The Woodland Discovery Centre

Every so often we take a drive to another one of the interesting areas that make up the city as we go to a specialist shop that sells brewing equipment so that Mr P can get his wine kit to make his home made wine.  It also gives us an opportunity to visit the small businesses and charity shops in this particular local high street before returning home through the ancient woodlands called Ecclesall Woods.  Last Thursday we stopped for a coffee at the Woodland Café in the J. G. Graves Woodland Discovery Centre and I took a brief walk in the woods. 

The Woodland Discovery Centre is in the middle of several hundred acres of mature, semi-natural deciduous woodland previously used for timber and the making of charcoal and hosts many activities related to the woods. There are parking spaces along the main roads with a dedicated car park at the Centre and so it's accessible for us to take a break and be in the heart of the woods. It's an education centre so there are occasional demonstrations of woodworking, woodcraft courses, social events and, of course, the opportunity to walk in the 15 km of public footpaths to find landmarks such as an old mill, remains of the charcoal burners' trade, streams and ponds.  Indoors there are viewing areas with binoculars provided for bird spotting, logs for sale as well as the refreshment area.

There were quite a few robins and also great tits who were at the bird feeders and the café was a pleasant place to have our coffee and watch them.

There are signs of the transition from Summer to Autumn.

There are many areas around the centre, for example a sunken area of grass, where a visitor can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet of the woodland surroundings.

Down the lane: the little village and the Big House

Wentworth Village (where I took photos of the herd of cattle and posted on the blog a few weeks ago) has some unusual buildings that have been converted into private homes such as the windmill above, sometime known as the Saxon Tower.

The little estate village to the Big House, Wentworth Woodhouses, once owned by the Fitzwilliam dynasty, is still linked to its historical past with this industrial and mining family.  Many of the houses still have garden gates painted in the uniform green of the former owners.

The Big House is now owned by a private individual as the Fitzwilliam heritage died out with no heirs who could afford to maintain what is, in fact, the largest country house in England with the longest frontage of any in Europe.

Much of the land around the house was destroyed by open-cast mining after the Second World War when the government policy of the day was to take over privately-owned mines, but today the land is gradually being improved and settling back into rural and leisure use and the village is one of the best kept in the area.

Here are some more views of part of the village from the back lanes.

The spire of the present parish church, Holy Trinity, can be seen from all directions.

                                         Some of the allotments from one of the back lanes.

                               The former Methodist Chapel, which is now a private residence.

                                                                 A pretty cottage garden

There's a bistro in the main street which was once the busy blacksmith's shop.  Now the small forge in the Builder's Yard creates ornamental items since times have changed!  (For example, the 18th century stable block on the estate had room for 84 horses for riding and driving coaches and carriages with a large riding school attached).  

The beacon, like many others, was set up for the millennium celebrations.

There's a family-owned garden centre which was part of the formal gardens of the Big House.It's a popular place to visit for purchasing plants with many other features and I will write about this another time.

You can see the old wall which enclosed this area of the estate.