Sheffield Bus Partnership

On November 1st there are major changes to bus routes and timetables in Sheffield, the whole process is called the 'Sheffield Bus Partnership.'

There are two main changes which will affect me when travelling to the Peak District, one positive and one slightly negative. The negative change is service 272; at some times of the day it is taking a longer route in Sheffield and re-numbered as 271.

The other change is service 61/62 to Bradfield, a service I've not used before because it only operated from Hillsborough. It will now run from the city centre, Arundel Gate, not the Interchange though, but this means that there'll be a bus on this route every thirty minutes and a journey time if 30-40 minutes. On balance, not a bad deal I suppose.

When we switch over to GMT for the winter some services will naturally change to their winter timetables as they always do, but there won't be much of a reduction.

Moscar, Bradfield Moors, and Yorkshire Bridge

This walk was meant to be pretty much the same as I'd planned to do yesterday with my friend Chris from Leeds. Things didn't turn out quite as planned though.

I got of the bus at the county boundary and walked up the drive to Moscar Lodge and then across Lodge Moor to reach Sugworth Hall. I paused to take a few photographs inside the rhododendron tunnel; it's a unique place to walk.

The next place Boot's Follywhere I stopped to take pictures was Boot's Folly, just a couple of hundred yards away.

I then walked down to the top of Dale Dyke Reservoir and up the track at the other side of Strines Reservoir. When I reached the road the plan was for me to turn left and then take the logging track up onto the moors, however I noticed a sign indicating that there was a permissive footpath in  Bole Edge Plantation, and so I entered. This was to prove to be an interesting decision because a few minutes later I stumbled across something that I wasn't expecting at all just a few miles to the west of Sheffield; an encampment and training camp for some Doomsday survivalist cult by the look of it. I didn't dare go any closer; I was quite shocked and a bit unsettled. What I saw next shook me to the bone....until I ventured forward for a closer look. The overgrown and abandoned tombstones together with a man-sized crucifix and several strategically placed spades and half-dug graves turned out to be fake, made of plywood and plastic. Well that turned out to be a relief; I'm assuming it must be a long abandoned paintball arena, or some other roleplay experience...I'm hoping that's the case anyhow.

After leaving the plantation I eventually found myself on Bradfield Moors, just wandering aimlessly for about an hour. I seemed to have the entire moor to myself - the only locations I sought out were a couple of fairly substantial shooting huts where I imagine refreshments would be served. and a line of the best grouse butts I've ever seen. Each butt has a door,  a comfy bench to sit on, and a wooden floor. It seems that they all can be easily reached by vehicles too, so not too tiring a day for the shooting party.

I sat and finished off my sandwiches in butt number ten.

I looped my way round the moor and cut down another plantation where most of the trees had been felled and arrived on the road just below the Strines Inn. I stopped for a pot of tea; lunch smelled delicious but I didn't order.

I finished by walking along the road then took a footpath to reach the Ladybower Inn. I thought I'd only have a few minutes to wait for the bus. That turned out not to be the case; the timetable that I'd downloaded and printed out was the wrong one, either one that's out of date, or the new timetable which doesn't come into effect until the end of the month. I had over an hour to wait and so walked a bit further to Ladybower Reservoir. I suppose I could have continued down to the bus-stop at Bamford Station where there's a more frequent service but I was tired and had had enough for the day.

One Walk Abandoned, One Walk Postponed

Just a quick update; I've had to postpone a walk I'd planned for tomorrow and abandon today's short walk because of problems with my drains.

The plan for today was to go to Sprotbrough with Marshal, one of my support workers, do one of our regular strolls along the canal and find somewhere pleasant to eat our sandwiches, and then drive across the river and up out of the gorge to a lay-by on the Sheffield road where we were going to walk down into Steetley Quarry, an interesting location popular with mountainbikers. We'd finished our sandwiches and were on our way back to the car to drive to the second location when my mobile phone rang, it was the plumber calling to say he would be at my house in less than an hour to flush out my drains, which have been a bit sluggish for a few weeks...so we returned to my house.

I've also had to postpone tomorrow's planned walk in the Peak District with Chris from Leeds because I need to be at home so that a new grate cover can be fitted.

Hessle, Beverley, and Howden

A day out in the East Riding.

