Winster Secret Gardens And Scarecrow Trail 2016

I've already been to two Open Gardens days this summer with Siobhan, my support worker; to Birchover and Bonsall. Well, today we enjoyed walking round gardens in Winster, in the same small area of the Peak District.

The weather could have been better, it was cloudy all day with quite prolonged periods of light drizzle; nothing too much to stop anyone from visiting the gardens though. It was quite busy; we had to queue to get in to a couple of the gardens.

When we reached Birchover, the village just north of Winster, I was surprised to find out it was their Carnival Day. Our car was delayed by the festivities, especially a renegade class of St. Trinian's schoolgirls [complete with hockey sticks] who were flashing their knickers and cleavage at everyone...and then by a troupe of Morris dancers who were dancing around us on all sides, jumping in unison and waving their handkerchiefs at us.

There were twenty three gardens for us to visit in Winster, we managed twenty two of them; we couldn't find garden number 18, Mount View. To be honest, we didn't look that hard though, by this time we were quite tired and were just making our way back to the car by the quickest route. 

The third garden we visited featured a large lawn where there had been a duel over two hundred years ago between a Dr. Cuddie and a Mr. Brittlebank caused by their rival affections for a young lady in the village. Dr. Cuddie lost and is buried in the churchyard, Mr. Brittlebank fled to Australia.

The scarecrow trail added a bit of extra interest to the day, some of them were quite unusual though; I'm not quite sure why a crow in a field in the middle of Derbyshire [an inland county] would be scared of a deep sea diver.

Although the gardens probably aren't as steep overall as the ones we visited in Birchover and Bonsall the lanes and ginnels in the village are very steep and there are some lovely views from some of the hillside gardens. Obviously these views weren't as clear as they can be due to the murky weather...therefore most of the following photographs are close-up shots of interesting and quirky things I noticed.

High Bradfield, Low Bradfield, and Hathersage

I've started today's blog post with a photograph of an elephant sculpture; it was the third one I'd seen on my walk up to the bus stop on Arundel Gate. There are many more positioned throughout Sheffield city centre; it's a fundraising and publicity campaign by a charity.

I caught the bus to High Bradfield and took some photographs of the area near to the church; it was quite cloudy, and remained so all day.

I then found the footpath which goes down across the fields to Low Bradfield. Looking at the route on a map I thought it would be a leisurely stroll; it was quite difficult in places though, quite steep, very overgrown at times...and muddy.

At the bottom of the hill I had a good look around Low Bradfield, calling in the shop and visiting the public toilets. The shop also serves as the village post office, newsagent and tea rooms...and there's a pretty holiday cottage right next door also managed by the same couple.

The toilets were a bit basic; there were no lights and the automatic handwasher and drier didn't work...oh, and there was no toilet seat either.

My route over the moors to Hathersage included views of several reservoirs, a folly, and a walk along the top of the northern end of Stanage Edge. Conditions for photography were poor; I rarely took my camera out of its case.

This is the only decent image I captured.

Wentworth, Greasbrough, and Scholes

My second walk with Chris, Maureen, and Jonathan from Leeds. Same as for the first walk I met them at the shops at Woodlands; it's convenient for Chris, he can just drop off the A1 and drive down the dual carriageway. We then drove to Wentworth Garden Centre where we parked. It was raining quite heavily when we arrived and continued to be wet until about midday, just as predicted by the weather forecast. After everyone had used the toilets and I had popped into the farm shop to check to see if they'd got any rabbit pies [they didn't] we set off in the rain.

It was very dark and miserable day, even when it wasn't raining - there's always plenty of colour at the garden centre though.

We started by walking along the village's high street; Wentworth is a very pretty village but nowhere looks its best in this weather.

We then found the footpath which goes through the fields at the back of the village, emerging out onto the main road opposite the entrance to Wentworth Park. After a few minutes we reached the stables block on our right. This is a very impressive building and I suppose if I hadn't built up the massive size of Wentworth Woodhouse earlier I could possibly have had some fun with my friends persuading them that the stables were actually the stately home itself.

