Overnight snow had left Dronfield with a covering of around 3 inches of snow so it was surprising that nine walkers made the journey to our start point at St Andrews church. It’s a nice spot to enjoy a pre-walk drink and biscuit or tea cake.
Because of the underfoot conditions, our walk leader Steve decided to shorten the walk to around 4 miles. The first section took us along paths and pavements to Pearsons’ farm to meet up with the route of the Dronfield Barn Round Walk. We skirted Holmesfield Woods to reach Woodthorpe Hall, which we spent a few minutes admiring. After that it was onwards to our second hall, Fanshaw Gate Hall where we took our coffee break.
Shortly after passing the hall we took a left turn alongside a wooded area which Steve had tald us to take our time with. This path led us to the main road through Holmesfield. We followed the road for a short time until we reached the turning towards Cartledge avoiding the main road. We were now on familiar territory, on paths taking us back towards Dronfield Woodhouse. Along the way we met two horses who quickly became firm friends when they sniffed out food in our ruck sacks!
As we emerged from the estate, just across from Sindelfingen park we thanked Steve and Ros for leading us safely around a lovely walk. This was our first encounter of snow and it was great to see some lovely views along the way.
