It looks like spring might be coming extra early next year. So early the first signs of it are actually starting to show right now.

Say hello to Chip. I’m taking him for walks this week while his owners are away. He’s a very friendly Dog who likes to stretch his legs in the fields near his house. Luckily we’ve discovered an abandoned railway that’s been turned into a footpath, so it’s on the list for exploring tomorrow.

We are now almost at the end of November and the change in the scenery around us has been quite dramatic over the last couple of weeks. Almost all the trees have now completely lost their leaves and the sun seems to have gone the same way. Last week was full of damp, dull days and the weather forecast says there are more to come.

None of this stops dogs wanting walks though, so it’s on with the wooly hat and extra thick jumper and off we go!

As you look at some of the photos in my previous posts, you may well think I only walk dogs on nice sunny days. So here to prove that is definitely not true is a picture of my dog Pippa having a walk around the local recreation ground. It was dark, damp and foggy but surprisingly not that cold.

Last winter I did some amazing walks in the snow and only had to cancel one day of walks because of bad weather. Dogs love snow of course. Pippa is not so keen on fog though!

It’s amazing how a place can change in a relatively short space of time. Today’s photo shows Lake Waverley, just off Sheffield Parkway. Although it’s now a housing development and home to the advanced manufacturing park as well as the lake, the area, known officially as Orgreave was once very different. Everything you see here now is totally man-made to disguise the fact this was once the site of a colliery and the Orgreave coking plant, where coal was turned into coke for use in the steel industry.

The area became infamous due to the miners strike of the mid-1980s, when it was the site of the well known ‘battle of Orgreave’ between police and striking miners. The rights and wrongs of what happened back then are still hotly debated to this day. One thing is certain though… nothing being fought over back then survives today. The coking plant and the associated colliery closed down and the site was completely flattened. Look around now and you would never know there had ever been any industry there at all.

Some of the places I go dog walking have quite a lot of history. One such place is the old pit site at Nether Langwith. Right beside the railway, this was once a busy coal mine with it’s own exchange sidings. However, like other similar sites in the area, almost every trace of the colliery has been wiped out and the whole area has been landscaped.

The weather has been warmer this last couple of days. It hasn’t stopped autumn making it’s presence felt though. While out walking Rupert this morning I came across this row of bright yellow trees, which were made all the more dramatic against the stormy looking skies.

It’s been another pretty good week for weather. Despite it being very cold, the sut has been out for quite a lot of the time. The dogs have certainly enjoyed it.

It seems to have suddenly gone from summer to winter over this last weekend. I woke up this morning to a covering of thick white frost, which only seemed to melt where the sun directly hit it.

The cold didn’t stop Rupert wanting his walk though.

It was a nice day for walking today. Although it started out very windy, the wind blew the clouds away this afternoon, bringing out the sunshine once again.

Pepper definitely enjoyed her walk in the nice weather too.