Frickley Country park RFM Blue Line Walking with Peter

 Frickley Country Park 

RFM Blue Line 

Walking with Peter

27/12/24

This foggy winter walk through the thick of the South Yorkshire coalfield would have been impossible in our younger days but now all the pits are gone and just fields, mounds and monuments remain, thank god. We are the last generation who knew the mining days, what a sobering thought, when we are gone the memory, good and bad, will be gone too.

We walked past the recreational ground and on towards Moorthorpe.

It was cool, foggy but windless as we left the not very pretty urban area. Piles of burnt rubbish and cans and bottles are always an eyesore.

We crossed the railway line passed a few industrial units and joined Broad Lane where we turned off at West Farm and passed this old boat. 

We followed the muddy lane down towards Howell Beck limbo-dancing under this very low arch of bushes. It was really low.

The hill from the beck up to Clayton Common was again very muddy and slippy and contained these unusual stones. There is a story here but we do not know it. 

We met a bird watcher who told us he had been watching a buzzard catching a small rodent. We had a pleasant bird based chat then moved on.

The mist was lifting, the sky bluing and the highest point of the walk at Clayton Common gave us some lovely winter views.

The light is soft and wonderful.

The tidy farm at Wink House looks like it hasn't fundamentally changed in a hundred or more years.

We dropped down the lane and across the fields back down to Howell Beck where there were a dozen 4x4's parked in the field. This was the edge of the 4x4 training site. The path was a mud bath made worse by the fact we took a wrong turn into the mud. We crossed the woods and regained the path which was also a mud bath.

The path turned north at the railway and we again limboed under a fallen tree or 2.

This substantial rail bridge had been lowered and strengthened probably by the NCB.

Apart from the bird watcher we had not passed anyone so far but we did pass a couple of young lads with fishing rods riding a bike and scooter as we were heading up the hard standing path in the park.

At the centre of the park we had a flask coffee and cake and watched as a steady stream of dog walkers passed us. All as usual in these parts were happy to exchange greetings and sometimes chat.

The monument indicates where the coal seems lay and as Peter examines it we read that this is the site of the main lift shaft. The depth of which was over 600 metres, a bloody long way.

When you walk over these sites its hard to visualise what was there, perhaps the photo below will help as that was where the open land and monument now are.

The photos above are of the site of the long gone mine and muck stack. 

The mounds are supposed to represent Stromatolites found nearby but they look more like burial mounds.

We passed loads of dog walkers runners etc all enjoying the still winter weather to get out there.

I liked this memorial forest idea. There are only a few trees there at the moment but inevitably there will be a lot more as time goes on. Perhaps one day a real forest.

Back past the allotments onto the road where our cars are parked.

This 51/2 mile walk was dominated by the past, the weather and the mud. Loved it but then again I love all my walks.