It's nice when you can squeeze two blogposts out of one country ramble. I'm thinking about Tuesday - the day I saw the sheep with the two lambs.
Earlier I had parked Clint at Hollow Meadows before plodding four or five miles along a familiar route that took me to Sugworth Hall and the redundant tower known as Boot's Folly..
I have blogged about that tower before and I have photographed it on several occasions. On Tuesday I was pleased to see some cows in the vicinity of the tower - adding interest to my images.
The tower was built under the instructions of Charles Boot (1874-1945) who was the wealthy boss of a successful construction company. He lived at Sugworth Hall. When the economic depression of the mid nineteen twenties hit the western world, Charles Boot commissioned the building of a stone tower that would keep a team of his builders occupied for a few months.
Though disused, it still stands proudly above Strines Reservoir - looking down the valley to Dale Dike Reservoir and the village of High Bradfield beyond. In the same decade, the Boot family had a new house built on the estate. It's called Bents House and is just a stone's throw from Boot's Folly. It is assumed that the 1920's team that worked on the grand new house then went on to build the tower.
I love the position of Bents House and have sometimes thought of it as my dream home though of course I have never been inside.
Descending from the tower, I walked parallel to Dale Dike Reservoir and along Bradfield Dale before starting a long climb back up the valley side crossing Blindside Lane, Hoar Stones Road and Wet Shaw Lane. This brought me to the sheep pasture I referred to in the last blogpost. Soon after that, I watched a brown hare sprinting across a ploughed field. Unlike the rest of us he knew nothing of COVID 19.
Approaching Clint, I could hear him snoring from twenty yards away. I pressed the button on my electronic car key and he woke up as though emerging from a dream.
"What were you dreaming about?" I asked.
"Need you ask?" he said. "Margaret of course. Lovely Margaret."
"Who?"
"You know. That cute VW Beetle that lives at Number 198. She winked at me last night. Made my radiator boil."
As we drove home, Clint was whistling the theme tune of "The Love Bug" (1968) but I was just happy to have been out on my own plodding miles in the sunshine without a police drone flying above me, feeling free but still within the limits of The City of Sheffield.
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| Bents House |
Was the tower built solely for the purpose of providing employment or also as an observation tower? Can you climb it inside, or did you mean you descended the hill, not the tower? I like the look of it and the story behind it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for spotting that disclarity Jenny. Long ago there was a staircase inside the tower and I understand that there were parties in it before World War II. Nowadays the base room of the tower is just a sheep or cow shelter and you cannot climb to the top.
DeleteThat's a shame. Thanks for the clarification.
DeleteBeautiful countryside. A long quiet walk gives you time to create a story about Clint by the time you get back.
ReplyDeleteI was also creating a story about how a certain Canadian teacher met a certain Yorkshire nurse but it was far too racy for this family friendly blog.
DeleteI thought you were talking about me for a moment!
ReplyDeleteAre you German and shaped like a jelly mould Margaret?
DeleteI'm happy you are still getting your hikes in and you are remaining in the city limits! The tower is an interesting building. I'm suprised it's referred to as a "Folly" if he had it built to provide employment for workers during the depression.
ReplyDeleteIn England, rich landowners often had pointless pieces of architecture erected on their estates - a church tower, a temple, a column - and because they were pointless we refer to them as "follies".
DeleteI remember the tower from earlier posts and find it intriguing. Bents House looks like a beautiful home; its location appears sheltered from the worst of what the weather might throw at this part of the valley.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have been to High Bradfield, I probably did not come away from the village far enough to see either the tower or the house.
I suspect that you would have entered High Bradfield via Loxley Road and Damflash Reservoir - from the west. I was walking three miles south of the village.
DeleteFollies. What thoughts they conjure up. Like establishing hermits in a suitable place on their estates, the 18th century rich men obviously did not know what to do with their money. Do you not find that tower stark and lonely in its position, truly a folly?
ReplyDeleteBoot's purpose in building the tower was to give his men wages so it was not the same as the follies that narcissistic eighteenth century nobles had built on their estates. It is indeed stark and lonely - looking right down Bradfield Dale on the edge of the Derwent Moors.
