not much to see; only one information board...and half a dozen seats. Maybe she hoped I'd buy a guide book. The setting of the ruins is beautiful though, and very peaceful. I found a seat in the sunshine with a good view of the ruins, the main towers in particular, and ate my sandwiches. I then wandered around the site for no more than fifteen minutes, taking photographs: I wasn't happy with any of the results - I've taken much better photographs on previous visits.

Before leaving Roche Abbey I went to the toilets and for a couple of seconds didn't know what I was supposed to do when I saw a strange combination of sinks with a urinal trough.

Fortunately, I soon realised there were some standard urinals around the corner.

Just beyond the ruins there is a six foot high waterfall with some stepping stones near to the drop; I'm glad I didn't have to walk over them.

I then walked through some more woodland and climbed out of the valley to walk along the edge of a field, and then a bit later along the top of a ridge which dropped away fairly steeply to my right....bearing in mind that this is rural Rotherham, and not the Peak District.

After a few more minutes I was walking along the first stretch of road today, into Laughton en le Morthen. I was disappointed to discover that the pub was closed, and there wasn't a shop in the village.

The lane into Brookhouse was steep by any comparison and my calf muscles were feeling it. I just skirted the hamlet of Brookhouse, taking the driveway which leads up to Thurcroft Hall. The path continued uphill, across fields and through a wood before descending down to the road that leads to Carr.

It's a short walk to Hooton Levitt, marred by pylons and overhead powerlines. From Hooton Levitt the route I took went down a steep lane and then across fields, with the buildings of Maltby not coming into view until I'd almost reached the church again.

I walked up to the bus stop, checking the timetable and hoping that I'd only have ten minutes to wait. I was caught out by the reduced frequency of the bank holiday service again though. 

Bolsover Castle And Sutton Scarsdale Hall.

Today I visited two English Heritage properties located in a part of Derbyshire I haven't visited before; Bolsover Castle and Sutton Scarsdale Hall.

I don't have an Ordnance Survey map covering the area, so I downloaded one from the internet; as well as a bus timetable and a route guide for a circular walk from the castle to the hall, and back.

There was a spectacular view of the castle as the bus entered Bolsover: I was really looking forward to this visit after reading so many positive reviews online. I arrived about twenty minutes before the castle opened to the public and so I had a quick look around the town. Bolsover is a very pleasant, small market town; most of its buildings are made of the same type of sandstone as the castle, and there are several quaint pedestrianised streets and courtyards. I popped into a shop to buy a sandwich and a chocolate truffle bun. This was the heaviest bun I have ever held in my hand; it must have weighed the same as a small cannonball - it was delicious though. 

According the the location maps that I found there are meant to be four lots of public toilets in the town centre - I couldn't find any of them and had to wait for a pee until I reached the castle.

Bolsover Castle isn't a typical mediaeval ruined castle; it dates from the seventeenth century and was more of a stately home than a castle...there was an older fortified castle on the site though.

Here's a link to the castle's Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsover_Castle

Here are some photographs I took.

I spent nearly two hours walking around the castle. The audio commentary was very interesting and lively, and there's a bit of clever technology used which synchronises your commentary to the images being projected onto the wall in one of the rooms; the beer cellar.

With the map and the written instructions in hand I then set off for Sutton Scarsdale Hall, which I had spotted from the castle's battlements. It's about three miles away, but because of the imprecise and confusing directions, and old map which didn't depict the new bypass and an industrial estate, I walked considerably further.

The walk isn't particularly attractive, mainly across fields and down country lanes and farm tracks. By the time I got there the hazy sun which was attempting to break through the clouds as I was exploring the castle was nowhere to be seen. It was quite murky now, and a few degrees colder.

At one time Sutton Scarsdale Hall would have been very impressive, but it's only a shell now. It's quite a sad story how this happened.

Here's the Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Scarsdale_Hall

I didn't stay very long; there wasn't that much to see, and there was a funeral being held in the church, right next to the ruins.

The walk back to Bolsover was much quicker since I didn't get lost - there were a couple of recently ploughed fields to cross though. It's always annoying, and hard work, when the farmer doesn't drive his tractor along the alignment of the footpath so that walkers are able to use the tyre tracks.

I arrived back at Bolsover thinking that I'd only have a few minutes to wait for the bus. I checked the timetable just in case though, and was glad that I did; the Sheffield to Mansfield service only runs every two hours - many small villages in the Peak District have a much better service than this.

Castleton, Pindale, Bradwell, Shatton, and Bamford.

Today is the second consecutive day that I've been out in the Peak District. I went on the train to Manchester yesterday, along the Hope Valley Line; seeing some familiar locations from a slightly different perspective.

Here's a photograph I took when the train was stopped at Hope station.

I decided to use my free travel voucher for Northern Rail, which I got several months ago when I was delayed for nearly two hours at Wakefield Westgate station.

