Rother Valley Country Park ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 3 miles Time to Complete Walk 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

A very easy to follow walk at the Rother Valley Country Park- a destination for walkers, cyclists and anyone who loves watersports. Theres some excellent cafes on site and you can hire a bike as well. This walk is an easy walk around the lakes in the country park -there is a nature reserve onsite as well- a great family day out!

General Safety Tips: This is a very safe walk. Look out for cyclists along the way as the path doubles up as a cycle way as well

The Rother Valley Country Park Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough head onto the A19 and join the M1 Southbound. After Alverley at junction 35 turn onto the M18 through Aston and turn left at the roundabout onto Mansfield Road through Wales. Turn right onto Pithouse Lane and this will take you to the car park near the visitor centre. Parking is £3.00 for 2 hours.

Maps of the Rother Valley Country Park Walk

The Walk

From the car park head to the right to begin the walk passing some picnic tables and a round stone sculpture.

Follow the path down to the Waterside Cafe - a great place for a snack 

Keep to the right passing a bike hire shop heading through some trees

Follow the path which passes the sailing club

Keep on the path and head left through a gate 

Follow the path which passes the jet-ski part of the park - keep ahead at a junction

Keep on the path as it bends to the right around the lake

Keep on the path as it passes an information board

Keep to the left path at a junction 

The path soon bends around another lake

Keep on the path - you may have to give way to the local geese!

The path now nears a miniature railway and then heads through a gate and the car park is on your right.

Rother Valley Country Park

The Rother Valley Country Park is a country park in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, close to Rotherham's border with Sheffield and Derbyshire. It covers 3 square kilometres (750 acres) and has four artificial lakes, recreational activities and nature reserves. The majority of the park is on land that was open cast for coal, with the main excavation sites filled by the artificial lakes.

The park was officially opened on 27 May 1983, at a cost of £4 million. It aimed to provide an area for recreational pursuits, encourage wildlife to return to the area, and provide a flood protection plan for the areas downstream. When the construction was finished, the lakes were filled with fresh water from The Moss (about 1.6 miles (2.5 km) away) because the River Rother was so heavily polluted at that time.

The park was formerly a mixture of meadows and marshy bullrush beds before the open cast excavation started. At the eastern side of the lake stands the Bedgrave Mill courtyard, where the visitor centre is located displaying the flood defence map and the original mill mechanism "flour into grain" exhibition from when it was a water mill. There is also a craft centre and "The Stables" cafe.

Rother Valley Country Park is home to Sheffield Cable Waterski and Aqua Park. The cable waterski system was installed when the park was originally opened to the public; it was one of the few cable waterski systems in the UK at the time. In recent years an Aqua Park (inflatable obstacle course) was added. The popularity of cable waterskiing has since grown significantly, and there are now a number of these systems in the UK, mainly focused on offering kneeboarding and wakeboarding facilities and what is now called a Wake Park, which is a collection of obstacles (kickers, sliders, etc.) floating in the lake that riders will "hit" on their way round and do tricks from. It is very similar to a snowboard or skateboard park.

There are a licensed waterfront bar and a café at Sheffield Cable Waterski.

An 800-metre (2,600 ft) long 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge miniature railway was opened on the east side of the main lake in 2009. The railway owns two locomotives, one diesel hydraulic and the other battery electric. Passengers are carried in carriages which they either sit in, or sit astride.

Malham Tarn ~ Easy Walk

 

Distance Covered: 4 miles Time to Complete Walk 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: No

This part of North Yorkshire always guarantees an amazing walk and this walk is no exception. Starting at Yorkshires largest lake Malham Tarn, you meander through the Malham Tarn estate passing Malham Tarn House and then onto the boardwalks of the nature reserve. Not to mention the limestone cliffs along the way. An amazing walk great for a family day out.

General Safety Tips: It can get cold/windy up at the lake- take some warm clothing. Take car on the road part of the walk.

The Malham Tarn Walk 

Getting There

From Middlesbrough Head onto the A66 towards Darlington and onto the A1M. Turn off onto the A6055 through Catterick Garrison and then follow the A1608 through Bellerby to Leyburn. Take the A684 through Wensley. Head through West Burton on the B6160 to Buckden and take a right turn to Arncliffe. Follow the road up to Malham Moor. Parking is free of charge in the car park just before Malham Tarn.

                                                      Maps of the Malham Tarn walk

The Walk

From the car park head right onto the grassy path to Malham Tarn 

Keep right on the grassy path which moves away from the Tarn and towards a copse and trees.

Head round the trees and head onto a path and through a gate on your left. 

The path soon bends to be beside the tarn and then heads into some woods.

Head through the gate and up the path which soon arrives at Malham Tarn House. Head to the right and there is some interesting diversions including the Orchid House

Head down a path from Tarn House through a limestone passage. There are some interesting sculptures along the way.

Soon you arrive at Malham Tarn Natural Nature Reserve which is highly reccommended. Turn left onto the boardwalk which takes you through the Nature Reserve.

Follow the boardwalks until you come to a bridge and then turn left and follow the boardwalk until you come to the exit onto a path.

Turn left and then leave the path onto the road and follow the road to a junction.

Turn left onto the road which climbs, passing a retreat. Keep on the road until you come to a junction.

Turn left and follow the road back to the car park.

Malham Tarn

Malham Tarn is a glacial lake near the village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, England. The lake is one of only eight upland alkaline lakes in Europe. At an altitude of 377 metres (1,237 ft) above sea level it is the highest marl lake in the United Kingdom. Its geology, flora and fauna have led to it being listed under a number of conservation designations. The site is currently owned by the National Trust, who used to lease part of the site to the Field Studies Council but this closed as a field centre in 2022. The site was the inspiration for Charles Kingsley's 1863 novel The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby.

Malham Tarn is situated in the Yorkshire Dales, a national park in the Yorkshire Pennines. It lies approximately 25 miles (40 km) north-west of Bradford and about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of the nearest settlement, Malham.

At 377 metres (1,237 ft) above sea level it is sometimes, but erroneously, considered the highest lake in England, but there are lakes at higher altitudes such as Innominate Tarn. It is, however, the highest marl lake in Great Britain The lake is one of only eight upland alkaline lakes in Europe, having a pH between 8.0 and 8.6.The catchment area of the lake is 600 hectares (6.0 km²; 2.3 sq mi) and the main inflow is a stream at the lake's north-west corner. The lake is 4.4 metres (14 ft) at its deepest, with an average depth of 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) and the surface area is 62 hectares (0.62 km²; 0.24 sq mi) It takes approximately 11 weeks for water to leave the lake after it has entered. The primary outflow is a small stream at the southern end of the lake. The outflow stream goes underground after approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) before emerging downstream of Malham Cove as a source of the River Aire.