Thorne, Stainforth and Keadby Canal, Crowle Moors, Thorne Moors, and Moorends

I'd read online that no trains would be running to Sheffield today; however, when I reached the station the trains were actually running. By this time though it was really too late for me to go to the Peak District and so I continued with my original plan to go on a local walk. I considered today's walk a local walk even though I briefly crossed over into Lincolnshire.

I travelled to Thorne on the train - it's only about ten miles to the north east. I got off and walked towards the town centre, where there were a few buildings for me to photograph.

I then made my way towards the canal, passing by the entrance to Blue Water Marina on the way. Nearly fifteen years ago when I was on a workfare placement one of my assignments was to organise a marine radio operator's licence training course here.

I was heading pretty much due east as I walked along the towpath for the next four miles, passing over the boundary into Lincolnshire just before a location called Medge Hall. 

I crossed over the canal and the level crossing here and headed north east. As I walked along here I could see the buildings of Crowle over to my right.

After about a mile and a half I took a sharp turn to the left and started the return leg of the walk, soon entering Crowle Moors Nature Reserve...the path here was flooded, but was okay as I continued towards Thorne Moors and then to Moorends...where I had to walk through a housing estate until I reached the bus stop.

I've not included any photographs of the moors themselves because I didn't take any; they are rather featureless - just reed beds, areas of birch woodland, shallow lakes, and smaller areas of grassland...but absolutely flat. In the distance there are views of several wind farms, a couple of power stations, and Goole Docks. My camera's zoom lens isn't good enough to take shots of anything on the horizon, and even if I was interested in wildlife there wasn't any around at this time of year...nothing that I was aware anyhow; except birds...and I hate birds - I don't find them interesting at all - give me some well weathered rocks to look at and photograph any time though.

Thorne, Fishlake, Kirk Bramwith, and Stainforth

It's only seventeen minutes on the train from Doncaster to Thorne if it stops at all the intermediate stations, or only twelve minutes if it's one of the rare direct services. However, it takes me twenty minutes to walk to the railway station so overall it's not much quicker than catching one of the buses which comes up my end of town...but the first bus on a Sunday doesn't leave until after I'd already arrived in Thorne on the train.

There are two railway stations at Thorne, Thorne North and Thorne South, serving two different lines - yet neither of them being close to the town centre. The first two trains on a Sunday morning from Doncaster arrive at Thorne North on the Hull line...the other line goes to Cleethorpes. 

I didn't walk into the town centre; I just found [at the second attempt] the footpath I needed which goes through a housing estate and then becomes a rough track. I then reached an area of scrubland which was overgrown with thick brambles in places  and randomly placed rather sad looking scruffy long haired horses were chained to spikes that had been hammered into the ground. Where there weren't any horses there were heaps of hundreds of empty Foster's Lager cans...plus other empty cans and bottles as well.

The path took me over a pedestrians only crossing where there were half a dozen recently placed bouquets or floral displays; the flowers seemed quite fresh so I'm assuming someone might have died there recently...or more likely the anniversary of someone dying there had just passed.

I reached the service road for The Range Distribution Centre and then took the road that crosses over the motorway. According to the Ordnance Survey map, or at least what I could see on the sheet  there should have been a couple of paths passing under or over the motorway but I couldn't find either of them, and I doubt they even exist any more. Walking along this road added about a mile to the route; there was a greater variety of discarded lager cans thrown at the side of the road - there were still plenty of Foster's though.

I crossed over the River Don using a designated weak bridge which looked quite dilapidated.

I had a choice of routes to Fishlake but chose the signposted byway; it's a very pleasant route and there are plenty of rabbits - a couple of them scurried away just a couple of yards in front of me. My friend from Leeds phoned up to arrange our meeting  in the city next weekend as I was trying to stay out of the worst of the mud along here.

The church at Fishlake is left unlocked and so I went inside after I'd eaten my sandwiches.

The walk to the next village, Kirk Bramwith, took me along farm tracks, footpaths across fields, and along country roads. En route I came across what must be the  strangest roadside shrine I've ever seen, featuring a transparent plastic teacup and a shabby anorexic doll.

It was the second day of the snowdrops festival at Kirk Bramwith Church; I went inside and bought a cup of tea...the ladies had sold out of cake though.

The final couple of miles was a walk along the levee, with the River Don to my left and the Stainforth and Keadby Canal to my right.

The bus stop at Stainforth is right next to the church, which is a twentieth century building I think. I only had ten minutes to wait, long enough to take a quick photograph of the church tower though.

Group Walk: A River, A Lock, An Aqueduct, Two Canals, And Two Different Types of Canal Bridge

(Visiting Stainforth, South Bramwith, Braithwaite, and Kirk Bramwith)

This was another of the monthly walks where I'm the walk leader and organiser for the autism group here in Doncaster.

We were lucky with the weather; showers were forecast, but we didn't get any - it was a bit blustery and murky at times, but that was all.

The walk started at Stainforth. Three of us travelled from town on the bus and everyone else, another nine people, drove there in their cars.

We had soon left the built-up area and were walking across the fields, one of them being bright yellow with blossoming rapeseed. At this point the footpath was quite wide; this wouldn't be the case later on though when the path was narrow and the rapeseed higher than me...I've never known it to be so high.

At South Bramwith we could hear the klaxon sounding, the red lights flashing, and the barriers lowering, so we knew that a boat was passing through the swing bridge.

We needed to cross to the other side of the canal, but obviously couldn't until the bridge had swung back into place; so everyone posed for the second group portrait of the day.

It wasn't far until we reached Kirk Bramwith Lock on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal. Some of the group stopped to pick up some refreshments at the moored coffee boat, and to use the toilets on board. There's a nice grassy area at the lock where we sat and ate our sandwiches.

It was only a short walk to the River Don Aqueduct; we were lucky to time our visit with a boat going over it; unfortunately I didn't manage to get a decent photograph of the boat.

We continued walking along the towpath of our second canal of the day, the New Junction Canal, until we reached the lift bridge at Braithwaite, where yet again our timing was perfect; we were able to see the bridge being lifted for a barge to pass through.

By now one of the walkers was struggling a bit and so we decided to modify our route, to take the shortest route back to Stainforth, going through the village of Kirk Bramwith and then along the bank of the River Don.

The three of us who had travelled to Stainforth by bus this morning were fortunately offered a lift back into town - this was very welcome indeed.