A few hundred yards further on we got our first view of Wentworth Woodhouse, the largest private residence in Europe I think...with one room for every day of the year [no-one is sure as to how many rooms there are, 365 or 366.] Unfortunately you can't get up very close, but we posed for photographs with the impressive 606 ft long facade as a backdrop.

We continued downhill further into the park passing by a herd of cattle at close quarters and noticed the deer in the distance.

My plan was to turn right and head towards the village of Scholes. Unfortunately I was distracted by talking and enjoying myself that I missed the path and so we ended up arriving at the edge of Greasbrough, at a modern housing estate. After a boring walk of quite a few minutes we spotted a path that took us back into open country, passing through some lovely rolling countryside.

We finally reached Scholes, a village with some rather expensive-looking houses; I took a photograph of one of the front gardens which had a privet mini-maze.

At the top end of the village we took the footpath across the fields which would bring us out further up the road, much closer to Wentworth. We ended up getting slightly lost and had to climb over some fencing; fortunately it was new and quite sturdy and only Maureen struggled a bit with it.

We arrived back at the garden centre less than ten minutes later than I had planned; not a bad effort. 

When I got home there was a letter from my GP's surgery on the mat. I had been for some blood tests nearly a fortnight ago and haven't heard anything and so assumed the results were negative. Well, that's not the case...I need to make an appointment to see the doctor; I was tested for rickets, malaria, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes.

We finally reached Scholes, a linear village with some rather expensive-looking houses; I 

Newark-on-Trent, Southwell, and Dukeries Garden Centre

Another trip out with Siobhan, one of my support workers.

It's a drive of about an hour down the A1 to Newark. We parked at our usual car park near to the bus station and walked down by the lock and the riverside to reach the castle, where we found a sunny spot to sit and eat our sandwiches.

In the town centre we had a look in some shops and visited the church; everything was being sold for only a Pound in one of the charity shops and I bought a pair of trousers and two shirts.

After a couple of hours we drove the short distance to Southwell, spending time inside the Minster and visiting the charity shops and the traditional sweet shop - Siobhan treated herself to some 'rosy apples' and the last of the [I can't remember.] 

The plan was then to go to a garden centre which also has a swan reserve and have tea and cake, but when we found out that it was nearly a tenner each for afternoon tea in the cafe, and that we'd have to also pay to visit the lake to see the swans we decided not to bother - I knew somewhere else on the way home where we could stop for refreshments.

I had done some research online and found some nice tearooms at The Old Mill at Old Ollerton; but when we got there it was closed...so we had to hope that option number three would be open. Fortunately the café at The Dukeries Garden Centre at Welbeck Abbey was open and so we bought ourselves cream teas. The farm shop was also open; I bought a rabbit pie for my dinner tomorrow. 

Hooton Pagnell Fete 2016

Hooton Pagnell is my favourite Doncaster village; maybe it's because it's very beautiful...but I also grew up and lived for many years in Thurnscoe, one of the neighbouring villages.

I got off the bus at Hickleton and took a few photographs.

It took me about forty minutes to walk down the road to Hooton Pagnell; this photograph of some bales of hay was taken just beyond the hamlet of Bilham.

When I arrived at Hooton Pagnell it was quite cloudy; the weather did improve though and there were long periods of sunshine later.

I had a quick look at all the stalls and then made my way to the church for mid-day, hoping to hear the carillon. When the time arrived the church tower was silent, even the bells didn't ring...maybe they also had to be removed when the carillon was sent away to be repaired. I was disappointed because on my last visit to the village I got talking to the old lady who lives in Corner Cottage and she said they were hoping to have the carillon working by the time of the Fete.

I wasn't disappointed with the strawberries and cream tea served inside the church though. I found a table outside in the sunshine and enjoyed the rest and refreshments before returning inside to look at the paintings done by members of Campsall Art Group...some were quite good - I only noticed one featuring Hooton Pagnell though - last year there were several.

I stayed in the village until about 2:15, spending quite a bit of time listening to the music; I particularly enjoyed 'Essential Jazz' and the Doncaster Concert Band - their James Bond medley attracted a large crowd.