Oxspring, Thurgoland, Hood Green, and Dodworth

Another walk starting at Oxspring. Today I headed to the southeast, following the River Don downstream for about a mile. The walk started with a shed mocked up to look like a giant cockerel - the photograph isn't very good though

 

I passed under this viaduct; I would be joining the TransPennine Trial later, but not at the location I had planned.

There was a short climb up a road and across some open countryside until I reached Huthwaite Hall, nothing more than a large farmhouse.

I hadn't studied the map in enough detail and at the location where I was expecting the path to cross the TransPennine Trail the trail wasn't there, it was actually beneath my feet in a tunnel - the trail runs along the route of an old railway line.

I had to take a path that went to Thurgoland, a rather unattractive village. The church there is Victorian and nothing special.

I walked through the village and down the lane to access the TransPennine Trail - I stayed on it for about a mile before heading off to the northeast towards Hood Green.

 

I continued heading northeast to reach Dodworth with its frequent bus services back into Barnsley.

Ardsley, Bolton-upon-Dearne, and Goldthorpe

I caught the X19 bus to Ardsley, just three  miles east of Barnsley town centre.  I took the footpath that goes down by the side of the crematorium and continues down across the fields to the TransPennine Trail.

I went the wrong way because I was concentrating too much on not getting too muddy. I was soon able to join my original route though.

Interestingly, for me anyhow since I like maps, on the online Ordnance Survey map halfway along its route the path is reclassified as a bridleway. I've not noticed this anyway before, I should imagine there are some practical issues for both horseriders and cyclists using the route. When I was there I didn't notice any specific signage. Maybe the reason is an inconsistency as it crosses a parish boundary - I don't know.

I stayed with the TransPennine Trail for four miles until I reached the southern end of Bolton-on-Dearne. At Broomhill the Trail was closed but there was a footpath I could use, although a stretch of this was flooded. Fortunately the water was only a few inches deep and it was tarmac underfoot.

I ended up going a slightly different way, still classed as part of the TransPennine Trail though. There were some colourful murals, and some more floodwater to walk through.

 

At at the bottom of the hill. I walked up the road to the church at Bolton-upon-Dearne and then joined the Barnsley Boundary Walk to finish the walk at Goldthorpe.

Ardsley, Broomhill, Bolton-upon-Dearne, and Conisbrough

I caught the Barnsley bus and travelled to Ardsley, three miles short of the town centre. I took the footpath just before the crematorium, going along a track and then across the fields to a minor road, which I crossed over before continuing on a metalled surface to reach the TransPennine Trail near Wombwell.

There were some nice views just after I'd left Ardsley.

I got lost a couple of times but there were probably even better views from the places I ended up. These are three of the photographs I took.

I'd only been walking on the TransPennine Trail for a few minutes when I heard the noise of engines revving, I suspected it might be off-road motorcycles approaching...but I was wrong, it was coming from a nearby radio-controlled model car racing event at a specially constructed circuit.

I left the TreansPennine Trail at Old Moor for a couple of miles, walking through Broomhill; it's not an attractive village but there's a decent view from the bridge that crosses over the River Dearne.

I continued walking along the riverbank, this is the location where the next two photos were taken, looking back towards Darfield Church.

The path then went along an old railway embankment for a while before taking me back to the river. I briefly entered Bolton-upon-Dearne before catching up with the TransPennine Trail again at the railway arches on the Mexborough road. I then stayed with the trail all the way back to Conisbrough.

  

Marr, Sprotbrough, Mexborough, Old Denaby, and Hooton Roberts

It's only eleven minutes on the bus to Marr and I caught the earliest bus on a Sunday to start my walk today, at  09:21, according to the timetable. I took photographs of the church and then walked across the fields to Sprotbrough - I passed a group of about two dozen metal detectorists busy at work in a field just before I reached Sprotbrough. Since the field was right next to where I was walking I asked a couple of the men if anyone had found anything interesting; as usual they were somewhat reticent with their replies.

After taking some photos of the church at Sprotbrough I went down into the Don Gorge but then slowly climbed some of the way back up through the woods before descending again using the steep steps in Pot Ridings Wood to join the TransPennine Trail going along the river, heading upstream.

Beyond Conisbrough Viaduct the Trail follows the course of an old railway, still running parallel to the river though. I easily found the path through the woods which leads to the lock on the canal [it's actually a navigation] therefore shortening my route by about half a mile...and it's a lot more interesting walk.

When I arrived at Mexborough I had to walk through a housing estate to reach the footbridge and walkway that crosses over the canal, river, and railway. By this time it had clouded over quite a bit, but the weather was still pleasant.

I didn't stay long in Old Denaby before I climbed up a grassy hill and then walked across the fields and down the lane to Hooton Roberts. On the way I noticed something that I couldn't identify hanging from a hawthorn bush near a gate; I photographed it but didn't touch it - it looked like it really ought to be in a chemical laboratory.

There are three buses an hour going to Doncaster from Hooton Roberts; luckily for me I had only two minutes to wait for one of them.