Alone Beneath The Sky: Sandal to Elsecar 14/05/22

15.2 miles, via Woodthorpe, Gallows Hill, Chevet Park, Bleakley Bridge,

Notton (Grange), Windmill Hill, Royston, Kirk Cross, Carlton, Fish Dam,

Monk Bretton, Old Mill, Harborough Hill, Barnsley, Worsborough Common,

Mount Vernon, Darley Cliff, Worsborough Dale, Lower Lewden, Dovecliffe Wood,

Blacker Hill, Platts Common, and Hoyland.

One third of the way into my 2022 walking year, I think we can draw the impression that we are doing rather well so far, sitting on the cusp of getting 200 miles down before we’ve gotten to my Spring Jollies week, which we’ve only managed to do once over my preceding 10 seasons on the trail, and that’s a good place to be as we continue our probing into South Yorkshire, finally getting a day that promises a lot of Spring sunshine that we haven’t seen much of over the last month, though we are still dressing for potential coolness as we ride out early, to our jump off point, one station south of Wakefield. Alight at Sandal & Agbrigg at 9.10am, my earliest start of the year incidentally, and our course is set along Agbrigg Road to the side of the A61 Barnsley Road to track south through Sandal Magna on a familiar pavement, past St Thomas a Beckett RC school, the parish church of St Helen’s, and on to the rise past Sandal Hall, elevating us up past the Castle inn and the Sandal Castle school to meet the view that neatly frames Woolley Edge, or at least the northern end of it, as the road dives away and we take a left turn onto Chevet Lane by the Three Houses inn. Wandering with the B6132 into the leafy suburbia of Woodthorpe still has us on a pre-used footway, from our very first trip in these parts, though we’re not heading towards Walton today, instead keeping to the southerly tack and passing the Bishop of Wakefield’s residence at Woodthorpe Hall as we pass out of the city and lose our pavement as we slip into the fields over the top of Gallows Hill, notable for its microwave mast and the passage of the Wakefield Way over its crest, and then it's on down the far side between high walls and hedges among the rapeseed fields, taking care to avoid the traffic as the concealed corners come on. We are led down to the Common Lane corner, and meet the lodge house at Chevet Gates, at the top end of Chevet Park, one of the major lost estates of the county, with the boundary wall forming our companion as we trace its eastern edge on a renewed pavement, high enough to not be peer over-able, with dense tree cover abounding, with the driveway by the non-vintage house being noted ahead of us hitting another crest on the lane, pushing us south to another horizon reveal that doesn’t do much for my ability to place our location, as an indistinct horizon and the total absence of any settlements in the vicinity is deeply confusing.

St Helen's church, Sandal Magna.

The Three Houses inn, Barnsley Road.

Chevet Lane by Woodthorpe Hall.

Chevet Lane, Gallow Hill.

Chevet Lane by Chevet Park.

In the groove along Chevet Lane.

Passing down between the driveways to the Briery Court and Chevet Grange farms, we can finally fix Haw Park woods to the southeast of us, concealing the known passage of the Barnsley Canal and the North Midland mainline amidst them, the latter making an appearance as we pass the Haw Park Lane corner and drift down to pass over Bleakley Bridge, over Bleakley Dike as it drains this landscape into the Calder, and then we rise on, picking out the path of the old MR Royston to Thornhill line across the fields to the west as we rise around to Monckton Manor farm, with its earthworks and puzzling industrial looking buildings. Over the lost railway, revealing that both of our prior traversals of this landscape gave us no contextual views at all, we finally get the views to locate us, placing the long ridge of Woolley Edge on the western horizon, and with it revealing the proximity of greater Barnsley, as the railway vanishes across the fields of Notton Grange farm, and the signage beyond welcomes us to its village, despite it being about a mile away down Notton Lane to the west, but there’s two distinct blocks of suburban and estate housing beyond the corner, forming the last packages of settlement in this corner of Wakefield district, where a bench has to be found so that we might enjoy elevenses. It’s definitely too warm to still be drinking tea while on the trail, and moving on from the last Metro bus stop in the county does confuse the driver of the #59 service as my departure coincides too neatly with his arrival, while our quest among the lost railway of the West Riding continues as the Barnsley Coal Railway cuts across the landscape as we are drawn into Royston village and Barnsley Borough beyond the bridge abutments, rising with the passage of Station Road up Windmill Hill, shadowing its terraces before we settle into the urban landscape beyond, with lots of council houses flanking the lane, down to the police station and the civic hall, library and leisure centre complex.

