Eighteen walkers and one dog met outside St Andrew’s Community Church on a bright and sunny morning. We walked through the estate to meet Barnes Lane. This is the section of the Dronfield Barn Rotary walk that our group is responsible for looking after. When we reached Rod Moor Road we walked along the pavement to Tinker’s Corner. Graham told us about Tedbar Tinker who lived close by and who is the person that the corner is named after.
We took a left turn down a green way and then through houses. During this section Graham, our walk leader, pointed out the three-cornered leek, a white flower reminiscent of a bluebell that smells like onions when the stem is crushed between fingers.
Carrying on through the estate we reached the Shepley Spitfire pub. This article tells you about the story behind the naming of the pub. Graham also pointed out the gateposts near the pub that were once the start of a very long driveway leading up to Woodthorpe Hall.
We crossed a bridge over Totley Brook and Graham told us that, by crossing the Brook, we were crossing over from Derbyshire to Yorkshire. This article tells the story of how Totley moved from Derbyshire to Yorkshire in 1934 (from Tups to Tykes). We had our coffee break on the banks of Totley Brook
We now had some steep climbs to get to Woodthorpe Hall in Holmesfield which we admired as we passed by. The last part of our walk took us through the small estate in Holmesfield and back to our start point via Four Acres and Kitchen Wood.
Many thanks to Graham for leading us round and talking about some points of interest on the way.
