Not only is Newmillerdam a fantastic place to enjoy the Gnome Roam, one of Wakefield’s great story trails, it is also home to the Boathouse, a beautiful cafe on the edge of the lake. Fab food in a fab location.
Heath is a lovely place to start walks, with the Southern Washlands Nature Reserve adding to the charms of Heath Common. This is a great 2.5 mile family walk and there is a longer circular one here. The fantastic King’s Arms is currently offering takeaway, and it has a great beer garden for families once it is able to open properly again.
Thornes Park has a perimeter circular footpath of 2 miles with a playground, ducks pond and bird aviary to keep the little legs occupied! The Stork Cafe (cash only) is next to the duck pond and if you like donuts I highly recommend extending your walk to Doboy Donuts which is next to Asda and opposite the car garages on Dewsbury Road. If you want to extend your walk, you can cross Thornes Road onto Thornes Moor Road which will take you onto City of Wakefield Golf Course which you can do a circular route around.
From Horbury Bridge walk along the canal towards Wakefield. You’ll come to a footpath on your left that takes you to the River Calder which you cross over on a bridge. Turn left back along the River Calder to Horbury Bridge (you can extend the walk here by going straight on to Addingford Lane and into Horbury). The walk is a circular 1.5 mile route. Di Boscos is in Horbury Bridge and they do yummy flavoured hot chocolates and well as take out breakfasts!!
You can also continue along the river or canal and stop at The Coffee Stop at The Junction
Between Kettlethorpe High School, Kettlethorpe Estate and Pledwick Inn there is Kettlethorpe Hall and its lake with Owler Beck! There a few paths to explore and if you feel like an adventure you can walk up to Newmillerdam by crossing Slack Lane and the footpaths brings you out behind the Fox & Hounds Pub. For a shorter walk start and finish from Asda car park and visit Forty Three Coffee Shop on Standbridge Lane and access the Kettlethorpe Hall after the High School at the end of Kettlethorpe Hall Drive.
There are so many different walks to do at YSP, we always take a different route! You can get more information on the walks and children’s activities here. Takeaway coffee and snacks are available from the outdoor coffee bar at YSP Centre (where they usually sell ice cream!)
There are so many places to adventure in the parkland at Nostell and they currently have a small coffee van serving hot drinks and snacks. We recently discovered the den building woods at Nostell and we love feeding the ducks at the lake! For more info click here
A beautiful 2.5 mile circular walk between Middlestown and Thornhill Edge takes you via Emroyd Common and The Seed Room Cafe at Horticentre Garden Centre! Click here for route details
Starting at Lemonroyd Marina, walk to the fabulous family friendly Rivers Meet Cafe in Methley. It’s a mile each way (walk back on the other side of the river), or extend it by walking around St Aidans. In dry weather it’s a buggy-friendly route, but it can get muddy after a lot of rain! More walks from Lemonroyd Marina here.
Oakwell Hall has some lovely walks, including buggy friendly paths and a play area. If you download the Love Explore app you can also see Winter Fairies and Dinosaurs! There’s a great cafe selling hot and cold drinks and treats too! Read about walks at Oakwell Hall Country Park here.