The Vermuyden (South Yorks) Local Group of The Long Distance Walkers Association is looking forward to welcoming you all to Barnsley in June 2022 for our Trans-Pennine 100 event

We hope the following information will be helpful to you in planning your trip whether you are an entrant, supporter or volunteer, and also if you plan to extend your trip to Yorkshire either before or after the event.

Our Town

Barnsley town center has benefited from recent rejuvenation

We have a central combined bus station and a rail station with regular transport links to Wombwell to our event headquarters, we have a good choice of pubs, shops and eating places in Barnsley and we have a new indoor market building with a good food court.

https://www.visit-barnsley.com/

Barnsley town center hotels are corporate brands such as Premier Inn or Travelodge rather than smaller bed and breakfast type facilities and we recommend making an early booking for your planned stay

You will need to travel a little further away to surrounding villages to find camping sites or self-catering accommodation.

https://www.premierinn.com/

https://www.travelodge.co.uk/

We have an excellent town center free of charge museum ‘Experience Barnsley’ which has hands-on play for accompanying children, it is found within the town hall complex

There is information here about Barnsley’s industrial and farming past, and about our social history and our traditions, presented in an interactive way, there is also a café and a gift shop selling Barnsley souvenirs such as bags, mugs and tea towels.

http://www.experience-barnsley.com/

Outside the museum there is a seating area and our dancing fountains for the children to run in and out of, a good place to sit and eat your Growler (pork pie) and your Yorkshire Curd Tart from the market.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_pie

Further along from the museum towards the College is the statue of cricket umpire Dicky Bird, this was recently raised in height to discourage the placing of inappropriate articles on Dicky’s extended finger!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickie_Bird

Other celebrities hailing from Barnsley include Arthur Scargill, Michael Parkinson, Darren Gough, novelist Joanne Harris, sculpter Graham Ibbeson, poet and broadcaster Ian Mcmillan, folksinger Kate Rusby and actors Shaun Dooley and Katherine Kelly to mention just a few.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Barnsley

The local weekly newspaper is The Barnsley Chronicle, it has a useful ‘what’s on’ section which includes details of Church Services and Church events of all denominations over the coming week along with details of community events both in Barnsley and in surrounding villages, it also has cinema and theatre listings.

https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/

We have 2 theatres in Barnsley centre, the Lamproom and the Civic, we also have a multi-screen cinema, please check their websites for listings, we also have good transport links to both Sheffield and Leeds for further theatres, shops, eating places and galleries.

http://www.barnsleylamproom.com/

https://www.barnsleycivic.co.uk/

For shopping fans we have the huge Meadowhall complex by Junction 34 on the M1, on the outskirts of Sheffield.

https://www.meadowhall.co.uk/

More locally to Wombwell is the Cortonwood Shopping Centre, far smaller than Meadowhall but still with High Street names such as Mountain Warehouse for any forgotten walking kit.

https://www.cortonwoodshoppingpark.com/

The Cortonwood Shopping Centre is built on the site of the old Cortonwood Colliery, the pit’s threatened closure became the final straw after a series of mine closures resulting in the long running Miner’s Strike of 1984-1985, there is more information about the Strike and its legacy in our area in the Experience Barnsley Museum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortonwood

More mining history can be found in the local village of Silkstone the home of The Huskar Pit Disaster of 1842 where 26 children were killed, resulting in a change in the law preventing children under 10 working underground.

There is a monument in the Church grounds to the disaster and a beautiful commemorative window in the Church where each lost child is individually named.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huskar_Pit

Silkstone also has the Pothouse Hamlet, a small collection of individual shops and a garden center with an excellent bistro for coffee or lunch.

http://www.pothousehamlet.co.uk/

Also in the Barnsley area we recommend visiting Cannon Hall, an attractive Georgian Country House museum set in historic parkland

http://www.cannon-hall.com/

For accompanying children there is an extensive Visitor Farm at Cannon Hall with viewing galleries to observe the animals, cafes and indoor and outdoor play facilities, there is a charge for car parking and a charge to enter the Farm complex.

https://www.cannonhallfarm.co.uk/

A more modest farm to visit is Wigfield Farm at Worsbrough which is a training facility for Barnsley College animal care students but which remains open at weekends and in college holidays.

If visiting during term time we would also recommend the training restaurant at Barnsley College for well-priced good quality meals cooked and served by Catering students in training.

https://www.barnsley.ac.uk/shops-services/wigfield-farm/

Also worth a visit is the Yummy Yorkshire Ice-cream Farm at Ingbirchworth, there is a good café for lunch and a wide variety of ice cream flavors to eat there or to take away, all made on the premises.

https://www.yummyyorkshire.co.uk/

There are many towns, villages and visitor attractions not too far away from the 100 mile route which are well worth a visit – Holmfirth of Last of the Summer Wine fame, Castleton with its Blue John mines, Edale the starting point of the Pennine Way, and Hathersage where you can visit Little John’s Grave in the Churchyard.

The Peak District is beautiful, and you will make your own amazing discoveries of views and landscapes, please share your photos with us on social media.

https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/

Closer to our HQ and on route is the pretty village of Wentworth that boasts the longest Country House Facade in Europe at Wentworth-Woodhouse.

https://wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk/

Elsecar Heritage Centre also has more information about the area along with smaller craft and antique shops with a good homely café.

http://www.elsecar-heritage.com/

Also a short drive from HQ is the RSPB nature reserve at Old Moor (S73 0YF), a 98 hectare wetlands with bird watching facilities.

http://Old-Moor RSPB /

We hope you will be pleasantly surprised by our attractive surrounding countryside also you will enjoy listening to our distinctive accent and turns of phrase, and of course don’t forget to try a Barnsley chop, a double lamb chop eaten after having a Yorkshire pudding for a starter.

Have a great stay in Barnsley, we look forward to meeting you!

We have placed a Public house guide to the area that can be found HERE.

Supporters Checkpoint guide can be found HERE, Please respect this page, to ignore will have a very negative impact and consequently become a real threat to the good name of the LDWA.

Trans-Pennine 100 Organising Committee