Haw Park woods, and the North Midland Mainline.

Monckton Manor and its embankments.

Looking west to Woolley Edge.

Arriving in Notton (sorta).

The BCR, and the way to Barnsley MB, Royston.

The police station, Station Road, Royston.

Having crested over the Calder-Dearne watershed along the way, we come down to cross our recent traversal route along the B6428, and tangle with the first of many crossings with a perplexing pedestrian phase before we can continue on down Church Street, past the Royston WMC and around to the natty Packhorse Inn, across from the parish church of St John the Baptist on its bluff, before we pace out of the village, past the Ring O’ Bells inn and down the edge of the estate at its southern end to meet the ancient Kirk Cross stump, at the edge of the fields that keep Royston distinct from greater Barnsley. The passage of the Wharncliffe Woodmoor colliery marks our passage into the expanse of the town beyond, with Royston Lane bringing us past the Outwood Academy and Carlton cemetery, and through Carlton itself, displaying a lot of rural vintage around the distinctively towered church of St John the Evangelist, where we’ll quit the B6132 after so many miles, and follow Church Street as it takes us down past the Premier Foods factory, home of Mr Kipling’s cakes, before Fish Dam Lane takes a dive downhill, to pass over the stream that names it, and to get tangled up with some redirection caused by the construction of the Barnsley northern relief road. The rising road beyond feels ahistorical but it’s not, leading us past the estates to the north of Monk Bretton and up to the passage of the Trans Pennine trail link, also seen in 2014 when we were tracing the Barnsley canal, as it brings us around the Ardagh Glass plant, with its prominent sextet of chimneys, which dominates its local landscape among the semis and terraces and probably counts as the heaviest of Barnsley’s enduring industries nowadays, which is probably why it’s boldly memorialised on the traffic island at the Burton Road corner.

St John the Baptist, Royston.

Kirk Cross, Royston Lane.

St John the Evangelist, Carlton.

Fish Dam Lane.

The Ardagh Glass plant, Monk Bretton.

The Burton Road island, Monk Bretton.

Much of the old village at the hilltop has been lost under suburban growth, but Osbourne house, the Sun inn and a number of farmsteads still enjoy views down the Dearne valley, which can’t quite be grasped in full as we look over the rooftops to the south, though as lunchtime approaches, we can snag a spot to sit in the shadow of St Paul’s church, where a layer needs to be shed as the heat increases, and the constant peal of the bells can fill the air as a wedding party does their thing, surely feeling fortunate that they managed to snare a good day for their festivities. Past the Norman inn, it’s a rapid run downhill to meet the Rotherham Road junction, below the rock cliff that Monk Bretton sits on, getting the views across the Dearne valley to Barnsley centre and Oakwell stadium on the south side, keeping the pace down Burton Road as it passes through the last of the northern suburban band, down to meet Old Tannery Road, as it flows traffic around the formerly industrial corner of Old Mill, taking us over the Barnsley Coal Railway again at the western end of Dearne Valley Park, and past the Aldi and Wickes stores at the side of the A61 Old Mill Lane, where the River Dearne passes below our feet. It’s then uphill amongst the traffic as we rise past the B&M store at Barnsley Wharf traffic island and over the old canal channel before we strike towards the town, past the Peel Retail park and up Harborough Hill Road, possibly the least friendly urban main road walk you could want for in terms of steepness, elevating us to views across to the Town Hall and Parish church, with the Glassworks shopping centre ahead of us, and as the A61 bypass road offers no pedestrian options to the south side of the town, we are compelled to pass under it and through the centre itself, joining Kendray Street to pass over the temporary footbridge still in situ below the railway station and bus interchange.

