Elsecar Greenway

Looking at the map, the area between Old Moor and Elscar looks quite well urbanised.  There appear to be large areas of housing and some business parks on either side of the trail. Surprisingly, I didn't get that feeling as I walked along it. There were many trees and thick undergrowth lining the trail and a beck followed it for most of the way. Admittedly, there is a good deal of noise from traffic since the A6195 runs parallel to the trail in its initial stages. I met the occasional walker and cyclist, but the trail was not overly busy. At one point I spotted what looked like a dog in a field. It must have been about 200 metres away and I got my long lens camera out of my rucksack to have a closer look. It turned out to be a fox having a sunbathe. It had clocked me spying on it but it didn't seem too bothered. An elderly couple plodded up to me and asked me what I was looking at. The woman had a small polythene bag of dog shite swinging from her hand and so I had to manoeuvre carefully to show her the photo I'd taken of the fox. After chatting with them about the wildlife in the area, they wandered off with their dog and its bag of shite. I stuck around to see if the fox might do something spectacular, but it ended up just pottering off to a nearby hedge. I don't get to see that many foxes and the sight of this one cheered me up quite a bit.

The Miner's Strike

I walked half a mile of the trail with a man from Wombwell. He was walking his young Spaniel and said that he walked this trail on most days with a pit stop for a coffee at Elsecar. I've noticed that when you chat to people in the old mining areas, you are only ever one conversation subject away from the miner's strike in the '80s. This fellow reckoned he'd been a miner at Rossington, although looking at his age, I think he'd have been more likely playing with lego in a creche than fighting police on a picket line. 'The area was totally different then. There were mines everywhere. It's totally transformed now' he informed me. I couldn't disagree since I'd witnessed the transformation too. He told me about the surrounding trails and gave me some directions for some good routes which I instantly forgot. It seems there are lots of trails around here that have escaped the notice of the OS cartographers. I think I might return at a later date and do some exploring off-piste. 'There's the remains of the Hemingfield Colliery just on the other side of those trees' he told me, pointing over to the left. I thanked him for the information and I headed off on a track in the direction he'd pointed. It wasn't long before I got to the old building of the colliery. There was even a winding wheel. The remains of an old railway line ran alongside the buildings. I figured this must be the railway line that ran from the Elsecar Heritage Centre. There had been talk of renovating it and getting old trains running on it again. My local guide had informed me that those plans got quashed during Covid and doesn't look like it will happen now. I made my way back to the main trail to Elsecar.

Elsecar Heritage Centre

An increasing occurrence of information boards indicated that I was getting closer to Elsecar. One of the boards displayed an old photo of miners swimming in the canal after their shift at work. I suppose that's one way of getting clean. The trail widened and a few buildings started to appear. I'd arrived at the Elsecar Heritage Centre. I spent half an hour pottering about the buildings on the site (see the Captain's Log in Elesecar Heritage Centre). The highlight of the tour was the ancient Newcomen engine. One of the many information boards also indicated that the town used to be known as Elsecar-by-the-Sea. This was a tongue in cheek reference to the Elsecar Reservoir on the other side of the Heritage Centre. This used to be (and still is) a recreational area that the miners and their families frequented; they apparently even had a paddling area in their local sea. 

Eventually I made my way to the other side of the Heritage Centre and headed off towards the park on the other side. For a horrible moment I thought that the Club Swingers had commandeered the area, but on closer inspection I could see that it was just a small pitch and putt course.

Elsecar Park And Reservoir

The park and reservoir turned out to be a very pretty area. I could see why the miners enjoyed it. It was very busy today too. The park has a bandstand, surrounded by some well maintained flower beds. I thought there was a flat grave stone on the grass nearby, but when I read the inscription I could see that it was in reference to a tree that had been planted there. It was a Ginko tree and had been planted in 2020 from the seeds of a tree that had survived near the Hiroshima atomic bomb epicentre in August of 1945.  Seeds have been sent all around the world with the intent of disseminating a message of ',,peace and hope worldwide'. It seemed a nice idea. I wondered if there was a similar tree and plaque in Gorky Park.

Elsecar Reservoir was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I watched a Great Crested Grebe feed a fish to a youngster. The youngster dropped the fish and the parent had to dive to retrieve it. On an information board, I'd seen that there was a hide on the eastern side of the reservoir and I made my way around to it. It was an open hide but it did have some seats. It had a good open view across the reservoir and it looked like the Grebes had paddled across to this side to say 'hello' again. There wasn't much else happening and so I continued around the reservoir back to the dam.

There were chaotic scenes near The Teepot (sic) Cafe with kids dashing around the play area with their parents sat at the picnic tables drinking coffee, eating snacks and doom scrolling. I ordered a coffee and after 10 minutes waiting I had a half a mind to give up and  get on my way. Just as I was about to put on my rucksack, one of the girls came out of the cafe and shouted my number. Miraculously I found a free picnic table near the mini putting green. A couple of times I had to throw a golf ball back to the kids who had been a bit too enthusiastic with their swings. 

Return 

It was a lot busier on my return through the Elsecar Heritage Centre. All the cafes seemed to be busy.  I was undecided whether  to go into the heritage sweet shop but I'd just eaten my sarnies  and so forgo  the temptation. The start of trail from the Heritage Centre was busy with people, but numbers dwindled, the further I got away. I was hoping that I might see my friend the fox again, but he must have found another field in which to sunbathe. 

It didn't seem long before I was back at the Old Moor carpark. It had been a nice, easy walk on good trails. Elsecar had turned out to be a much more interesting place than I'd expected and a lot busier too. I think the area deserves a bit more exploring and so I'm sure I'll return at a later date.

Now I was back at RSPB Old Moor it was time for part two of today's itinerary with a tour around the nature reserve. The Captain's Log can be found in RSPB Old Moor.