Rivelin Valley Walk

I'm determined to get out and about more (well more than I already do) with the boys in 2014.  I have my 101 (ish) things to do with the kids challenge which will hopefully motivate me.   Noah now wants to be out his buggy all the time which is scary when you want to go for a longggg walk as you never know when he will decide he's had enough and either start winging or worse....he roots himself to the spot and will not be moved.

However it does make walks in the woods a much easier experience, and only living a stones throw from some of the most beautiful woodland in Sheffield, Rivelin, we thought it was high time we went exploring properly.

The "Get Walking, Keep Walking" website has some fantastic walks in all areas of the UK on which you can download, for free.  One of which is the Rivelin Walk which starts very conveniently from the tram stop in Hillsborough.

To make it a bit more fun for the boys I read through the walk and made the boys treasure maps of things they had to find.  Then, taking inspiration from @thephotohunters told them that they had to find everything on their Treasure maps and we had to photograph them as proof. Ben loves to use the digital camera, unfortunately I could not find his one (and didn't trust him quite enough to carry mine in the deep dark woods) so I took pics for him this time.

You can download the walk we went on here.




The first thing to find was the tram stop, and in brilliant timing the tram had just pulled in too.






Ben knows what the pub is (wooops) and thanks to a short diversion (ok ok we got lost) we also found another one.

  

  

We managed to find quite a few bridges with rivers running under them.

   

   

  

The fire station is huge considering its location, but the engines and fire fighters were all tucked up nice and warm inside.











You can stick to the boring muddy pathways but if you realllly want to find the best way to the stepping
stones, you have to go over the woodland.  Ben was really disappointed because the river was too high (thanks to the recent rainfall) to walk over the stepping stones this weekend, hopefully if we return in the summer with welly boots we'll be able to do them.







However it is an ideal location for trying to skim stones.

You have to walk quite a way to actually find the first proper signpost.







But when you do there is a fantastic spot to feed the ducks.....without the threat of geese to snatch it all.  Just be sure to take more than 4 slices of bread.





We stopped the trail at the suggested cafe and wow we were glad to find this cafe.  I contemplated ordering proper meals for us all (at between £3.50 and £6 each) but instead we settled on some sugary goodness to keep us going for the return journey.  The cafe is open 7 days a week between 9 and 5.  It's closed Christmas Day but open 10-4 on Boxing Day.

scone with butter, jam and clotted cream

The biggest slice of Rocky Road...... EVER!

Gingerbread Santa .... didn't last long enough for me to get a complete picture

   If you are using the cafe it is worth noting it does have indoor toilets.... we didn't realise and froze our assets off before entering on the external public loos...... brrrrr.

If you don't fancy the cafe there is a little pub on the road before you get to it, we sampled this a couple of years ago and it was very good food and atmosphere.

The boys then finished off the rest of their energy on the playground before we headed back, this time following the road which takes you in a straight line back to the firestation.

     

  

We were out for about 4 hours in total and the cost........ £8 (in the cafe).  If we were to take a picnic in the summer there is plenty of places to eat it and could potentially mean we can follow the trail a bit further.