Monk Wood and Cowley Circular (17th February 2024)

Twenty four of us met on the long lay-by near Half Acre lane in readiness for David’s walk through Monk Wood, Cowley and Barlow. Although the skies were overcast with a some light rain falling there were signs that the sun might make an appearance later on.

The first section of the walk followed the Dronfield Round Walk, past Bull Close Farm and through Monk Wood but rather than follow the edge of Lees Wood we took a more direct route to Cowley where we stopped for a coffee break outside the mission. The next part of the walk took us through Barlow Lees and into a thin strip of woodland that runs parallel to the fishing ponds at Barlow. At this stage a few of the group left the walk to enjoy a snack at the cafe. The rest of us carried on towards Monk Wood and over the curly bridge (If you look on Google maps, it really is marked as “Curly Bridge”)

For the remainder of the walk we re-traced our steps past Bull Close Farm and Ouzel Bank Cottage to the long lay-by where we started the walk.

Many thanks to David for leading us round the walk.