Category The Ramble Vault

April 6, 2013,  Barnsley, Fun Walks, South Yorkshire, The Ramble Vault

“A Tale of Two Castles”

We found Wentworth Castle gardens on our Stainborough Walk. As we often do, we followed a rather tempting detour and found ourselves in the middle of a lovely estate with not one, but two castles! The buildings now belong to the Northern College and it must be a pretty spectacular place to study.

Disclaimer: There is a charge to enter the estate, but I think it was well worth it.

The gardens and parkland are the only Grade 1 listed landscape in South Yorkshire and are full of surprises which have been added by the various inhabitants of the estate through the years...

April 6, 2013,  Barnsley, Fun Walks, South Yorkshire, The Ramble Vault

We set off on a blustery overcast day for a walk round Stainborough, expecting a longish 4.75 miles. What we didn’t expect was a massively hilly route (thankfully downhill!) and a detour round Wentworth Castle gardens getting us right up to just over 6 miles. We followed this route and it wasn’t always the easiest to follow. We, of course, made loads of little mistakes, which you’ll be able to see from the map below! Don’t worry if you do, it’s one of the rules of being a casual rambler!

I’ve put the instructions below with a few little amendments and additions to help you on your way...

April 6, 2013,  Fun Walks, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, The Ramble Vault

Why not have a walk around Rotherham town centre? Rotherham isn’t necessarily a town you might consider in the same sentence as words like heritage, unless you’re thinking of 80s heritage with such famous exports as the Chuckle Brothers and Jive Bunny!

However, you may be astonished to discover that Rotherham town centre is home to a number of landmarks dating back as far as medieval times. Rotherham’s council has put together a number of heritage trails which guide you on a walk around Rotherham town centre and its important historical buildings. You can see them here (Town Centre Heritage Tr...

March 10, 2013,  Fun Walks, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, The Ramble Vault

“Wentworth Countryside Walk, Rotherham (South Yorkshire)”

I say this a lot, but Wentworth is probably one of the most lovely places I’ve ever been to. If you were to ask someone to describe a typical English village, I’m pretty sure that they would come up with something very similar to this small town on the outskirts of Rotherham. The Wentworth Countryside Walk followed one of Rotherham Council’s Doorstep Walks (here) and this was one of the first we did. It was fantastic to explore the glorious countryside on a sunny day...

February 10, 2013,  Fun Walks, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, The Ramble Vault

“A Walk for Health: Thrybergh Country Park, Rotherham (South Yorkshire)”

Thrybergh Country Park is a great place to go if you fancy a walk but haven’t got a lot of time. One lap is about 1 mile (and you can keep track of your progress via the ‘Steps for Health’ waymarks). This is recommended as one of the Rotherham Walks for Health (see here) and is easy access. One thing I would point out – at the moment there is a diversion in the last section of the walk due to the bad weather...

February 9, 2013,  Fun Walks, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, The Ramble Vault

“Wickersley Walk: Wickersley Wood, Rotherham (South Yorkshire)”

This Wickersley walk is one of Rotherham Council’s ‘Doorstep Walks’ and is around 2 miles long. It is our local walk, so could be termed an old classic – it’s our go to for evenings after work or when we want to get out but don’t have much time. Depending on how energetic we’re feeling, we tend to change it up by taking slight variations on the route once we get out the wood...