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| A sculpture of a pit pony |
On the last day of May 2020, during week 11 of the COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions, having explored the geology and historic buildings in the area immediately surrounding Treeton - finishing with a walk to Guilthwaite and back - I decided to travel further afield on the X54 bus.
I had used this route very many times before to explore the mediaeval churches in Harthill, Todwick and Aston among others, but with only an irregular service on a Sunday, I needed to plan my trip well and therefore decided to investigate the area around Kiveton Community Woodland.
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| A detail of efflorescence on Rotherham Red sandstone walling |
Alighting from the bus in the centre of Harthill, I was interested to see that much of the Rotherham Red sandstone walling here was exhibiting severe efflorescence, like I had seen a few weeks previously at St. Helen’s church in Treeton – something I had not seen before during numerous previous visits to this village.
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| Excavated subsoil |
After photographing All Hallows church, I made my way down Union Street, where excavations in a front garden had exposed weathered Mexborough Rock, which underlies Harthill and has been quarried in several locations around the village.
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| Salvaged finials |
A little further down the road, in another front garden, I was very surprised to see a couple of old, highly weathered dolomitic limestone finials that I presume were salvaged from the church across the road, when its mediaeval tower was restored.
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| A bridge over Broad Bridge Dyke |
Taking the path at the edge of the village, I followed it past undulating agricultural land where the reddened soil is derived from the Mexborough Rock lying beneath, until I came to Broad Bridge Dike, which was barely flowing at the time
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| The escarpment of Mexborough Rock at Harthill |
This small stream runs down from Harthill Reservoir, which was built as a feeder for the Chesterfield Canal, and on the geological map it is seen to occupy an extensive area of alluvium that records the position of its former courses.
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| A view towards Kiveton Park |
Finally arriving at Kiveton Community Woodland, which has been reclaimed from the former Kiveton Park Colliery tip, I made my way up to the viewing point from which high ground formed by the Mexborough can be seen in the distance. Looking around me, compared to the Waverley Estate, I thought that this was a much better example of land restoration.
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| A memorial to coal miners at Kiveton Park Colliery |
Walking down towards the lakes, many people had come out on this sunny day and, passing a memorial to the miners who had died at the colliery, I continued as far as the former Kiveton Park Colliery Offices on Colliery Road.
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| A boulder of dolomitic limestone |
I then stopped briefly to look at a large isolated boulder of dolomitic limestone, which forms part of the landscaping. From a distance, I thought perhaps that the unusual surface on the bedding plane might be the remains of burrows; however, looking closely, it has a very strange angular texture to it, whose origin I have still been unable to determine.
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| An unusual surface texture in dolomitic limestone |
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