10 March 2021

Loxley

Did Robin Hood exist? Perhaps he was just imagined or desired - the stuff of legends. A green man of the greenwood who behaved righteously, a true man of the people and of their hearts. If he did exist back in the mists of time, he would surely have begun his life in the area I walked in yesterday for he was Robin of Loxley or Locksley and I was in the Loxley Valley just west of Sheffield. Some say that he was born in 1160 in Little Haggas Croft at the top of Rodney Hill. Later it became the site of Normandale House.
Though the afternoon was dry, the vibrant blue of the morning sky had been replaced with washed out greys rolling together in a heavenly eiderdown. I walked up the valleyside through what remains of Loxley Chase up to Hillsborough Golf Club's grounds. Then across Long Lane and through the woods up to Low Ash Farm.

Close by, I met a most pleasant elderly woman who was out walking her sweet-smelling Scottish deerhound. She told me that he was a rescue dog and that when she and her husband had adopted him the signs of neglect were still very visible. We chatted for ten minutes or so about this and that. Turns out she has never been on a computer, does not have an e-mail address or a mobile phone. We laughed about that. I could have chatted with that woman for hours but I needed to move on.
Garland Farm with heather burning on the distant moorland

The top picture in this blogpost is of Haighenfield Farm. From there I walked to the hamlet of Holdworth scattered on the hillside and then down West Lane to Stacey Bank where I took the picture of the old red phone box. These much loved features of  twentieth century Britain are gradually disappearing into memory and history. Before very long they will all be gone - resigned to museums or quirky restaurants.

Just after I took that picture, a couple walking by asked me if I was an engineer. They had noticed my camera and my bright orange coat. I told them I was in fact a burglar casing out the houses down there. This joke bombed like a lead balloon. Ah well - you can't win them all.

Clint was still dozing by Loxley Green as I made my way along the valley bottom. It is not the easiest of paths as it does not stick to the riverside and there are the derelict ruins of a couple of industrial sites - including an old brickworks. Even so,  I was soon back at my trusty Korean vehicle who was singing to himself as I strode up from behind:-
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen 
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men 
Feared by the bad, loved by the good 
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood
Walkers on Low Ash Common

30 comments:

  1. Is there a Gavin Lane near Stacey Lane? I once went into a campsite office in Clare and the very stern proprietor said: "Two tents?" I replied "Two tents or too tense?" He didn't laugh and my joke went down like a lead balloon.

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    1. Our humour is too sophisticated for dumbasses Northsider!

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  2. Arnold Lane (or Layne) had a strange hobby.

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    1. Never realised that you were a Pink Floyd fan David!

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  3. We used to sing a different version of that song when we were kids, it involved Robin Hood riding through the grass....

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  4. Looks like a nice walk. The phone box is much tidier than its London counterparts, which are all full of trash and plastered with fliers from prostitutes.

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    1. Yorkshire is much more civilised than London Steve.

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  5. There may be more truth to old legends than we think. This week I've watched two TV documentaries supporting that: One about Stonehenge actually having been moved from somewhere else (not just the stones but the whole actual structure) - even if they still don't seem to believe Merlin did it by magic... And another one confirming the old Icelandic sagas about Vikings sailing to America a thousand years ago, including a specific woman mentioned in the old tales. So why not Robin Hood...

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    1. Why not indeed DT? Probably more evidence that Robin Hood existed than Jesus Christ.

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    2. I wouldn't go that far, but then it has never really occurred to me to compare them. (My most recent research of Robin was re-watching the Disney version back around New Tear. He appeared a bit foxy to me!)

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    3. Robin Hood as a cartoon fox! Such treachery!

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  6. Some people just do not have a sense of humor. Or, rather, their sense of humor is not in tune with ours. I absolutely hate it when people don't get my jokes or understand my sarcasm. I feel like we belong to different species. One time I was checking out at the grocery store and I had bought a six pack of beer. "Do you want this beer in a bag?" the bagger asked me.
    "Nah," I said, "I'm just going to drink it on the way home."
    Both the cashier and the bagger looked at me, horrified. Seriously? Do I look like someone who would drink a six-pack of beer on her way home?
    "It's a joke!" I said. "A joke!"
    They laughed a little then but in a quite uncomfortable manner.
    I want Robin Hood to have been real. It's such a great story.

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    1. HA-HA-HA-HA! Oh, that was a damned good joke Ms Moon! Well, it made me chortle anyway!

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  7. Anonymous9:50 pm

    As far as I know our red phone boxes have all gone. Not even one kept as an exhibit of a well designed and nearly soundproof facility.

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  8. Whether Robin Hood was there or not doesn't really matter. You had a great walk in some interesting country.

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    1. I think he was watching me from the shadows of the greenwood.

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  9. Another good walk, and I love the heavenly eiderdown.
    Now I have the Robin Hood song in my head, where it will probably remain all day. I just have to be careful not to start humming it during meetings.

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    1. The Robin Hood song will help you to gallop along through your work.

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  10. Round here red phone boxes can be used as miniature libraries or the place to keep the defibrillator.

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    1. I saw one that was a miniature greenhouse for tropical plants.

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  11. What a nice idea to re-use the old red phone boxes - love the idea of the one with tropical plants!
    If Robin Hood had existed, then you can bet your life that by now someone would have had a good go at discrediting him! Yes, I'll be humming the tune all day too!

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    1. Coppa's Girl, Coppa's Girl spraying an aerosol
      Coppa's Girl, Coppa's Girl with her parasol
      Feared by all in Spain, loved by Michael Caine
      Coppa's Girl, Coppa's Girl, Coppa's Girl!

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    2. Wow! I've never had a song written about me before! Thanks YP.

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    3. Eat your heart out Burt Bacharach!

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  12. Well, that is interesting. You portray Clint as such a irritable vehicle, but he was cheerfully entertaining himself with song today. I think you've probably told him too many lead balloon jokes. He gets cross at the mere sight of you.

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    1. We may need counselling to steady our "difficult" relationship Debby.

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    2. You could always threaten to trade him in for, say, an Italian vehicle - that would give him something to think about.....

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  13. I do like that telephone box -here in Wales very few remain, but we have fine collection of wrinkly tin sheds - they have a rather melancholy feel

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