Solitary oak tree near Adwick-le-Street
Clint came down with COVID three days ago so of course he is still testing negative. Consequently, I had to choose an alternative form of transport to reach my walking destination. I chose the train - paying just £8.50 for an off-peak return ticket to Adwick-le-Street north of Doncaster.
I was up bright and early with my backpack sorted and porridge bubbling in the microwave like a volcanic mudpool. Shirley offered to give me a lift to the railway station but I had plenty of time so I caught a number 82 into the city centre and when I got there I began to saunter down to the station. And that is when a thunderbolt struck me.
Green path near Toll Bar
Not a large-scale thunderbolt like one that Almighty God might mete out when he hasn't had his porridge but a small-scale one like a cheap rocket on Bonfire Night. I had forgotten to put my camera in the backpack. What a silly ass! Fortunately, I realised my error before boarding the Doncaster train and headed straight back home on a Number 88 bus.
Quick check of the "National Rail Enquiries" website and then back on a bus with plenty of time to catch the 11.11 train to Doncaster. Instead of waiting an hour for the connecting train to Adwick-le-Street I just walked out of Doncaster station and headed north towards Bentley and then on to Toll Bar and finally Adwick-le Street. By the way, if you didn't know it already, the name Doncaster is a reminder of Roman occupation - it means "castle by the River Don".
Toll Bar Grill
It was a great day for walking in spite of the false start. On more than one occasion, Toll Bar has been in the national news because the village is very susceptible to flooding but today it was basking in sunshine and surrounding fields and drains were very dry for April. We have had so little rain in recent weeks.
Bandstand in Bentley Park
I estimate that I walked nine miles today and I was back home for five thirty - ready to make The Duchess of Yorkshire a nice evening meal involving fresh linguine, fresh pesto sauce, fried onion, sliced courgette, parmesan cheese, plum tomatoes, mushrooms and pieces of chicken. Easy to bring together but tasty and filling.
Raggedy little horse near Bentley
Blue Skies in Doncaster !
ReplyDeleteLast night I watched YouTube videos on South Yorkshire:
*Grimethorpe A Pit Village* : The 1984-85 miners' strike.
*Pit Top April 1992* : The soon-to-close Thurcroft Colliery.
*A Time Tour of Doncaster* : The Now and Then of a great city.
To think that your exquisite little horse, grazing in a field near Bentley, would once have been a pit pony toiling in the dark twelve hours a day, many miles below ground.
An uncle of mine who left school at 14 to work as a horse and cart-boy in Glasgow, said horses were worked to death in the industrial age, just like the book *Black Beauty*. It broke his heart to see horses suffering.
He bred horses for much of his life, lives in a Devon village next to his daughter and grandsons, and has just celebrated his 102nd birthday.
I wonder if you will make 102 Mr Haggerty? It's not too late to begin a regime of clean living and early bedtimes. No alcohol, tobacco or other drugs, no lascivious thoughts and no disturbing reading or viewing material!
DeleteYour dinner sounds delicious, and I love the photo of the little horse! Your picture of the green path is now my computer's desktop photo. :)
ReplyDeleteHonoured again! Sorry it wasn't a "landscape" picture.
DeleteI hope Clint is recovering. :) 9 miles, wow! I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteClint is coughing and has lost his sense of taste. He can't tell the difference between unleaded petrol and diesel.
DeleteOh, dear. My late husband did that once. Not good.
DeleteNo wonder he is a "late" husband!
DeleteI'll be the first shall I? If you had a proper phone, leaving behind your camera would not matter so much.
ReplyDelete£8.50 sounds like a lot to me for a thirty minute trip each way.
Is the horse moulting in anticipation of a lovely warm summer?
Hey there Mr Transport Man. The through train to Adwick - without having to change at Doncaster - takes 58 minutes. I know very little about horses.
DeleteI am beyond jealous sometimes when you post the pictures you took on your walk. This is one of those days.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to share reviews of my walks with visitors. It is not my intention to stoke up jealousy even though I quite like that!
