Walking to Doncaster Lakeside

I had an appointment in the town centre at lunchtime today and then  I needed to visit the cinema at Lakeside to book some tickets for a livestreaming ballet performance. The weather was decent so I decided to walk it there, and took my camera.

Chatsworth House, Beeley Hill Top, Beeley, Rowsley, and Bakewell

Despite being held up at a red signal for twenty minutes this morning due to a points failure I still managed to catch my intended bus at Sheffield. I travelled to Chatsworth House and immediately climbed up the steps going up through the woods to the hunting tower.

I continued walking through Stand Wood, heading south to Beeley Moor.

At the end of the moor I turned right, going down the track that leads to Beeley Hill Top.

The track was surfaced with tarmac as it continued down to the road, which I walked along for a few minutes before finding a gate which I used to enter access land and pick up the footpath to Beeley.

I left the village using a path which goes right next to some hedges and along the edges of fields, staying low level and parallel to the road. I needed to walk along the road for a while before finding the path that goes through the woods next to the river and passes some allotments on the way to Rowsley. 

I turned north and left Rowsley  by going up Church Lane; the church isn't very old or pretty and isn't in an attractive location either so I didn't bother with any photographs. As the village peters out the road becomes a gravel and limestone chips surface and turns to the north west - the direction of Baklewell.

There were some lovely views as I got nearer to Bakewell: all of my photographs were taken using only one hand though because I was speaking on my mobile phone to my friend from Leeds.

Lodge Moor, Rails, Stopes, Storrs, Stacey Bank, Holdworth, Foldrings, Brightholmlee, and Wharncliffe Side

Today's walk started at the bus terminus at Lodge Moor. There's a very decent view just a few steps after getting off the bus.

I walked down into Fox Hagg Nature Reserve and then crossed over the dam wall at the bottom of the valley.

I climbed up the other side of the valley passing through woodland; for this short section of the walk I was actually within the boundary of the Peak District National Park. The path veered to the east before reaching the tiny community of Rails. From this point I just used the map to plot a route sticking as near as possible to due north and would see where it intersected with the main Manchester road in the upper Don Valley - so, the walk finished at Wharncliffe Side.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky today, probably not the best conditions for landscape photography, but certainly ideal conditions for regularly stopping and admiring the views.

As is quite often the case I got very muddy today and so when I got home the first I did was to strip off and get out of my dirty clothes. When I caught a glimpse of my legs I was terrified though; I thought I'd get some sort of sepsis in my varicose veins. Fortunately I soon noticed that my hands had the same black stain - it was the dye from my trousers which must not be holding fast...it obviously can't cope with my sweat.

Sorry that the photo isn't very good...I'm much better at landscapes.

Womersley, Little Smeaton, Kirk Smeaton, Campsall, and Askern

I caught the Pontefract bus and travelled to Womersley, about fifteen miles away from Doncaster. I walked through the village, took some photographs of the church [it was open] and then headed south to Little Smeaton, and Kirk Smeaton.

At Kirk Smeaton I took some photos of my second church of the day, only from the one angle though because a builder's van was parked in the churchyard, and another one on the road outside...and some workmen were filling in potholes near the church as well.

I left the village, still going south.

I soon turned east though and walked along a track; I then deliberately took a route going across a field that passed right next to an old windmill that's marked on the map.

My third church of the day was at Campsall, one I hadn't visited before - it's difficult to photograph though...I couldn't get far enough away to get all of the building in shot.

I found the entrance to Campsall Country Park and took the most direct route to Askern, from where I caught the bus back to Doncaster.