I've recently joined English Heritage and so thought I'd visit Peveril Castle at Castleton today; an English Heritage property. Several stops after leaving the bus station, some passengers, students most likely, got on the bus and said, "Surprise please" to the driver - this isn't as strange as it may sound; it's just that one of the locations along the route is known as 'Surprise View.' It does make me smile though when someone says this; and maybe one day the driver will actually surprise someone.

The castle opens at ten o'clock, and I was the first visitor of the day. Peveril Castle is everything a ruined castle should be; stark, austere, threatening, perched precariously on the top of precipitous crags and the only access being up a steep zig-zagging path.

I took plenty of photographs on the way up to the keep, and from inside the building looking out towards the stunning countryside, but it was quite hazy and I'm not happy with the results. I have decided to include a shot of one of the garderobes, the castle's toilets. Interestingly, the word has the same origins as 'wardrobe.'

Whilst I was inside the keep I let my imagination run away with me. The building is very atmospheric; ghostly shadows were poking their way through the haze as the noise of ravens flapping and cawing, planning some unimaginable atrocity, echoed around the hollow shell of the keep, as, down in the village the church bell tolled its foreboding rhythm, summoning the dead to rise, or the living to enter through the gates of Hell. It certainly reminded me of a Hitchcock film, or a Hammer House of Horror production.

My visit to the castle lasted about forty minutes. I returned to the village and then walked along the road towards the hamlet of Pindale. Before leaving Castleton I managed to stroke three cats, none of them seemed particularly sinister though: as I said "Good morning" to the final one a woman in a cottage garden across the road responded - I responded to the cat.

I passed Pindale, then walked by Hope Cement Works and down into Bradwell, where I was way too early for an ice cream from Bradwell's of Bradwell ice cream shop. I had to make do with a  sandwich and a carton of milk from the Co-op shop.

Next I climbed up to Brough Lane, a track popular with mountain bikers. As I walked near to a farm I learned something new; that moles use shovels to make their molehills - I took a photograph to prove it.

The next section, across fields towards Shatton had a surprise in store for me, and I didn't ask for one on the bus; patches of deep snow I had to walk through - there was no obvious way to walk around.

I had timed things well for a brief visit to the coffee shop at High Peak Garden Centre where I had a pot of tea and a warmed scone served with butter and jam. I've not tried a warm scone before; it seemed to make it more moist though.

My day was slightly ruined when the bus was over half an hour late. This is a rare occurrence though: the bus services in the Peak District are usually very reliable.

Today's walk was a short one, maybe only five miles. I was a bit tired after going to Manchester yesterday and walking what I should think was quite a distance exploring the city centre.  

A Visit To Brodsworth Hall

My English Heritage membership arrived in the post yesterday and so I thought I'd visit the nearest property today; Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, located only about four miles from Doncaster.

The village has a very limited bus service, so I caught the bus to Marr, a neighbouring village on the main Barnsley road; and then walked down a country lane to Brodsworth - about a mile and a half.

I arrived at the hall just after the gardens opened at ten o'clock and requested a ticket for a tour of the house - this would be at eleven o'clock. The conditions were excellent for photography and so I spent the next forty minutes keeping busy with my camera; never straying from the formal gardens and the croquet lawn near to the house though.

Obviously the gardens aren't at their best at this time of year, but a lot of work had still been undertaken in the beds, borders, and containers; and the maintenance of the topiary.

It was soon time for me to join the queue for the tour of the house, actually advertised as a 'taster tour', just taking in a few ground floor rooms - I'd be able to see the rest of the house later on when the 'freeflow entry' session commenced.

To be honest I wasn't too impressed with the interior of the house; it was that dark that I could hardly see anything. The guide did tell us a couple of funny anecdotes though about the family's dogs regularly shitting on the dining room carpet, the one we were standing on, and a bug infestation underneath the carpets in another room which meant that it would be rather unpleasant walking about barefoot, or in your socks.

The tour only lasted for twenty minutes and when I returned outside the weather was still pleasant and so I explored the rest of the gardens; the fern grotto, the rose garden, the archery range, the pet cemetery...and a lot of statuary.

After yesterday's trek across the Derbyshire snowfields it was a nice change to see some exotic plants associated with much warmer weather.

After about half an hour the weather turned cloudy and the temperature fell by a few degrees, so I popped into the tearooms for a cream tea, far better value than the soup of the day. 

I did a final tour of the gardens, which are quite extensive and feature a lot of steps to climb up and down, and my thigh muscles, not fully recovered from yesterday's exertions, were aching a bit.

At one o'clock I went back inside and spent about thirty minutes wandering around the house; I was mostly interested in the servants' quarters.

Finally, I walked towards the village, but turned down the lane to Pickburn and took the most direct route to the shops at Woodlands and caught the bus back into town. If I wasn't so tired I would have extended my day out by climbing to the top of the landscaped spoilheap of the former Broadsworth Colliery, which is now a very impressive country park.