Another day out with Siobhan, my support worker; an opportunity for photography and bargains, and Yorkshire cream teas too.

We drove to Hessle and had a short walk along the foreshore to the whiting mill, and back - plenty of opportunities to photograph the Humber Bridge.

It was a bit too chilly to eat our sandwiches outside so we ate them in the car.

It was only a few miles to drive to Beverley where I wanted to specifically look for a charity shop which sells particularly inexpensive men's clothes...and good quality items too. After a bit of confusion we found it and I ended up buying seven items of clothing for £20.40...less than £3 each. I got a Regatta fleece, a St. Andrew's Golf Club official sweater which I particularly like, another sports fleece and a windproof top, and three smart shirts.

Beverley is a pleasant market town with a minster, and an even more impressive parish church...my photographs of the churches didn't turn out too well so I haven't included them.

There are some streets, ginnels, and businesses with unusual names in Beverley; I think the barber lives in either North Cave or South Cave; two local villages.

There is also a building with paintings attached to the external walls; this painting of a naked woman caught my attention.

On the drive back to Howden we called at some tearooms at a farm shop at a pretty location at the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. This was the view from the car park.

Our day out finished at Howden, another pretty East Riding market town. By now it had clouded over and was drizzling a bit, so the photographs have been converted to monochrome.

A Circular Walk Form Baslow

Visiting Baslow, Hassop, Pilsley, Edensor, and Chatsworth House; four villages, three churches, two pubs and [almost] a fight.

A grey, misty and miserable day for the most part today, although it did brighten up for about half an hour when I was at Chatsworth House. So, it wasn't very good conditions for photography; however I was determined to make the best of it, specifically spending more time taking photographs today, many of which are presented in black and white for better effect. Of course the murky conditions limited what I was photographing; no landscape shots today...just moody close-ups of buildings...with a couple of exceptions.

I got off the bus at Baslow Nether End and went to the toilets; inside there was neatly folded up pair of clean underpants waiting for me on the table at the side of the sink. I wonder if this is a new service for walkers being provided by Derbyshire Dales District Council? Probably not.  

Still wearing my own underpants I stepped outside and walked over to the cafe and started taking photographs.

I soon took a short path which I haven't used before, across a field  to come out further down the main road in the village. I stopped at the church to take more photographs, specifically remembering to get a clear shot of the unusual clock face on the tower.

I then walked over the old bridge, with its peculiar toll booth, and continued up a narrow ginnel between two houses to reach open countryside.

I had to walk along the road for about a mile in order to reach Hassop. Although the weather was still grey there was plenty of colour to photograph at The Eyre Arms.

It's back to black and white for pictures of the unusual Catholic church at Hassop, and the gatehouse at the hall.

The next section of the walk was along the bottom of a pretty valley and then up the track to Pilsley, where I stopped for a pot of tea at the Devonshire Arms. The taps inside the gents' toilets are the most complicated I've ever come across; I needed to lift, twist, and then pull to get any water. 

Refreshed, I walked through the village and down the road to Edensor. By now the sun was struggling to come out and so some of the outdoor photographs are now in colour again.

There are some beautiful cottages here.

I've not been inside the church at Edensor before, there always seemed to be a wedding or something else happening when I was passing...but not today - I had the church to myself. I've always wanted to have a good look inside because the building was designed by George Gilbert Scott, the same architect who designed Doncaster Minster...of course this church is much smaller.

I walked across the grassy parkland to Chatsworth House, passing Queen Mary's Bower and then going up to the Courtyard.

On my way back to Baslow I went up for a closer look at something I've previously wondered about when I've seen it in the distance. It's a wonderful piece of sculpture, although I actually think it's one of the fences or hurdles for the show jumping course.

I had to run the last few yards to catch the bus at Baslow as I could see it approaching the bus-stop and there was no-one else waiting. When we reached the busy traffic in Sheffield I thought the bus driver was going to jump out of his cab and beat up a driver who had jumped a red light, cut in front of us, and had held up everybody else until the traffic was able to move away at the next green light phase at the junction. He was livid and was hurling abuse at the top of his voice. A few minutes later he was being aggressive with another car driver who was a few seconds late at moving off at a green light. I think he was a bit unstable.