DeleteForgetting something like the camera can ruin your whole day. You managed to salvage the day.
ReplyDeleteI am just so glad I did not board the first train.
DeleteLove that pony! Your dinner sounds pretty darned good too.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back sir... or should I call you "Old Taylor"? Thanks for leaving another kind comment.
DeleteOld Taylor would be fine.
DeleteYou won't be surprised to read that the green path is my absolute favourite photo here. It is heart-tuggingly appealing to me; so inviting and a path I am sure I would walk regularly if I lived nearby.
ReplyDeleteHow did Clint catch Covid? Was he getting too close to some sleek shiny lady car, not wearing a mask?
Now that you seem to be using trains and buses more frequently, would it make sense for you to buy a monthly ticket for your area?
Clint caught COVID after a night out with a German vehicle called Claudia.I think she was a VW Polo. I have enjoyed riding on the trains - it makes for more of an adventure - mixing with other travellers - but I am sure I do not use them enough to warrant a monthly pass. I have an OAP Pass for free bus travel.
DeleteImpressive walk and pictures YP.
ReplyDeleteThank you your honour.
DeleteI've lost count of the number of times I've left home without the camera, sometimes on purpose, but other times I remember just as I'm boarding a bus or train, when it's too late to go back for it.
ReplyDeleteOh good! It's not just me then!
DeleteDo you make your own pesto sauce from scratch? I am impressed. Mine comes from Sainsbury's.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to make fresh pesto sauce if you have fresh basil leaves, olive oil, pine nuts and parmesan.
DeleteIt appears that poor raggedy pony needs a good grooming and his hooves trimmed.
ReplyDeleteThere were two others nearby all tethered on chains. I was tempted to unchain them and let them run free but there is a busy road close by.
DeleteYes, the green path near Toll Bar is extra special, and definitely my favourite too.
ReplyDeleteThe one of the bandstand is interesting, but I wonder if it's still used? Do they still have band concerts these days, or are they too old fashioned? A band concert was something our parents and grandparents enjoyed.
Poor Clint, I hope he'll soon recover, but how come he was allowed to get quite so close to a VW Polo called Claudia!
You could give Basher lessons in interesting subjects to photograph YP, but perhaps he doesn't fancy walking!
So if you hadn’t noticed the camera would you have retraced the entire walk on another day just to take the pictures? Just wondering if it is the geograph photography or the walking that is the driving factor.
ReplyDeleteNine miles is a fair bit. My regular route is five miles and I’ve thought about doubling it sometime on a fine day but never have.
Neil, you certainly had a busy day! All that walking and back in time to make a fabulous meal. Your dinner sounds so delicious. Do you make your own linguini too?
ReplyDeleteLovely supper. Do you do takeaways?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you did have your little thunderbolt moment Neil, and go back for your camera; that picture of the sun-filled woodland path is just lush. Gorgeous, and, just think, if you'd got there at your planned time the light would have been totally different, and perhaps not as effective. A serendipity in the day. Please may I be cheeky, and ask what your current camera is?
ReplyDeleteI expect you would have known the answer to a question at our Quiz Night last night - where was the Mallard built. I guessed (wrongly) Darlington.
ReplyDeleteI am quite concerned about Clint's covid infection which would mean that covid has jumped from one species to another, again. Frightening. What would happen if the washing machine came down with covid? Or my vacuum? I don't think I want to live in a world like that!
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd replied but obviously not. I admired your supper and asked whether you do takeaways.
ReplyDeleteI never post but please know that I so enjoy reading about your day travels. You live in such a beautiful place, and I love that I get to see parts of it.♥
ReplyDeleteThe Princess tells me it is very windy today. She is staying in Lincoln across the street from the big church
ReplyDeleteThat IS a raggedy little horse! Bummer about the camera. I hate it when I do things like that. (It happens more often than I'd care to admit.) Do you know why some towns and villages in England have the suffix "le Street"? What does that come from? (I'm sure I could look it up but I'm anticipating you will know.)
ReplyDelete