Rother Valley

Here begins my attempt at travel posts. I’m going to preface this by saying I’m not an expert traveller. To be honest, I don’t even like travelling; rather, I don’t like the process of travelling. I have a great time once I’m there, but transportation makes me sleepy and grumpy at the same time. However, I’m in England and the convenience of travelling is too easy to ignore. I’ll admit, I haven’t been taking advantage of the ease of travel. I went to Harrogate for a day in September, London last October, and then Bath, Stonehenge and Lacock as a weekend trip in November. I was in Sheffield over Christmas, but it wasn’t for tourist purposes. Over the Easter weekend, I was back in Sheffield, and I got to explore Rother Valley with Matt.

The walk itself took about three hours. The walk around the lake took just over an hour. It’s deceivingly long – especially since you can see one end from another!

 

The lake was full of swans and ducks, and we wandered our way around and found a little petting zoo! I got to pet a four day old lamb, and it made my day.

 

In the middle of the path around the lake, there are some old buildings that now house a craft shop and café. It was a cute little place, but we didn’t want to stick around for long in case it started raining.

 

Part of our walk was along the Trans-Penine Trail. This was my favourite part of the walk because it used to be a railway. In the picture below, I’m walking on what used to be the train platform. I love little moments of history like that; it’s so fascinating.

 

On Easter Sunday, we were waiting for our train when a gorgeous rainbow showed up. It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend.

 

It was a short trip, but I loved doing it. As a side note, I’ve been walking a lot more lately, and I wasn’t as tired as I thought I would be. So take it from me: walking definitely increases your health. Anyway, Matt guesses that out of all the exchange students in and around both Leeds and Sheffield, about only a handful have seen Rother Valley. It’s certainly not a place I would ever venture to, or even know about, on my own. It was nice to go with Matt who has stories about getting drunk on the grass at the end of the school year or the clapping at people rolling down the path on Segways. If you’re ever around Sheffield and in want of a walk, I definitely suggest looking up Rother Valley. With the mini train-track and petting zoo, it would be a great place for kids too!

Have you ever discovered a place that you never would have if you weren’t with a local?

-Daniella