A Walk From Steetley to Shireoaks

 

Glaciofluvial pebbles collected on the walk from Steetley to Shireoaks

Cursing myself for not keeping track of the time, which resulted in me being unable to see the interior of All Saints chapel in Steetley, after making such a big effort to get to it, I firstly had a quick look at its small graveyard before beginning the last leg of my walk. 

 

The Shap granite memorial to Raymond Thornton Richard

 

A small irregularly shaped slab commemorating Raymond Thornton Richard, laid upon a bed of gravel, immediately caught my eye and I was very interested to see that it is made of the light variety of Shap granite, which was commonly used in elaborate Victorian buildings but is no longer generally available for dimensional stone. 

 

The headstone of Private E. Webster

 

Continuing a personal project to photograph the different regimental crests seen on Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones and the various stones used to make them, although the Royal Marines Light Infantry crest of Private E. Webster was familiar to me, I had not seen this cut into Woodkirk Blue stone before. 

 

The listed buildings in Steetley

 

Next on my list was to complete my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for Steetley, where the early C19 pigeon house, barn and cart hovel at Steetley Farm are all Grade II Listed and provide examples of the traditional vernacular building materials of Permian dolomitic limestone walling and red pantile roofs. The farmhouse, which has parts that date back to the C18 is an exception in that stone slates have been used for the roof. 

 

The Ordnance Survey map for Steetley and Shireoaks

 

Having taken only a few minutes to take a photos of these from a distance, I got out a printed copy of the Ordnance Survey Map that I had prepared and began the 3.5 km walk to Shireoaks – firstly following the public footpath across a large open arable field. 

 

A public footpath from Steetley to Shireoaks

 

By now, I was very conscious that I had only 47 minutes to get to Shireoaks, to catch the hourly train back to Sheffield, but I couldn’t help stopping to collect a few glaciofluvial pebbles that were scattered around the soil next to the path. 

 

Glaciofluvial pebbles in the soil

 

During several previous walks where I traversed fields underlain by the Permian Cadeby Formation – at Throapham, Letwell, Thorpe Salvin and Brancliffe Grange in South Yorkshire and at Creswell Crags and Clowne in Derbyshire for example – I had also found very many of these.

 

Figure 29 in the geological memoir for the Sheffield district

 

Figure 29 in the geological memoir shows small deposits of till, head and glaciofluvial deposits of mid Pleistocene age lying on the Cadeby Formation in the east of the district. These form the remnants of much more extensive deposits that widely covered this region, but most of these have been largely eroded away and are not mapped. 

 

Shireoaks Hall

 

Following the public footpath, I photographed Shireoaks Hall, before continuing along Spring Lane until I reached the junction with Shireoaks Road. The old Shireoaks Mill, which was fed by the now dried up race from the nearby River Ryton, has now been converted to residential use. 

 

The former Shireoaks Mill

Continuing along Shireoaks Road past several stone buildings that add character to the Shireoaks Conservation Area, but which I had already seen during a previous visit to Shireoaks, I stopped briefly to photograph the war memorial in front of St. Luke’s church. 

 

Shireoaks war memorial

Quickly walking up Shireoaks Row, but still some distance away from the railway station, I became quite anxious when I saw the barriers at the level crossing starting to descend. I am not sure that running quite describes my movement, but I just managed to catch the train and, after paying an exorbitant £3.80 fare to travel one stop to Kiveton Park, where I could use my travel pass, I continued to Sheffield railway station. 

 

St. Marie's Roman Catholic Cathedral

 

Arriving in Sheffield, I headed up to the city centre to do some essential shopping and took advantage of the late afternoon sunshine to photograph St. Marie's Roman Catholic Cathedral, before finishing an excellent day out with a very refreshing pint of Inch's cider at the Old Queen's Head, while  waiting for a bus back to Treeton.

 

A pint of Inch's cider at the Old Queen's Head