The Sun inn, Monk Bretton.

St Paul's church, plus wedding party, Monk Bretton.

The view across the Dearne Valley to Barnsley.

The descent of Burton Road, Old Mill.

The ascent of Harborough Hill, Barnsley.

The Galssworks, Barnsley.

There is a new footbridge plan in the offing, as the last phase of the recent developments in the town, which we’ll pass through among the shopping throng, passing over the would-be piazza at May Day Green and down Cheapside around Barnsley Market Hall, to find the only way to travel south on foot is indeed via the Alhambra Centre and under the inner ring road to emerge via the footways to the side of Sheffield Road, where the A61 will take us south into the previously unseen, rising past the out of town shopping parade, with the Manx Arms and Victoria inns at either end of it, and The Outpost across the way, ahead of the Park Road crossing. Victorian terraces crowd the road to give more flavour to Barnsley’s suburbia, before we strike uphill with Mount Vernon Road, where the 20th century has been developing suburbia at a rate that still continues, claiming the hospital site and open fields at the crest, beyond which the reveal of the Dove Valley can be nabbed at Mount Vernon and Pinfold Hill, revealing a tree clad view to the south, up to Wentworth Castle and the Dark Peak fringe upstream to the west, while also checking our descending and ascending route to come, presenting a complete contrast to our level passage last week. Kingwell Road take us below Darley Cliff Plantation, offering evolving views as we drift across the valley side to meet the A61 for the last time, crossed over to Bank End Road as it passes below the church of St Thomas, before High Street dives us downhill through the village of Worsborough Dale, passing it chapel, pubs and old Co-operative store before Station Road takes us down further, still enjoying the landscape of dense woodland across the way as we come down to Lower Lewden, where the Worborough branch of the Dearne & Dove canal once reached upstream, alongside the famous incline on the MS&LR line, nowadays the Trans Pennine Trail.

May Day Green, Barnsley.

Sheffield Road, Barnsley.

Mount Vernon Road, Worsborough Common.

The Dove Valley, from Pinfold Hill.

The Dove Valley, and Worsborough Dale.

The Darley inn and the old Co-op, Worsborough Dale.

Lower Lewden, and Dovecliffe Wood.

Cross the river Dove, and then its straight back uphill for a late in the day ascent up into Dovecliffe Woods, where the former lines of both the MR and MS&LR cling to the southern valley side, still visible through the dense foliage as we rise up at a testing pitch of Wentworth Road, at least getting some bluebell carpet to admire along the way before we emerge to the open lane that offers views up the valley and across to the path that we traced down the northern flank, giving us a wholly new landscape to contemplate among the South Yorkshire Forest, which is very much a thing from this perspective. Around the hill edge we pass to meet the village of Blacker Hill, which forms three terraced ranks of housing on the west facing bluff, ensuring scenic views for most of its residents, its full length to be passed along before we depart by the former Royal Albert inn and rise to pass over the A6195 Dearne valley Parkway, to enter (Nether) Hoyland at Platts Common, passing the industrial estate on the Hoyland Silkstone colliery and following Barnsley Road though the local estate to the Oaks inn and the Wombwell Road. Across that, by the ambulance station and Tesco store, we join Market Street through the heart of this village that’s much more considerable than its High companion off to the north, offering more teasing local views of the valleys among the local suburbia as we are drawn past St Andrew’s church and down to the High Street shops, where we hang a left by the Civic Centre and descend the B6097 King Street among the urban reach into the last valley of the day, where the village of Elsecar resides, actually beyond our route as the railway line down to Sheffield arrives before it, and its namesake station will be our finish line for today at 3.10pm (with no transport trauma in the offing either).