A Few Photographs of Sheffield Taken With The New Camera

I met up with a couple of friends in Sheffield this afternoon; I arrived an hour or so early and so took some photographs in the city centre.

Foolow, Grindlow, and Hathersage

When I heard some of the other passengers on the bus talking about the cake village at Eyam this morning, a model of the village made of cake, I briefly considered getting off there and having a look, but I decided to stay on the bus to my original destination of Foolow. I like cake...but not that much.

I walked across the fields to Grindlow and then up on to Abney Moor, passing the glider club and an old pumping house.

It took me few seconds to get past this obstruction placed in front of the stile.

I continued across Offerton Moor and then down to the footpath which goes alongside the River Derwent.

At just after one o'clock it started to rain and so I hurried to the bus stop at Hathersage.

West Stockwith, Misterton, Drakeholes, Everton, and Bawtry

My brother joined me on my walk today, which started down by the River Trent at West Stockwith. We started by exploring the parts of the marina we could reach, then walked on top of the levee for a few yards before continuing through the village.

On my previous walk I was having problems with my camera; I was hoping it might have just been a bit of damp that had got into the electrics. Well, whatever else it was, the camera became useless when the on/off button broke and so I had to buy a new [secondhand] one. Today's photographs are the first ones I've taken with the new camera - I'm pleased with the results; the camera seems to perform well under a variety of conditions. I took a lot of test shots to confirm this.

My brother spotted that the church was open, so we went inside. It's a rather plain building which dates from 1722.

We walked along the southern bank of the River Idle and then through a field of sugar beet, two fields of sweetcorn growing taller than both of us, and across a pedestrian crossing over the railway to reach Misterton. The church there was open too.

We then walked down to the canal towpath which we stayed with to Drakeholes.

[One of my test shots with the camera]

We used some tracks which were new to me to come out onto the road at Mill Lane right at the southern end of Everton and then continued until we reached a point about two miles east of Bawtry; unfortunately we had to walk the rest of the way on the causeway at the side of the busy road.

Curbar Crossroads, Freebirch, Linacre Reservoirs, Old Brampton, Nether Chanderhill, and Chatsworth House

When I arrived at Sheffield Railway Station this morning I was handed a Costa gift card pre-loaded with £2 credit as part of a promotion by East Midland Railways. I put this in my wallet because I knew I'd be using it quite soon. I then walked over to the interchange to catch the bus to Curbar Crossraods.

I needed to walk for nearly two miles along the road until I reached my first footpath at Freebirch.

It was quite misty today for the first couple of hours and so I didn't take many photographs, and the few that I did take didn't come out very well because I've been having some problems with the camera; the on/off switch is sticking really quite bad and the lens is struggling with focusing -  fortunately things did improve the more I used it...I think a bit of damp must have got in the electrics at Lichfield on Friday; it did rain a lot.

I headed eastwards towards Linacre Reservoirs, passing along country lanes, across meadows, and through woodland areas.

I think I must have crossed over more footbridges today than on any other walk; I also counted at least four abandoned and overgrown JCB diggers along the route as well.

At Old Brampton the footpath comes out near to the churchyard and so I didn't need to go out of my way to visit the church. The building was open and so I went inside; the first thing I immediately noticed as soon as I stepped inside was the loud ticking noise of the clock in the tower.

I then headed south to Nether Chanderhill and then west to Nether Loads, another tiny hamlet like Freebirch. A few minutes later, in woodland, I had to check my map to confirm that there isn't a fork in the road.

I came up to a stretch of dead straight road on higher ground which led to another road, which for a few hundred yards delineates the boundary of the Peak District National Park.

One of the JCBs mentioned earlier is visible in this photograph.

A few weeks ago, Siobhan my support worker, told me what hacking is; she's started riding again after more than ten years.

I took the track leading down to Beeley Hilltop and then walked along the riverside path to Chatsworth House.

On my return to the railway station at Sheffield I was handed another Costa gift card; this one I immediately redeemed for a slice of chocolate tiffin. I've still got the other one...which I'll be using at the earliest opportunity.