R N E W ● If starting from the ● As you leave the bend in the river, go over the stile on ● A path bears right and drops down from the railway. Cross N E Waymarked Walk No. 8 A A R W railway station, walk your left, continue for a short distance, then take the steps the wooden bridge beside the roadbridge to the main road. E A Y A downhill past the Saxon up to the disused railway. Abandoned in the late 1960s, the E D Y

D church of St Andrew's, with embankment now forms part of Nature Reserve Bolton-on-Dearne its 1000-year-old nave, Bolton-on-Dearne and a large number of colourful plants and butterflies are Station down Angel Street crossing worth looking out for in the spring and summer months. over the to St Andrew's Church Adwick Washlands to the car park. Turn left, picking up the Dearne Way HARLINGTON Waymarked Walks and Trans Pennine Trail. The BOLTON-0N-DEARNE remainder of the route will River Dearne be alongside the river. Angel Street Darfield to Starting point The rights of the common people Tortoiseshell Mexborough Bolton-on-Dearne railway on bramble station or TPT car park on This, the final section of the Dearne Way, takes Mexborough Road you down the River Dearne to the River Don, Great-crested grebe Distance near Mexborough, and to a scene of relative ● Follow the TPT with the river on Harlington Road 41/2 miles (7.2km) tranquillity which belies a chequered, barbaric your left. Across the river is the new Trans Pennine Trail Adwick Common and often tragic past. flood storage and wetland habitats ● Denaby Ings has long been known by local naturalists as Time an excellent area for studying wildlife. Wildfowl that can usually Allow yourself up to 4 hours of Adwick Washlands, created in 2012 In Mexborough, in the 17th century, riots against be seen include mallard, teal, great-crested grebe, tufted duck, for exploring at a leisurely field enclosure were frequent, as the landless by the Green Heart Disused railway pace Partnership. Along the river you may ADWICK-ON-DEARNE mute swan, coot and moorhen. Among the winter visitors are peasant communities were stripped of their wigeon, pintail and goldeneye. Footwear rights over Common Lands. Enclosure involved catch a glimpse of a kingfisher darting Some sections can have wet, the division of large arable and communal grazing along the surface, or a heron waiting muddy or uneven ground. patiently for lunch. Look back to St Stout shoes are recommended lands into smaller fields, by private landowners. Enforced by the Enclosures Acts, this process Andrew's Church, built in sandstone, ● The Dearne Way follows the River Waymarks had been going on in Mexborough since 1688. in contrast to St Peter's Church on Dearne to the back of the hill, to meet with Mexborough Road The route is waymarked with a Some observers argued that the planting of so the horizon in Barnburgh, built of the River Don; then along the old canal miner's lamp symbol many hedgerows was destroying the traditional white limestone – both characterising Trans Pennine Trail towpath towards Mexborough. If you want to take a less scenic short cut, continue How to get there landscape. The same sentiment is echoed in local geology for each site. ● By Bus: Bolton-on-Dearne concern over the farming community removing Back in the 17th and along Pastures Road towards Mexborough. and Mexborough are served our hedgerows today. 18th centuries, before any by regular bus routes from mineshafts were sunk, blood the major towns of South Around 200 years later, when coal mining was stirring here over the . There are also ● The distinctive tower of St Peter's Church at Barnburgh marks the became the main industry, disputes between enclosure of Common Lands services which link up scene of a remarkable tale. Sir Percival Cresacre – a Knight's Templar in Denaby Ings Mexborough to Bolton-on- the miners and their employers were by private landowners. Dearne commonplace. Disputes were rare at Manvers the 15th century – whilst returning home one night by horse from Main, but at Denaby and Cadeby strikes and , was attacked by a wild cat. The ensuing battle, lasting several By Train: From and hours, ended in the death of both the cat and the man in the doorway there is a service lock-outs were regular occurrences. The colliers to Mexborough and another gained a reputation for dogged militancy, whilst of the church. Cross over the footbridge to Adwick car park. Carefully to Bolton-on-Dearne cross the road and follow the floodbank path, now with the river on the owners were renowned as uncompromising. River Dearne your right. ● Up the hill towards Pastures Road By Car: There are areas for Tension spilled over in the winter of 1903 with Mexborough town centre are MEXBOROUGH parking cars near to Bolton- the great 'bay-muck' strike, which ended when the remains of Mexborough on-Dearne railway station the employers evicted 720 families from Castle. Built by the Normans to and at the TPT car park on St Peter's Church, Barnburgh Mexborough Road company-owned cottages in Denaby. guard a ford across the River Sheffield and Navigation Don, the castle is on the site of Waterbus: If you arrive in Mexborough on a Sunday or a the Battle of Maisbelly of 488. Bank Holiday you could take the canal trip through to Across the fields towards Barnburgh River Don Doncaster. The waterbus is signposted as you approach the town centre ● As you walk along the riverbank, note how different the landscape is on the other side of the valley. The pattern of hedgerows and trees on the Barnburgh side probably owes much to the great estate owners, the Montagues, who made sure that the pits they owned Mining subsidence has helped to were well-hidden from their nearby residence at Melton Hall. Thus A6023 to Mexborough ● From 1751, until the railways came at the end of the 19th create large areas of open water Barnburgh village remained much as it always had been, whilst century, the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation was to carry at Denaby Ings, which is now managed as a nature reserve by industrial communities were spawned around Bolton-on-Dearne the industrial products of the Sheffield region to the port of Hull, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Mexborough. Mexborough Castle for shipment around the globe.