Elsecar

It's not too far to Elsecar. Using my South Yorkshire Senior Travelcard, I paid only £3.50 for my return rail journey (American $4.70). From Elsecar Station, I plodded a six mile circular route in sweet autumnal sunshine. 

The walk took me in the vicinity of Wentworth Woodhouse - a palatial mansion that is currently being restored by an army of volunteers. It was the country seat of the influential Fitzwilliam family. They were fabulously rich and in the  eighteenth century even had spare money to build several follies within sight of the grand house - such as Needle's Eye - shown above.

Close to that edifice, I passed Stump Cross Cottages that were knocked through to create one larger residence. This was the scene at the front with a compass design over the bricked up doorway and Halloween gourds on the table... 

In the estate village of Wentworth, I took pictures of two churches named Holy Trinity. Below is what remains of the old church that was superseded  in the 1870s by the bigger church in the next photo. This was funded by a member of the Fitzwilliam family - William Thomas Spencer Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam. He and his wife Lady Frances had fourteen children. His vast wealth was derived almost totally from coal mining though he never raised a pickaxe himself.

Back in Elsecar, I spotted this magnificent residential building basking in the October sunshine - Fitzwilliam Lodge. It was built in the mid-nineteenth century to accommodate single men who were coal miners in the nearby pit. More recently, it has been converted into single unit apartments.

Along my way, I spotted this tantalising sign nailed to a telegraph pole and it has already given me an idea for tomorrow's hideously unpopular post. You might be able to guess what is stewing inside my thick skull...