Westgate Plaza One

Penny Pie Park

Pogmoor · 0.6 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.

Monk Bretton Priory

Cundy Cross · 1.9 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.

Thornes Park

Thornes · 8.1 miles

Thornes Park is a large public park situated close to the centre of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Along with Clarence Park and Holmfield Park it forms a large parkland to the south west of the city.

South Elmsall and Moorthorpe War Memorial

South Elmsall · 8.1 miles

First World War memorial, 1923, by Wilfrid Bond of Grantham. Second World War inscriptions added later. Market-cross style design

Pontefract Museum

Pontefract · 12 miles

A former Carnegie library now serves as Pontefract Museum, occupying an Art Nouveau building in the centre of Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Designed by George Pennington and opened as a library in 1904, the structure was repurposed for museum use in 1975 after a new library was erected elsewhere. The conversion retained the tiled entrance hall and original furnishings, and the building was entered on the Grade II listed register at the time of its reopening in March 1975. The museum is managed by Wakefield Museums & Castles, offers free admission and provides step-free access throughout, with toilets available on the premises. The displays focus on the town’s archaeological, artistic and social heritage. Exhibits include material from Pontefract Castle and the nearby St John’s Priory, notably the Ackworth Hoard of almost six hundred Civil War-era coins. The collection also illustrates the local liquorice trade, featuring packaging from the famous Pontefract Cakes factories and the sealed ballot box from the country’s first secret ballot in 1872. Additional highlights trace the town’s mining past, decorative and applied arts, fine art, photographs and printed ephemera. Three permanent exhibition spaces house these items, while a separate area accommodates temporary shows, and a reference room preserves archival documents relating to Pontefract’s history.

Weston Park Museum

Crookesmoor · 12 miles

Located a mile west of Sheffield city centre, the museum sits within the grounds of Weston Park and occupies a Grade II* listed complex that is overseen by Museums Sheffield. Entry is free and the premises are step-free, providing full wheelchair access. Opening hours are listed on the venue’s official page. The institution began serving the public in 1875 when it opened in Weston House, the residence whose parkland later became the surrounding green space. An Ionic-order neoclassical wing was added in 1887, and a purpose-built extension adjoining the Mappin Art Gallery was completed in 1937 after the demolition of Weston Hall; local benefactor J. G. Graves contributed to its funding. For many years the site was known as the Sheffield City Museum and Mappin Art Gallery, housing collections of archaeology, natural history, decorative art and social history, while the Mappin Gallery displayed the bequest of John Newton Mappin and hosted temporary exhibitions. The gallery suffered a direct hit in the Sheffield Blitz of December 1940, remaining partially derelict until it was made safe and reopened in 1965. A comprehensive refurbishment began in March 2003, financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Sheffield City Council and Objective 1, and the complex reopened in October 2006 under its current name, consolidating the museum and gallery identities. Today the museum presents seven themed galleries, including displays of Bronze-Age rock-art replicas, artefacts collected by Thomas Bateman such as the Benty Grange helmet, and exhibitions on ancient Egypt, geology and contemporary Sheffield life. The Royle Gallery is dedicated to rotating shows that explore the city’s stories and creative output. An on-site weather station, operating continuously since 1882, supplies long-term climate data for the area. Practical information such as admission, accessibility and opening times can be found on the museum’s website.