St Johns Gardens
A mosaic in the churchyard laid in 2007
The start of the Upper Don leg of the Trans Pennine TrailPenistone and Stocksbridge on the northeastern border of the Peak District National Park offer superb opportunities for walking, cycling and horse riding. The Trans Pennine Trail, a multi-use trail particularly popular for horse riding, passes through Penistone. The town is a great holiday base for family activity holidays and affords easy access to the Peak District National Park, the Trans Pennine Trail and South Yorkshire family attractions like Cannon Hall Farm. A wide range of accommodation, restaurants, cafes, a great historic cinema and year round events all feature at Penistone.
» Find Accommodation in Penistone
The Stocksbridge and Upper Don area on the Peak District National Park border boasts hidden gem heritage walking trails. The landscape around the Upper Don contains a mix of ancient woodland, meadows, moorland and crags. The choice of walking trails around Stocksbridge, which form part of the 'Stone to Steel' project, feature fascinating industrial heritage sites like the Stocksbridge Steel Works and old mine workings as well as heritage medieval churches and woodlands once hunting grounds in the Middle Ages.
Penistone is a major outdoor activities centre in the South Yorkshire Pennines just east of the Peak District National Park boundary. The town offers a great range of accommodation and makes a superb holiday base for horse riding, cycling and walking holidays. The Trans Pennine Trail multi-user route for cycling, horse riding and walking passes through Penistone after its long push through the Northern Peak District National Park from Hadfield in the west.
Around Penistone town centre you'll find a great choice of restaurants from Indian restaurants to Chinese restaurants. The town also boasts numerous quality takeaways, cafes, tearooms and fine traditional inns. As a family holiday base for easy access into both the Peak District National Park and South Yorkshire, Penistone is the perfect choice. Attractions in Penistone and the surrounding area include the nearby award winning Wentworth Castle Gardens at Satinborough, Wortley Top Forge south of Penistone, the Victoria Jubilee Museum in Cawthorne and Cannon Hall Museum, Park and Gardens near Cawthorne. Cannon Hall Farm family attraction also sits just west of the Cannon Hall Museum. Wortley Top Forge close to the upper River Don is a water powered iron forge with a history stretching back to 1640.
The peaceful Langsett village, moorland and reservoir to the southwest of Penistone offer further opportunities for walking and horse riding. The Langsett Bridleway runs for around 5 miles through woodland, moorland and the village of Langsett. A three mile walk around Langsett Reservoir also features taking in the famous ruins of North America Farm. Many farms were abandoned around Langsett Reservoir following a depopulation order in the early 20th century. The North America Ruins are the remains of one such abandoned farm. Overlooked by Langsett village, the Langsett reservoir boasts an adjacent cafe and visitor centre. Langsett village has some great pubs like the 19th century Waggon & Horses Pub which hosts the annual Langsett Independent Film Festival and Pie Sunday on the last Sunday of every month.
Find tourist information for Penistone, Langsett and the surrounding area within St John's Church in Penistone town centre.
The Trans Pennine Trail cuts across the Northern Peak District National Park from Hadfield in the West via Longdendale to Penistone in the East. A multi user trail open to cyclists, horse riders and walkers, the full stretch of the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) stretches from Southport on the North West Coast to Hornsea on the East Yorkshire Coast. The trail is 215 miles (346km) long in total, and longer if you include the trail's detour sections to Leeds, Chesterfield and York. A comprehensive map of the trail can be found on the Trans Pennine Trail's website. Small sections of the Trans Pennine Trail feature along the Peak District section including the popular Longdendale Trail. Shorter walks and horse riding treks are also popular west of Penistone towards the Thurlstone Moors and Dunford Bridge. Visit the detailed Equestrian Guide via the TPT website which has details on a selection of short sections for horse riders on the trail near Penistone.
Traffic free and with full signage along the whole trail, the Trans Pennine Trail through the Peak District passes the spectacular scenery of the Longdendale Valley following the path of the former Woodhead Railway. Horse riding is very popular along the trail just west of Penistone at Dunford Bridge. Rocky's Western Riding Adventures are based in the Dunford Bridge area and they offer a range of trekking adventures and holidays with a cowboy style theme.
The Stocksbridge, Underbank Reservoir and Deepcar area around the Don and Little Don river valleys covering around 10 square miles is an area of great interest. Stocksbridge and the Upper Don Valley sit right next to the border of the Peak District National Park to the south of Penistone and contain a selection of fascinating heritage walking trails. Forming part of the 'Stone to Steel' project celebrating 10,000 years of human history in the Upper Don Valley, walking trails around Stocksbridge pass through upland heath and wooded river valleys and feature both pre-historic sites and Victorian industrial heritage sites.
The area is becoming increasingly more accessible to walkers and via the 'Stone to Steel' website link right you'll find interactive maps of a choice of themed walking trails in the area highlighting key industrial archaeology sites like the Stocksbridge Steel Works, Wortley Top Forge and heritage mine workings. Heritage Trails currently include the Stocksbridge Town Heritage Trail, Bolsterstone to Midhopestones, Parsonage Farm and Townend Common, Forge Crags and Heath, Oughtbridge Rambles and Glen How and More Hall. Ancient woods like Bitholmes Wood which dates from at least 1600 AD and during the Middle Ages was used for hunting game feature on the Parsonage Farm Trail. The Bolsterstone to Midhopestones Trail takes in historic churches like The chapel of St James the Less built in 1368 in Midhopestones village. The Bolsterstone to Midhopestones Trail follows an old salt route passing through woodland, moorland and meadows. These trails around Stocksbridge and the Upper Don are hidden walking gems waiting to be discovered. Underbank Outdoor Activity Centre run by Sheffield City Council is also based at Underbank Reservoir and offers a range of outdoor activities for groups including kayaking, canoeing and a climbing tower.
Mosaic image contributed by Duncan Harris. St Johns Gardens image contributed by David Ward. Upper Don TPT sign image contributed by Joh Fielding. All images are copyrighted but licensed for further reuse under the Creative Commons License.
