Doncaster Ramblers – Three Lakes Classic (Whiston and Ulley) Tuesday 26 November 2024
This was to be the first walk that Malc had led. It was on his home turf and so we were expecting good things, especially after his wife Debbie's walk earlier in the year had been such a success. Nothing like healthy competition to produce good walks.
Anyway 34 of us turned up. It certainly started well as Malc had arranged good parking in the pub car park in Whiston. ( more later ). We got a good briefing from Malc and set off out of Whiston towards the nearby M1. The walk was a 10.5 mile anti-clockwise loop through the countryside and farmland to the south and then to the north of that motorway. Along the way we passed through parts of Catcliffe, Treeton and Aughton before returning to Whiston. There were some short bits of road side and urban sections but mostly we were in woods or alongside fields. A little muddy in places up and down here and there but nothing we couldn't cope with.
But really the walk was about the industrial heritage of the area and water. And to some extent the relationship between the two. Malc explained as we went along.
First there was the River Rother. Once one of the most polluted and dead rivers in the UK it is now a haven for fish and wild life. Then there were Waverley Lakes and Treeton Dyke. These were also once polluted and clogged with detritus of all kinds but are now transformed into nature reserves and fishing lakes. And last there was Ulley Reservoir where we had our lunch. Built in 1871 it almost burst (and would have flooded most of Sheffield ) in June 2007.
he villages of Whiston, Treeton and Catcliffe were evacuated and a stretch of the M1 closed while 4 million litres of water were pumped out. Treeton did not however escape altogether. It was flooded by rainwater in the 2017 Sheffield Floods.
We had taken our coffee break by the side of Treeton Dyke. The slag heap slopes on the opposite side were the site of the infamous Battle Of Orgreave during the 1984 Miners Strikes when striking miners pickets and police from South Yorkshire and The Met clashed outside the local coking works. Today the area is more peaceful and being taken over by a new housing development.
After such a good and interesting walk 19 of us didn't take much persuading to show our appreciation of the pubs parking by going in for a drink. Thanks very much to the land lord and staff at The Sitwell Arms. And of course thanks to Malc for leading and informing along the way. Steve as always for the photos. And thanks to Gareth for back marking and last but not least to Debbie for keeping an eye on things. You know how the saying goes ....' behind every great man etc ' Charlie P
Non-members welcome, on Rambler walks just turn up and you will be well looked after
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