The best family-friendly hikes and walks around Cawthorne

A mixture of history, café, shops, geese by the river and somewhere to sit outside. This is a good place to stop on a walk that welcomes walkers and their dogs.

Low Mill Farm about 400 metres further along the Waggonway is the site and remains of an iron furnace which was in use in the early 1800s. The ore mined from bell pits on the hillside above, was fed into the top of the furnace along with coke. The bellows for the air blast were worked by a mill wheel driven by water from Silkstone Beck stored in holding ponds in the valley. The small wood was originally a holding pond for a 17th Century iron furnace at Barnby, it is rich in wild flowers such as Bluebell, Red Campion and in ditches Ramsons (wild garlic). The bridleway was once a very important road used by pack horses carrying charcoal to Barnby Furnace and as a route down the valley before the Waggonway was built.

A lovely church and site of the Huskar memorial to a mine disaster. The Church of all Saints was built on the remains of an old Saxon Church. Building commenced about 1150 and was completed in 1495. It is built of York stone with an internal oak roof. During the Commonwealth under Cromwell, the wall paintings in the church were whitewashed over and horses stabled in the church. Near the boundary wall there is a large rectangular pointed monument. This is the memorial to the 26 children who lost their lives in the Huskar Pit disaster in July 1838. These children were buried in the graveyard in separate coffins in seven graves. Note the children's ages. The resulting inquiry led to the 1842 Mines Act which sought to introduce some protection for child miners and meant that all girls and boys under the age of ten were prohibited from working underground

Easy walking on good surfaces. Keep an eye out for the remains of the Silkstone Waggonway. The Waggonway is one of the oldest plate ways in the country, built in 1809, to transport the coal mined in the valley down to the Canal Basin at Barnsley Bridge, Cawthorne. The stone sleeper blocks drilled to locate and position the iron rails can best be seen between the stocks and Barnsley Road. Make sure you see the reconstructed Waggon pass-bye with replica iron rails and a wall plaque. The Waggonway was a single track and at convenient places pass-byes to allow passage of the full and empty wagons. D The spoil heap on the left of the Waggonway indicates the site of Joseph Popplewell and Partners Colliery known locally as ‘Pop Pits’ worked first in the early 1800s after the Waggonway was built.

Lock bike up outside and enjoy a hot drink and lovely cakes 👍

Three miles, no Stiles or gates. No steep hills

Great bike friendly cafe with lots of indoor and outdoor seating. Great selection of cakes and they also do hot food before 2.30. Bike stands to park your bike up outside too. There's also a petting farm just beind the cafe so it's a great spot to add in to a walk or ride with children.

Cannon Hall is a really pretty country park which is worth a visit off the bike too but it's a great stop to get a coffee and a bite to eat from their very bike friendly outdoor cafe hatch.