29 September 2011

Roving

It's daft to stay inside on sunny days like today so I was out again rambling in the lovely countryside that surrounds Sheffield. I tootled over to the suburb of Totley and parked up - not far from the place where Totley Teacher Training College once stood. Now it's an estate of rabbit hutch houses - "little boxes, little boxes and they all look just the same".

Five minutes over the fields and I came to this stile which leads into Gillfield Wood which I have recently worked out is the most southerly point in the Kingdom of Yorkshire. Beyond that narrow woodland, there be dragons - in other words - Derbyshire:-
I walked up Mickley Lane - no footpath so I had to keep close to the verge to avoid being winged by passing vehicles. I was sweating when I reached Mickley. Then onwards to Rod Moor and near Upper Birkitt farm a horse called Mr Ed came over to speak with me:-
Passing Dore and Totley golf club, I noticed groups of men whacking little white balls down fairways:-
Along narrow paths and bridleways emerging into the dormitory village of Dronfield Woodhouse:-
At Birchinlee Farm, I noticed a mobile phone mast beyond a huge pile of barrel-shaped black plastic buoys containing tons of winter fodder. Then there was this tumbledown, deserted farmhouse:-
Two and a half hours after starting my ramble, I passed through Holmesfield Park Wood where sunlight dripped gorgeously through the leaf canopy:-
Past peaceful Woodthorpe Hall Farm where a silver haired grandfather was teaching his grandson how to harrow ploughed fields, then down into the hollow and back through Gillfield Wood to the heartland - Yorkshire.

12 comments:

  1. Lucky you escaped the Derbyshire dragons!

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  2. Nothing wrong with Derbyshire OR dragons!
    Gorgeous countryside your side of the border though.

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  3. I love that farm building
    amazing... its a long time since I was down that way!!
    in fact it was when I was dating ladies!!!

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  5. JENNY You're right! Wales doesn't have exclusivity you know!
    MORNING AJ Actually some of those pictures were taken in Derbyshire. I had to cross over.
    JOHN GRAY Dating ladies? You mean like "Time Team"?
    ELIZABETH...He told me!

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  7. I like the farmhouse. It would make an interesting des-res conversion. Or maybe a good holding pen for stray traffic wardens....

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  8. I bet that someone,in the not-too- far-distant future, buys that old farmhouse and does a lovely renovation on it. Wish it was me !

    Tell me, do you wander aimlessly and just luckily arrive back at the right place, follow a book of walks or just know your way around the area because you are a local?
    Cheers

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  9. I was hooked by this post the minute I saw that stile...
    I'll have to climb over it on my trip in 2013.

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  10. So Dore and Totley golf club is not integrated then....

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  11. ELIZABETH We had better things to discuss like oatmeal and the advantages and disadvantages of walking on only two legs.
    SHOOTING PEAS That farmhouse was so secluded with woods all the way round it. You could bring in horse trucks filled with parking enforcement officers and perhaps start up a cotton plantation.
    HELEN I only wander around aimlessly after quaffing a gallon or two of Tetley's bitter, otherwise I use ordnance survey maps to guide my rambling.
    KATHERINE I will be happy to show you where it is but let's hope that the weather is just as nice that day. Also don't trip on your trip!
    RHYMES WITH INTEGRATED Integrated? What do you mean sir? In England golf clubs accept men from any race on the planet. Women are also accepted if they don't talk too much and are happy to help out with the catering.

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