A photo of the main tower and ruined stone walls of Conisbrough Castle. There is a grass bank in the foreground.

Conisbrough Castle

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On Monday, we went for a walk from the woods to Conisbrough Castle. The walk was about nine miles long.

From the woods, we walked to the nature reserve. At the end of the nature reserve, we joined the Trans-Pennine Trail. When we came up to the first bridge, there were pink flowers on both sides.

  • A photo of a boy and small white dog walking down a narrow path between tall hedges and fields.
    Me on the footpath down to Sprotbrough Flash.
  • A photo of a boy looking out across a wide river, from the shelter of trees.
    Me looking across the River Don.
  • A photo of a boy on a tarmac path edged with tall pink flowers, about to walk under a low brick bridge.
    Me walking alongside the River Don.

Later on, we came to Conisbrough Viaduct. When I looked at how high the viaduct was, I felt like an ant. Looking at the viaduct also made me feel scared because it made me think of being on the top of the mammoth structure. At the top of a hill we turned left. This course brought us to some rocks where we had a snack.

  • A photo of a very tall and long bridge in the distance, constructed of multiple brick arches. In the foreground there are flowers and fields.
    A view of Conisbrough Viaduct across the Don Valley gorge.
  • A photo looking up one of the pillars of the viaduct. At the top left is the iron part and on the right is the start of a brick arch.
    A view from the bottom of one of the pillars.
  • A photo of a gravel path sloping away with trees either side and in the distance.
    A view of the path that runs alongside the viaduct.

After our snack, we saw the castle that was built in the 11th century, when the Normans invaded Britain. Eventually, we came to a road, which we followed to a bridge. When we were going over the bridge, we went past a derelict building. I wish we could know what it had been used for because outside there were nature sculptures. After crossing over the bridge, we arrived at the train station. We went over the bridge that goes over the railway, so we could continue following the road to Castle Hill. Eventually, we came to Castle Hill, which we walked up to arrive at Conisbrough Castle. We went to the memorial gardens to have lunch.

  • A photo of the two platforms and train tracks that comprise Conisbrough Station.
    A view from the footbridge at Conisbrough Station.
  • A photo showing the entrance to Conisbrough Castle; the ruined stone walls can be seen in the foreground, while the main tower can just be seen poking out over the top.
    A side view of Conisbrough Castle.
  • A photo of black benches with aeroplanes and red poppies on, in the memorial gardens. Behind the trees is the castle, which is mostly in ruins.
    A photo of the memorial garden and the castle.

To get back to the station, we went a different way. This brought us past South Yorkshire’s oldest building: the parish church of St Peter, which was built in 750 AD. We went the wrong way when we came to a turning, but luckily we didn’t make any more mistakes. After getting back on the right track, we came to the railway station. Once we had got to the top of the bridge, we saw a train zooming under the bridge at the speed of light. Throughout the walk we heard lots of other trains, too. For the rest of the trip back, we retraced our steps.

A photo of a stone-built church with a square tower and the St George's flag flying on top.
This is the oldest church in South Yorkshire.

When we got back to the woods, we had hot chocolate. Then, I played on my tablet. I really enjoyed the walk; I am looking forward to doing it again.