DeleteThey are watching you - satellite imaging. And coronavirus is just an excuse to force everyone to have a smartphone so they can track you by GPS. Trust no one. Suspect everyone.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I have never possessed any kind of mobile phone and have no plans to get one. If they give me one free of charge then I might use it as a compass.
DeleteSame here (no mobile phone). However, no doubt, I will be beaten into submission at some point - though maybe not, as Tasker Dunham suggests (and thanks for the laugh) by the Virus. Forget individual people, so many organisations/institutions even your bank expect you to carry one. They try and sell it as for MY convenience. Pull the other one.
DeleteAs to drones, satellites and CCTV: Yesterday I went out on a mercy dash into our deserted city centre. On foot. Before leaving I presented myself to the Angel who has been working from home for weeks and is beginning to get slightly disgruntled (no country walks for him). "Look", I said to the Apple of my Eye, "your mother in her finest camouflage outfit." I managed to extract a wry smile off him. My outfit was largely a pleasing shade of orange with a flamboyant and equally attention seeking scarf thrown in for good measure. You wouldn't have been able to overlook me if you tried. You see, that's the trick. Inverse psychology. The more visible the less your existence, out and about, will be questioned.
U
Orange is just not my colour Ursula. I'm more of a beige cardigan kind of guy with brown leather buttons up the front...And there was me thinking that you were a technology weaponised Earth Mother. We folk without mobile phones or smart phones or prison cell phones are as rare as hen's teeth. Nice to meet you comrade!
DeleteI certainly hope you wouldn't use a smartphone as a compass and waste all that skill and expertise in map reading acquired over so many years. The thought of it. It's the slippery slope to navigation by satnav. As for Ursula in orange, she was lucky not to have been mistaken for a Guantamano escapee. I've apologised before that I do possess a mobile phone - it's a Siemens bought in 2003. I switch it on once a week and top it up £10 every 2 years.
DeleteSiemens? How disgusting! Haven't you got a tissue?
DeleteThe second picture reminds me of the TARDIS.
ReplyDeleteIt would be so nice if the whole world could crowd into a TARDIS bound for an exact replica of Earth but without COVID 19.
DeleteThe word "folly" is an interesting one, isn't it? I like it. It says so much in its two little syllables. It's good to know that you're still able to take Clint out for some much needed exercise for the both of you.
ReplyDeleteIn English country estates there are many follies to be found. Wealthy landowners clearly had so much money that they didn't know what to do with it. "Folly" usually refers to foolishness. I guess that is right but Mr Boot wasn't being foolish - he was helping out his men.
DeleteI am envious, good weather, no snow and a long walk. Soon, I tell myself, very soon.
ReplyDeleteBents house looks like a lovely old house although it must have been cold before the advent of central heating. Thanks for letting us go along with you on your walks.
Stay safe my friend.
As I say, Bents House is not as old as it looks. Not even 100 years old yet. Next time you come along you can do the sandwiches Lily.
DeleteAs always, beautiful photos YP.
ReplyDeleteThe Folly looks like something that a young couple would buy up, and turn into a trendy home, with a hideous glass and aluminium extension. Half way through they would run out of money, have a unexpected addition to the family, and all the time Kevin McCloud of "Grand Designs" would be waxing lyrical in the foreground!
Ha! Ha! I have seen some of those programmes too CG. The projects often become money pits. It is probably unhealthy to get so obsessed about where you live. It suggests an insatiable restlessness.
DeleteYou should call your walking book The Walking Adventures Of Wandering Walter. Excellent pics yet again Mr Pudding👍.
ReplyDeleteAnd you should call your gardening book "Plant Propagation and Polytunnels by Paddy Patrick". Thanks Dave.
DeleteOhh my oh my what a beautiful post!the landscapes!the Tower!
ReplyDeleteyou live in a wonderful Place!I can only dream of it :))))
Different countries have different forms of beauty and of course that includes Norway! Thanks for calling by Anita.
DeleteBack in Boots day, it probably was a good decision to keep his crew occupied through a probable short down turn by building a "folly", than to lose them all before he could employ them again.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right Joanne. It may have worked both ways.
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