Hooton Pagnall

So on Sunday, I had a few extra calories to work off!!  The walking group were meeting in the gorgeous little village of Hooton Pagnall, between Barnsley and Doncaster.  Rain was forecast, but we managed to get away with lovely blue skies.

 These are a welcome sight at the moment!  I'm always so happy to see the first snowdrops.

 Although it was dry, the fields were incredibly muddy.

 We also commented that the buds on the trees are starting to burst open too.

 It was a great choice for a walk - on our doorstep so not far to drive at this time of year.

 I love the Rapunzel Window on Hooton Pagnall Hall.  This is not open to the public and I don't know who lives here, but it looks very well kept.

 As you know, I always love a house that looks as if Mr Darcy would come calling!

 The mock Tudor building is actually the village pub.  Our group walk always ends with a sociable drink and this little pub was gorgeous.  It is called "The Hostell" and the bar is upstairs so that you get the fantastic views over the countryside at the back.  The Sunday Lunches look pretty fab too!

Another great little walk with our merry band.

For details of our walking group please visit their website http://www.dvwg.org.uk/   We would love you to join us.

A Pud Crawl

On Saturday, hubby and I partook in our very first Pud Crawl - yes, you read right, not Pub, PUD!  A friend of ours had organised this and we thought it was a splendid idea.  We started at 11.15am and visited 4 of Sheffield's best independent cafe's and sampled huge portions of cake at each!!  Don't you think that is a splendid concept?

 The cafe's we visited were Eten, Tamper, The Harland and Amici and Bici  (Click on name to visit their websites)

We started big!  Huge great scones with clotted cream and jam.  They were yummy and filling and I wondered how I was going to last the full day!!

There were 13 of us in our party, and the tables had been booked in advance so that the owners knew we were coming.  I knew 4 of our party, but by the end of the day, I had made another 9 great new friends.

At Tamper, we had a great little room all to ourselves.  The conversation was lively and the cakes were going down well.  At Tamper we were treated to Raspberry and Passion Fruit Friends.  These went down very well with the superb coffee.

We had a longer walk to the Harland Cafe - so we got exercise too!

Here, we were treated to Warm Chocolate Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding.  I was feeling pretty stuffed at this point, but this pudding was so light!

Delicious!!

We also bumped into a celebrity!  John McClure lead singer with Reverand and the Makers had popped in for takeaway cake and coffee.  He was very interested in our tour!

We had an even longer walk to our last stop - Amici and Bici ( a cyclist friendly cafe).  I'm afraid at this stage I was beaten, however I was provided with a doggy bag.  Here we were treated to not one, but two huge homemade cakes.  Vegen Chocolate Oreo cake and Apple and Caramel cake.

We were given a score card and feedback form to fill in.  I gave each cake 10 out of 10!  The only improvement I could think of was at the half way point I was craving a sliver of sausage roll - I needed something savoury.

We had amazing fun and I couldn't eat another thing all day, so I reckon my calorific intake wasn't much more than any other day (or am I just fooling myself!).   It was a great way to spend a Saturday and I hope we manage to make it to the next one.  I've added Missie Cindz blog to my blog roll at the bottom - give her a visit.  She'll make you hungry though!

Newmiller Dam - Wakefield

On Saturday morning, our walking group was treated to a guided tour of the Newmillerdam area of Wakefield by one of the rangers.  The weather was freezing and we had several snow showers and lots of ice and hard ground under foot.  

 The guide gave us some of the history of the woods around this area.  These tree's in the plantation were grown to make pit props for local collieries (now all gone).  Some one was clearly out to make a profit.

 One of the woods we walked through had been owned by a famous photographer from Barnsley (who's name escapes me).  He specialised in ghoulish montage postcards of pit disasters! We came across a derelict looking building in the woods.  The photographer had plans to build a swimming pool here and these were going to be his changing rooms.

 The pool looked very neglected now.

 Some of the area's fair glistened when the sun shone, and we could feel the warmth of it too - but it didn't stay out for long.

 It was an area I have not explored much, so I have plans to go back and have another look around.

 We were soon back at the dam.

 To my delight, the ranger took us back to his base in the boat house and popped the kettle on!

 The hall that the lake had once belonged to is no longer there.  It was demolished by Wakefield Council in the 1960's.  Such a shame.

 If I hadn't been walking with the group, I doubt that I would have ventured out on this morning as it was very cold and showery, but I really enjoyed this walk - as I do each and every one of them!