Low Bradfield and Damflask Reservoir

Another easy walk to exercise my knee without putting too much strain on it.

I caught the train, tram, and bus out to Low Bradfield on the edge of the Peak District and did a clockwise circuit of Damflask Reservoir. Not longer after getting off the bus I walked up the drive to the Schoolrooms tearooms and craft shop; it wasn't open so early in the morning but I still had a good look around...I was able to stand in the open doorway and see inside.

 

I then went down to the picnic area near to the old stone bridge where I was joined by some ducks and squirrels.

The level of the water in the reservoir was very low, the lowest I've ever seen it - I was able to easily get right down to the water's edge to take some photos though.

I finished off my day out visiting the charity shops in Hillsborough; I wasn't muddy and so didn't feel uncomfortable doing that.

High Bradfield, Low Bradfield, Rails, and Malin Bridge

I got off the bus at High Bradfield, took some photographs and then walked down a short footpath from the church to the steep road that goes down to Low Bradfield. According to the map there's another footpath a little further down the road which then would have taken me across the fields to Low Bradfield: I couldn't find it, so the road had to do.

I followed the southern shore of Damflask Reservoir for a few hundred yards until I took one of several paths up to the road. I was hoping to locate the path that would lead me uphill to Oaks Lane. This turned out to be the second footpath I missed and so had to do about an extra quarter of a mile walking along the road until I reached Low Woodhouse. Low Woodhouse is just a farm, but it's quite interesting; the footpath goes through a couple of homemade gates and then you're in the orchard where you have to make your own way towards the back garden and then up the drive and away from the property. The reason why I state that this part of the walk is interesting is because the owner of the property has positioned several interesting displays of old agricultural equipment and implements in the garden; for people to look at I presume - there must be at least a dozen, all painted in bright colours.

The next few miles until I reached Rivelin Valley required me to regularly consult the map. There's a complicated network of footpaths, byways, green lanes, tracks and minor roads to be navigated. In places there are some nice views though, my particular favourites are the views towards Hillsborough.

When I started walking down the Rivelin Valley I noticed that some new information points had been installed.

I was ready for a pot of tea when I reached the cafe, which is run by the 'Pudding Ladies.' There were a lot of delicious [I should imagine] and very well presented cakes, but since my diabetes diagnosis I have to forego this little pleasure. As I was sitting at my table I had an excellent view of one of the young women who works there, she was very lithe and petite and was sitting in the lotus position on a high, narrow shelf and occasionally moving her hands when she was writing all the different types of coffee that the cafe sells, on a large blackboard. I was intrigued as to how she would get down; I thought it would be rude to stay when I'd finished my tea...and anyhow I wanted to get back to Sheffield before the rush hour.

A few minutes later I arrived at a chair that I wouldn't be able to sit on, a piece of outdoor art positioned on an inaccessible rock in the middle of the river.

I got a seat on the tram to Sheffield Railway Station, but I had to stand for most of the way on the train back to Doncaster.

Rivelin Dams, Rails, Rivelin Valley and Malin Bridge.

A walk along the Rivelin Valley; one of the locations where the Industrial Revolution began.

Today was just as much an industrial archaeological field-trip as it was a walk. There are the remains and ruins of maybe two dozen mills and forges along this relatively short wooded valley which starts on the edge of the Peak District and ends only about half a mile from the shops at Hillsborough. Several of the mills date back to as early as the sixteenth century, and some didn't stop operating until the mid twentieth century.

I got off the bus at the middle of the three Rivelin Dams and walked a few hundred yards back along the road to the footpath, leading uphill through woodland. The path continued for about a mile until I reached the hamlet of Rails where I took the road downhill to reach the car parking area at the head of the valley.

At this location there are toilets, picnic tables, an outdoor classroom for school visits; and the remains of the first of today's mills - complete with an illustrated information board...as is the case at several other locations further down the valley.

It wasn't a very long walk today so I took my time, lingering at many of the old mills, weirs, sluices, stepping stones, dams, millraces and waterfalls; I tried to photograph some of the weirs which are really quite spectacular; but the shots were all out of focus. This photograph was my best effort:

Just over half way down the valley I arrived at the café where I had a meat and potato pie dinner; it was okay, but nothing special.

Less than an hour after finishing my meal I was in Hillsborough town centre, where it looked like martial law had been declared; there was a high profile football match being played; a police helicopter was hovering over the stadium and every takeaway establishment and pub had several police officers guarding it.

As I stood and waited for the tram, two trams passed which were not in service. I subsequently found out from the ticket inspector on the next one which actually stopped that the trams had been vandalised by football fans...and he had been given a black-eye by some thugs.