Roaming South Yorkshire
My parents lived at the northern, tapering edge of creeping urbanisation but, by crossing the busy A61 road that links Junction 36 on the M1 motorway with Sheffield, one is immediately in the relatively unspectacular but none-the-less delightful pastoral surroundings of a corner of South Yorkshire (or the West Riding of Yorkshire, as we old 'uns remember it).
To the west, the land rises to Wharncliffe Crags, moorland and the Pennines, the backbone of the UK; to the east, the land becomes flatter towards the river Trent; to the south, there is the city of Sheffield; to the north there is mixed agriculture and woodland, under which lies the Barnsley coalfield. The area is much changed but there are echoes of its remembered bucolic charm.
In the countryside to the north lived my grandparents, in a village about two miles away. In this modern day, parents keep their children close and they are probably right to do so. No modern parent would allow their child to wander about remote locations unsupervised. Many years ago, when I was young, we roamed and I often walked through the quiet lanes to visit my grandparents. The following photographs were taken on one of the two favoured routes for that journey in those days, revisited in a recent trip.
[A photograph I'd taken on Pea Field Lane near Bromley seemed to me to invite being painted, so I took a leaf out David's book on experimental manipulation.]
- Howbrook Reservoir
- Berry Lane
- Howbrook
- Spouthouse Lane
- Bromley
- Pea Field Lane
- Clay Park
- The Flats
- Wortley Hall
Looking north after crossing the A61. The white dots on the horizon are dairy cattle. Invisible behind trees at the right of the picture is Howbrook reservoir, once used as a reserve supply for now-long-gone industry a few miles to the south. The reservoir remains but now serves mainly as a retreat for husbands escaping for a day's fishing.
This is a detour to the dam head, looking west (this is part of the alternative route to my late grandparents' village though, at the narrowest part of the reservoir, you might just make out a decommissioned bridge which used to be the primary route).
Here's the bridge, which is now inaccessible. Even when I was a child, the board walkway could be in dangerous disrepair for long periods and one would have to mind broken and missing planks.
Above and below: to the west of Howbrook Reservoir, en route to Berry Lane. The path used to be better defined.
Below: emerging into fields normally grazed by dairy herds.
A legacy of agricultural history. There are still working farms, hereabout, but many (like this) have now become fashionable rural residences. This feature is for impaling bundles of straw for working horses to grab a snack (I think!).
From the hamlet of Bromley, Spouthouse Lane becomes Pea Field Lane, to the south of which the hay was still being gathered for baling. The high ground in the distance, again, rises to Wharncliffe Chase and the Crags.
Crossing under the A616 major road, a track heads north towards Wortley. Before the A616 was built, there was no discernible noise from traffic for miles around. I don't suppose it's all that bad now but, in my youth, the only sounds to be heard at my grandmother's house were the buzzing of insects, the occasional cockerel crowing and the ticking of her living room clock. This photo is south-facing, by the way, with the track rising from under the A616. The crop growing at the right of the photograph is oilseed rape (canola) with its distinctive flowers. I missed the best of them by about two weeks, and they're clearly on their way out, but there's still a trace of their bright yellow display visible (see Clay Park for more):
The track drops into a wood, below. It's kind of late in spring but there was still a scattering of bluebells.
Bluebell woods are still fairly common in rural Britain, and some woodland areas are fully—beautifully—carpeted. The bracken is just coming up. Later in the summer it will be dense and waist high.
The spring's hawthorn was still doing well and the summer's cow parsley fully out.
Another vestige of earlier days: a stone gatepost with cast iron hinges to hang the gate from. The hinges are set into a socket in the stone with lead.
The path then leads to The Flats. A left turn at the end of this path takes you to the village. Bearing right takes you to the rear gates of Wortley Hall.
It is an area that has not yet lost all its charm, though it has disadvantageously changed over the years. It's still a fine place for hiking—an interesting landscape that's not horribly taxing in its rise and fall—though the curse of fly-tipping and litter are too evident. It was glorious, though, in my day, and an unalloyed pleasure to tramp about.
Other nearby destinations
- Around Bolsterstone
- Langsett Reservoir
- Moore Hall Reservoir
- Wharncliffe Crags
- Wentworth, South Yorkshire
- Wentworth Castle
- Wortley Top Forge