Cycling in Yorkshire
Cycling in Yorkshire
2nd April 2022
Stage 17 of the Sustrans Slow Tour of Yorkshire is from Doncaster to Conisbrough. It's on traffic-free paths, but yet again the overall quality is poor.
I would definitely recommend a mountain bike, and except in high Summer you will get covered in mud. Also, the route is not accessible to anyone who can't negotiate a steep flight of steps.
The ride takes you to Conisbrough, which has an impressive castle.
Distance: 7.5 miles
each way, so 15 miles there and back
Time: 1h each way, so 2h in total
The map above gives an overview of the Doncaster to Conisbrough route. It is largely on NCN Route 62 (red), and I've added the links to Doncaster and Conisbrough (turquoise).
This is the ride on Plotaroute; you can download a navigation file from there.
This is the Sustrans leaflet for the Doncaster to Conisbrough ride.
If you're arriving by train, turn left out of the station. The road, Trafford Way, goes through a tunnel; you're supposed to ride on the road, then join a kerb-protected bike path the moment the tunnel starts.
As you emerge from the tunnel, you get a view of Doncaster's Gothic Minster.
Turn left to go over North Bridge. There's a decent bike path here.
I was quite impressed with the cycle infrastructure on the route out of Doncaster. There are separate pedestrian and cycle crossings.
The footway and cycle track are often separated by a level difference, which is good practice and means people don't walk on the cycle track.
Soon after passing Danum Retail Park (presumably an ancient Roman shopping centre - see information about Roman Danum), you reach a left turn onto NCN Route 62.
The cycle path runs through a residential area. It is a railway path, and I believe the railway was the Hull & Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway, which was built to carry coal and opened in 1916; the last section of the railway closed in 1979.
The path once had a sealed surface but it has deteriorated a lot, and water doesn't drain off it.
The path runs close to the modern railway, then reaches the river Don. A sign (Trans Pennine Trail Barnsley) directs you down towards the river, and it shows a set of steps.
They are not joking about the steps.
From the bottom of the steps there's a path by the river towards the A1M.
There's a gate under the A1M - let's call it innovative in style. It's a sort of half swing door that rotates from twelve o'clock to six o'clock and back.
After the gate continue by the river Don, on a poor-quality muddy path, to Sprotbrough (posh Doncaster). You reach the Boat Inn; sandbags outside suggest it floods sometimes.
On the right just after the pub is a viewing screen at Sprotbrough Flash. Among the birds you might see (lots and lots of patience would be needed) is a bittern.
The next section is the best bit of the ride - by the river Don and through woods, with a proper tarmac path.
The Conisbrough Viaduct hoves into view; it carried the Dearne Valley railway across the Don here.
The route turns right to run along the nearside of the viaduct, then sharply uphill to reach top-of-the-bridge level. Here you join the old Dearne Valley line.
The path is wide, part-tarmacked, and part unsealed and therefore suitable for horses.
There are rabbits on the grassland to the left.
Turn left off the TPT towards Conisbrough. Cross the river Don and you arrive at Conisbrough Station, where there's a bridge with ramps over the railway line.
Exit the station and cross over the A6023 to Station Road. Continue on Dale Road to Castle Hill, where you can't miss Conisbrough Castle (main photo).
Conisbrough also has one of England's oldest churches, dating from around 750.
Return by the same route.
This is quite a nice ride, especially the bit between Sprotbrough and Conisbrough. Much of the rest of it is poor quality and mountain biking only; that's a shame when it's a railway route that should be suitable for all ages, any type of bike, and all weather all your round.
The flight of steps will inevitably exclude some people from this ride.
Have you done this bike ride? What do you think of it?
OS Explorer Doncaster - available on Amazon.
Conisbrough Castle was built after the Norman invasion by William de Warenne. It fell into ruins due to subsidence in the 1400s or 1500s.
It is quite an impressive pile of pebbles.
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The Trans Pennine Trail is a good idea, but the quality of much of it is so poor, I'm not sure it's ready to be promoted to the public.
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