A Mothers Day walk

For Mothers Day, my sis and I took Mum for a walk around Cusworth Hall and gardens in Doncaster.

It was a gorgeous day, but fairly cold. A 2 minute freak hailstone shower had us dashing inside the hall for cover.
The hall is now a museum of Doncaster life. I loved this photograph of ladies working in the railway offices. I complain that I sit on my backside all day at work, but I reckon I would complain more if I was made to stand all day instead!
Mum liked all the old appliances on display. If I had a £1 for every time she said "We had one of theses" I would have been considerably richer when I came out of the hall!

I loved this photo too. I wonder what these two were gossiping about over the fence?




Once the hail cleared, we had a lovely wander around the grounds and lake.

You can't tell how massive the buds are on this tree, but they were HUGE!
Its lovely to see signs of spring.

Friday Evening

On Friday evening, the DQ needed to film some shots for a uni project in Sheffield, so I said I would accompany her as her assistant/tripod carrier/wallet(we stopped off for meal at her favourite place to eat to ease her stress!).

It was interesting being in the city on an evening for a purpose other than a night out.
It was also great to be an observer of others who were on a night out.


We covered a lot of ground and ended up having a really good walk.
The area around the railway station is really nice these days - especially on an evening. I love the Showroom (Independent) Cinema.
The building used to be a car showroom with a garage underneath. They have retained a lot of the lovely art deco features.
We love the massive stainless steel structure/water feature just outside of the station.


In a few weeks time, I am going to show you what lies beneath this area in Sheffield. You will be amazed!
We also made a fantastic discovery - a new Chinese coffee and cake shop.
We had a great time chatting and laughing and eating!

From Cutthroat Bridge to the top of the world

Today, I had a walk with a bit of a grumpy old man. He was grumpy because:

a) He has pernicious Anemia and he's ready for his 3 monthly jab

b) Although it was his day off, he had been seconded to work the local Sheffield Wednesday/Sheffield United derby match - when he really wanted to go and watch it.

c) They cancelled his secondment at the last minute, and all the tickets had been sold!

d) It was an important match and he was not convinced that they were going to win (he always errs on the side of pessimism!)

So Sheffield Wednesday's loss was my gain and off we set to do a long walk on the Peak District border. I did have to listen to the pre-match waffling on the radio on the way, and I had to listen to his pre-match rants, and I think I did a great impression of someone who gives a damn!

We set off from Cutthroat Bridge which is 7 miles from the centre of Sheffield. You can hazard a guess at the story behind the name and you won't be far wrong. The trouble when I let hubby decide on the walks we do is that he tends to favour very steep climbs! And this was a bit of a climb.
It had been blue sky when we set off, but it soon clouded over - however it was much warmer than yesterday.
It may have been a bit of a climb, but the views down towards Derwent Dam and Ladybower Dam were beautiful - it felt as if we were on top of the world. I am so lucky to have this virtually on the doorstep. We also noticed that all the Dams (where our drinking water comes from) are not as low as they appear to be in the rest of the country.
This side of the water is still in South Yorkshire.
I believe the border is down there - The Yorkshire Bridge.

The 360 degree views down the valley's are just gorgeous, and all you can see are moors, hills and lakes.

I spotted evidence of an old settlement on another hill. It must have been a very hard existence up here back then.
On our descent, we were treated to sunshine and clear blue skies.

I found this ancient way marker which reads "Sheffield Road 7 Miles". If this was the road back then, it would have been hard to navigate, even on horse back.
We made it back to the car just as Sheffield Wednesday scored the one and only goal of the match - so alls well that ends well. I'm sure the walk did his blood pressure more good than attending the match would have.

On Sunday, I had a special date in Sheffield with one of my longest standing school pals. We first met when we were 5 years old and her family had moved to my village. We went through primary and junior school together, but became very firm friends during the horrendous comprehensive school years. We lost touch a little as we both went our separate work ways, then reconnected when we had babies. Whilst we both have very different characters and personalities, when we meet up, we instantly become 15 year old Chicken Legs and Pixie again! Its wonderful!

It was such a beautiful morning, that I thought I would photograph the city - I showed you it lit up at night last week, so here it is by daylight.
I love the old Georgian houses (now shops and offices) on Norfolk Row. I plan to find out a bit more of the history of this lovely old row.
My first stop was at a lovely cafe here for breakfast with hubby and the young man (whom I had cruelly dragged out of bed). Although the tables were optimistically set outside, it was far too cold early on to sit here.
I love Sheffield early on a Sunday morning. The church bells ring from the Cathedrals and churches in the centre. This is the Catholic Cathedral on Norfolk row.
And the Methodist Chapel just around the corner.
I passed the Stage Door outside of the Crucible.
And I spied Mercury on top of the Lyceum Theatre,

and the Egyptian who presides over the lovely Graves Art Gallery.


I wandered through the Winter Gardens and noted some welcome colour.


Sheffield, like many English cities and towns at the moment has many shops that are empty. We also have many very talented graffiti artists, and they have been commissioned to brighten up these spaces.


We took ourselves up to the top of one of the city centre car parks to admire the view.
Many of the late 60's/early 70's buildings are earmarked for demolition once the recession is over. Building was just about to start on a massive city centre development when the credit crunch hit, so plans have been suspended for a while.
From up here we could see towards Norfolk Park and the Cholera Monument - which I have yet to explore.
Up until very recent times, the city centre was a very industrial working city centre, and plenty of the old units still exist. Many of these here are old cutlery works from when Sheffield was the centre of the world cutlery industry. Many of these buildings are derelict, some have been re purposed, but I don't think any are still used for cutlery production (although we do have the odd one or two still in existence elsewhere in the city).
I quite enjoyed the trip to the top of the car park!