We gathered in the excellent car park at the centre of Denby village, opposite the St, Mary the Virgin parish church and village primary school. The car park and as a lot of things in the village, dedicated to its famous son, John Flamsteed, born here in the mid 17c. Later in the walk, we passed by a blue plaque, marking the place, Flamsteed House Farm, near where he was born. John was appointed the very first Astronomer Royal to King Charles 2, for his work in mapping and producing an Atlas of over three thousand stars and planets.  

Most of our walk today was within under, one mile as the crow flies, from our starting point, over grassy fields and paths, most of which were on former open cast coal mining areas. We noted and were thankful for the work of the Denby Footpath Group, who maintain many of the paths in the area. Well done to them. We did a complete circumnavigation of the village, going clock wise to pass by the Denby Pottery, Denby Cricket Ground (very impressive) Dumbles and Bottom Dumbles, Flamsteed Farm House, finishing with a loop to the west end of the village. For me, it was a very enjoyable walk, not too many awkward stiles and we made good progress. We had a very generous, morning break, fifteen minutes, no less, watching Swallows skimming acrobatically, yet gracefully, over the large expanse of water, presumably the lake created when landscaping the former coal workings. Excellent pace, excellent company and no rain. Thanks Derek.