I'd not been to Knaresborough for a few years and so I really enjoyed my day out with Siobhan today. We stayed in the upper town and diddn't venture down to the river because of her sore hips meant she would have struggled with the steep hills; I think I would have been fine now that my legs have almost made a full recovery.
I usually start my day walking early, sometimes leaving the house at 06:30 but today I spent a couple of hours online waiting for it to warm up a bit before catching the 08:14 bus to Braithwell, and after taking a few photos I walked along two bridleways and a short section of road to get to Micklebring. It was a dangerous road out of Braithwell, narrow, high hedges, and a couple of blind bends.
I walked through Micklebring and then took a steep, narrow snicket between two houses down to the bottom of the valley, passed under the motorway and continued to the hamlet of Firsby. I re-traced the route I took last week for a few hundred yards but in the opposite direction until I reached the footpath going across a field to Ravenfield Church, located on the northern edge of the village.
I finished by walking along the road to Hooton Roberts and waited for the bus going back to Doncaster; I noticed a sign for a 35mph speed limit, I've never seen one for that speed before.
The weather forecast was for rain by noon today and so I was restricted to another local walk. I caught the Sheffield bus to Conisbrough, travelled to the last stop and then had to walk back along the main road [a section that the bus doesn't use] until I reached a footpath heading south.
The cemetery chapel is quite nice.
When I took the next photograph, looking back towards Conisbrough Castle and the church, I'd just climbed over a broken stile and had stretched my thigh muscles far more than I wanted to.
I passed the ruins of Conisbrough Lodge and continued down to the Braithwell road, turned right heading towards Ravenfield Common and then took the footpath that heads back north.
Near to the village of Ravenfield I met a dog called Colin, in fact I saw a lot of dogs today.
At the hamlet of Firsby I had a choice of locations to head for to finish the walk. The route to Hooton Roberts is slightly shorter and a lot more interesting but the line of the path across a recently ploughed field was still indistinct. Conisbrough Hill Top, going straight ahead was my choice though because rain was in the air by now and there's a bus shelter there.
Just a short local walk this morning organised at short notice so that I could get out in the countryside for a couple of hours to enjoy the sunshine, which has been very rare in recent days.
I caught the Worksop bus and travelled south on the Great North Road for a few miles to the Mount Pleasant Hotel and took the footpath that leads to Rossington Hall. I was assuming I'd be able to access the grounds of the hall, which I have done previously, but the route is now blocked by a locked gate. I then meandered through the local countryside, generally heading in a northerly direction back to the church at Rossington.
The last time I was here this pile of rubble was a building, part of what remained at the time of an old quarry I think.
I noticed two of these remote-controlled machines painting the lines on the football pitches as I was heading towards the bus stop near the church. When I got there it was just after eleven o'clock and they were holding a Remembrance service at the cenotaph across from the church and so I stayed well away.
It was misty today, not very good for taking photos and so I've only included a few.
The train arrived on time at Sheffield and so I was able to catch the 272 bus to Fox House. I walked across Totley Moor and then explored the Blacka Moor Nature Reserve, taking some paths I'd not used before.
At Totley Bents there is a series of carvings of animals placed in various gardens and paddocks, they're quite hidden away, some of them in overgrown areas, and are difficult to photograph. I managed to capture five of them, but I spotted at least two more.
I then walked up the hill to Dore village and continued up to Hathersage Road to catch the bus to the city centre.
The highlight of my day, by a long way, was when a man got on the bus with a quite large dog sitting on his shoulders.
