A Walk From Woolley to Darton

 

Woolley Edge Rock at the old Cow Carr Wood Quarry

From the time I alighted from the No. 59 bus on Barnsley Road to when I set off from Woolley to Darton, I had spent 2 hours photographing 23 listed buildings for my Photo Challenge and having a look at the exterior of St. Peter’s church and its churchyard. 

 

Planning a walk from Darton to Woolley

 

As with previous days out to Ault Hucknall, Palterton and Scarclifffe and Whitwell and Steetley, in addition to the multiple journeys on public transport, I had to factor in a walk of approximately 3.5 km from Woolley to Darton railway station, where I could catch a train back to Sheffield. 

 

The public footpaths from Woolley to Cow Carr Wood Quarry

 

Leaving the village by Back Lane, I continued until I reached Gypsy Lane and carried on up the road to the public footpath along Hawtop Lane, before taking another very poorly defined public footpath across a cultivated field. 

 

The footpath to Hawtop Lane

 

For all of this time, I was heading in a south-westerly direction up the dip slope of the Woolley Edge Rock, which underlies the entire area that I had covered in my walk to date. Being very conscious that the farmer seems to ignore the public footpath, which tends to disorientate me, I didn’t take much notice of my surroundings and I was very glad to arrive at Woolley Edge Lane.

  

A topographic map showing the dip slope of the Woolley Edge Rock

Having crossed the road, I followed the path for a short distance through a plantation and was very interested to see a few rock exposures, which I have since learned from the Building Stones Database for England map explorer is the old Cow Carr Wood Quarry. 

 

The location of the old Cow Carr Wood Quarry

 

Making my way around a mixture of thick undergrowth and felled trees, I had a quick look at an exposure of the Woolley Edge Rock, which displays well developed large scale cross-bedding and differential weathering of the less resistant beds. 

 

Cross-bedding in the Woolley Edge Rock

 

I didn’t have my Estwing hammer with me, but I was easily able to obtain a sample of coarse grained yellowish sandstone that, apart of the lack or iron banding, is essentially identical to the piece of sandstone that I obtained from a boundary wall on New Road at the start of my walk. 

 

Specimens of Woolley Edge Rock

 

Continuing through the plantation, I was presented with a panoramic view of the landscape formed by the Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation strata to the west of the M1 motorway, with the Emley Moor transmitting station being a landmark that can seen from miles around. 

 

A panoramic view on my walk to Woolley Colliery

 

Looking at the geological map, the areas of made and infilled ground on the escarpment show that the area was worked extensively for its coal, firstly on a small scale by using adits, but I didn’t see any obvious signs of these in the landscape.

 

Areas of coal mining shown on the geological map

 

Following the path down to Woolley Colliery, a village that is named after the former colliery, which opened in 1854 and closed in 1987, I passed two rows of red brick terraced houses, which were originally built to house the miners. These and a small replica of the headstock are the only reminder of its existence, with the buildings being demolished in 1993 and the Woolley Grange housing estate built on the site.

 

A replica of the headstock at Woolley Colliery

 

Arriving on the outskirts of Darton, having missed my hourly train back to Sheffield and having to pass the time, I carried on into the village to have another quick look at the stonework of All Saints church, which I had visited a year earlier.

 

All Saints church in Darton

 

At the time, I thought that the coarse grained sandstone used in its construction is very likely to be the Woolley Edge Rock and, after having had a good look at this sandstone in the historic buildings, boundary walls and a quarry in Woolley, I now feel quite sure of this.

 

Sandstone in the tower of All Saints church

 

I didn’t think to compare the samples that I had obtained with the masonry of the tower, where the sandstone is best exposed, but the colours and textures seemed to match those that I had seen earlier. Returning to the railway station, I stopped very briefly to look at the terraced houses that comprise No. 20-26 Church Street, where the finer grained iron stained sandstone looks more typical of the Coal Measures sandstones.

 

Nos. 20-26 Church Street