Aston Stone's Wood.

Bacon butties and cappuccino in the local Green Bean Cafe were followed by a walk though Anston Stones Wood in South Yorkshire with Sal and her mum. What's not to like eh? We also had the company of two four legged friends who were well behaved for the most part although Holly did have a couple of "Jack Russell" moments when she came across other dogs. She can be a right embarrassment at times.

Well, what's to say about the woods. Well they are possible the best I have walked through and they are a SSSI. The walk takes to a high path which pops in and out of the woodland giving it plenty of variety and it is in this section where the famous Anston Stones are located. These are of magnesium limestone and were used in the construction of the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament following the fire in the 1830s. The blocks of stone were taken by horse-drawn sled to the Chesterfield Canal, then taken down to West Stockwith where they were transferred to sailing barges for the journey to London.

The path then drops down in to a steep sided valley with an attractive stream running through it. The valley is not only interesting for its natural history but also for its archaeology. Ice Age cave deposits and Roman artifacts have been found throughout the valley. Dead Man's cave was excavated in the 1960's and archaeologists found flint stone tools used by hunters 12,000 years ago. Bones from Ice Age animals such reindeer and hyena were also found.

It was a rather miserable day but I think this helped with the photos, giving them a more mystical feel. Sometime bright sunlight makes it harder to get the exposure right making the shots end up with too much contrast and rather harsh on the eye. We ended our afternoon with a drink the The Beehive pub in Harthill where it was agreed that we would have to make a return visit in autumn when the colours should be spectacular.