Do It Yer Sen

Wortley Top Forge

Crane Moor Nook · 3.7 miles

The former finery forge at Wortley, now an industrial museum, occupies a loop of the River Don close to the villages of Thurgoland and Wortley in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The whole complex is a Scheduled Monument and the main forge holds a Grade I listing; it is situated near the settlement of Crane Moor Nook. Visitors can see three restored waterwheels, one of which is a 24-foot overshot wheel fitted with two-gallon buckets, the only power source ever used on the site, originally driving a massive timber-cantilevered trip hammer and later twin blowers. The museum also displays a variety of industrial machinery, including a Marshall twin-cylinder steam engine. The forge was created under the direction of Sir Francis Wortley in the early seventeenth century, although archaeological evidence points to ironworking in the vicinity from the fourteenth century. By 1641 a working forge was recorded, run by Thomas and William Cotton, and cannonballs are said to have been produced here during the English Civil War. Ownership passed through the Spencer family, the Cockshutt brothers and, from 1849, the Andrews family, with the present layout dating from the 1850s when production focused on railway shafts and axles. Engineer Thomas Andrews carried out early metallurgical experiments on the site, and manufacturing continued until around 1912, with limited use persisting until 1929. A charge applies for admission. The museum is administered by the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society, which maintains the restored structures and waterwheel demonstrations. The site's protected status ensures its ongoing preservation as a historic industrial monument.

Penny Pie Park

Pogmoor · 5.6 miles

A former domestic-waste landfill has been reshaped into a sizeable recreational field that now serves the Pogmoor area of Barnsley. The site, owned by Barnsley Council, lies within a roughly 350-metre by 250-metre rectangle and is surrounded by the A628 gyratory, making it readily reachable from the surrounding road network. A railway line marks the northern boundary, separating the park from an additional council field opposite. The landscape is dotted with a mix of sycamore, willow and horse-chestnut trees, providing a natural fringe to the open grass. Within the park, multipurpose sports facilities and personal-training fitness stations cater to a range of activities, while the expansive green space attracts runners, dog walkers and pigeon fanciers who use the area for racing birds. The open field also functions as a landing site for hot-air balloons and air-ambulances when required. Each summer, the venue hosts the Barnsley Mini Olympics, a community-run programme of Olympic-style events. Barnsley Council operates the park and keeps it freely accessible to the public. No admission fee is mentioned, and the surrounding infrastructure, including the A628 and nearby railway, provides practical points of entry. The park’s combination of sporting provisions, natural borders and community events makes it a versatile open-air facility for local residents.

Lowe Stand

Upper Hoyland · 7.5 miles

Lowe Stand is an 18th-century folly built for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham, and likely originally intended as a hunting lodge. It is situated in the South Yorkshire town of Hoyland, 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Barnsley. Today the stand is a Grade II listed building but is in a fairly advanced state of decay. In 2008 the deeds were handed over from the council to voluntary group, the Friends of Hoyland Lowe Stand. The council has given permission to restore it according to the plan produced.

Monk Bretton Priory

Cundy Cross · 8.1 miles

The ruined medieval complex at Lundwood offers a glimpse of a Cluniac priory founded in 1154 by Adam Fitswane. Situated in the village of Lundwood, close to the settlement of Monk Bretton in the Barnsley borough of South Yorkshire, the site lies a short distance from the town of Cundy Cross. The remains include the outlines of the church and cloister, which have been the focus of archaeological work since the 1920s and more recently under a survey led by Dr Hugh Willmott of the University of Sheffield. Visitors can walk among the stone foundations and view interpretive information provided by English Heritage, the body that now cares for the scheduled ancient monument. The priory originally bore the name Priory of St Mary Magdalene of Lund before adopting the name of the neighbouring village. In 1350 Prior John de Birthwaite received a land grant from Sir William de Notton and his wife Isabel, intended to fund a chantry chapel at Woolley Church. The monastic community was dissolved on 30 November 1538, after which the property passed to the Blithman family, was sold to George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury in 1580, and later given to his son Henry. Today the site is open to the public under English Heritage management, with visitor details available on the English Heritage website. No admission fee or specific facilities are listed in the supplied material.

National Coal Mining Museum

Overton · 8.1 miles

Set within the former Caphouse Colliery near Overton, Wakefield, the museum occupies a site whose mining activity began in the late eighteenth century. The original pit, later expanded with the Hope Pit in the 1820s, passed through private ownership before nationalisation in 1947 and closure in 1985. The Yorkshire Mining Museum opened on the premises in 1988 and received national status in 1995, becoming the National Coal Mining Museum for England. Surviving structures such as the Grade II listed boiler house, chimney, steam winding engine house and the Grade II* listed ventilation shaft date from the nineteenth- and early-twentieth centuries, illustrating the evolution of coal-working facilities. Visitors can descend on guided underground tours that recreate the working conditions and display the tools used by miners over successive eras. Above ground, more than a dozen galleries interpret the social and industrial heritage of mining, while a library and archive hold rare items including a first edition of *De re Metallica* and historic copies of *Coal News*. Original features such as pit-head baths, the steam winding house, boiler house and coal-screening plant remain in situ. A narrow-gauge paddy train links the main hub to the Hope Pit area, where a reed-bed water-treatment facility and bird hides are operated with the Coal Authority, and an interpretive nature trail winds through the wooded valley. Recent additions include a Miners Memorial Garden (2015), a mining-themed adventure playground (2017), an expanded visitor hub with retail, education, catering and conference spaces, and a Pony Discovery Centre opened in 2021. The site lies on the A642, signposted from the M1, and is reachable by car or public transport; opening times are published on the museum’s listing.

Tolson Museum

Moldgreen · 9.9 miles

Set within Ravensknowle Park on Wakefield Road, the former Victorian mansion known as Ravensknowle Hall now houses the Tolson Museum. The building, erected in the late 1850s for textile magnate John Beaumont and designed by London architect Richard Tress, stands in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, close to the settlement of Moldgreen. The museum is operated by Kirklees Council, offers free entry and provides limited wheelchair access; opening hours are listed on the museum’s public timetable. The hall was bequeathed to Huddersfield Corporation in 1919 by Legh Tolson as a memorial to his two nephews who fell in the First World War. Formal inauguration took place on 27 May 1922, initially presenting a natural-history collection of rocks, fossils and stuffed birds. A 1980s refurbishment redirected the focus toward the region’s industrial heritage, adding displays of local archaeology, weaving machinery and textiles. Visitors can explore a reconstructed Victorian schoolroom and a transport exhibition occupying a rear extension, which includes road-building techniques and examples of horsedrawn and motor vehicles. Among the cars on view are the three-wheeled LSD, once produced locally between 1919 and 1924, and a Valveless model recovered from South Africa. The museum also incorporates the Grade II-listed remnants of a hypocaust from Slack Roman Fort, reassembled within the park grounds.