A stroll through Scholes and Wentworth

Yesterday's walk was one I've done many times, yet one I will never get tired of repeating. We started just outside the village of Scholes and walked up the main street, admiring the gorgeous houses and giving a quick fuss to the horses as we passed. Before long, we reached the entrance to Scholes Coppice and Sybil made the most of her freedom by promptly finding a squirrel to chase.

Keppel's Column

An immediate right turn saw us heading up onto Keppel's Field, with the Column dominating from the top right-hand corner. Sybil was truly enjoying the walk now; the field was unusually busy for a weekday, with plenty of other dogs for her to annoy. We skirted around the cattle enclosure and re-entered Scholes Coppice, passing the Iron Age Fort of Caesar's Camp.

Sybil at Caesar's Camp

Bumping into an old friend

It was here we saw my niece and her Labrador, Meg. Meg went crazy, jumping up at me and trying to eat my camera, as I hadn't seen her for a while and she had obviously missed me. Sybil came up and had a quick sniff and fuss then disappeared again, back to terrorizing the local squirrels. We parted ways and carried on towards Wentworth via the Greasbrough Dams, crossing over a field with ridiculously heavy clay soil that stuck to my boots and slowed progress considerably.

Taking half the field with me

Greasbrough Dams

After shaking the worst of the mud off, we finally reached the dams. At the estate road we turned left, heading towards Wentworth Woodhouse which had recently been in the news for being awarded a substantial amount of cash for it's renovation. Curiously, a collection of vehicles were parked outside the stately home. Getting closer, I noticed that one of the trucks had "TV and Film Make Up" written on the side; obviously something was being filmed here. But what? And more importantly, was this my chance to shine by sneaking onto camera and getting my fifteen minutes of fame?

A gentleman working for the company informed us that a drama called King Charles III was being filmed and would be broadcast on the TV next year. The conversation proved to be very interesting, as he also told us other programmes that had used Wentworth Woodhouse as a filming location, such as Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.

Wentworth Woodhouse, TV star

Thanking him, we moved on and had a brief look at the old stables behind the house. Sadly, no horses are still around to call this their home, so we moved on and came out into Wentworth village. It was at this point I managed to twist my ankle badly, making the rest of the walk a rather painful effort; being a hardy Northerner, however, I was able to grin and bear it.

View from the stable gates

The old stables

The stable gates

The stable gates

Passing Wentworth Garden Centre, we then crossed a large field that took us back down towards Scholes. Keppel's Column appeared on the horizon, empathising how far I had walked; which made me feel slightly better considering how tender my ankle was feeling.

One of the many follies in the area

Morley Pond

Even Sybil was tiring by now, and mindful of her arthritic hips we made it a steady walk back to the car. Two injured, tired, yet totally relaxed and happy creatures finally made it home and spent the res of the evening having a well-deserved cuddle and resting up for the next adventure.