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The lakes around Walton

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Our view

"A short walk around a country park and the home of a visionary naturalist."

Walk directions

From the car park, take the track past the visitor centre towards the main lake, signed ‘Lakeside Walk’. At a fork, bear left towards the bird hides. Keep to the main path for some 300yds (274m), looking for a gap in the left hedge from which a path is signed to Walton.

Through a kissing gate, walk at the edge of two fields towards the distant golf course. Cross a footbridge into a third field and keep ahead to another kissing gate in the far corner. Turn sharp left on a path fringing the golf course, passing a small pond to enter woodland. Ignoring a crossing path, keep to the obvious trail, which shortly curves right past the tail of a lake. Beyond the trees, continue forward as golfers’ paths merge to reach a junction. Take the waymarked grass path ahead to a three-way fingerpost and carry on towards the Barnsley Canal, descending behind the hotel complex to meet a gravel drive.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Good paths and tracks throughout, canal tow path

Landscape - Country park, lakes, woodland and canal

Dog friendliness - Good, but care should be taken when near wildfowl

Parking - Anglers Country Park on Haw Park Lane, between Crofton and Ryehill

Toilets en route - At the visitor centre, at start of walk

Walks in West Yorkshire Dog-friendly walks in West Yorkshire

About the walk

Few houses are situated as delightfully as Walton Hall, isolated upon a little lake island with just a cast iron bridge for access. It was the ancestral home of Charles Waterton, who deserves wider acclaim, for although then regarded as an eccentric, his environmental interests would have put him... in the vanguard of climate-friendly thinking today. Born in 1782, Charles Waterton developed a childhood interest in wildlife, but his passion flourished when he went to British Guyana. During his time there he made several expeditions into the interior and neighbouring Brazil, becoming fascinated by South America’s unusual wildlife. He returned home with many exotic specimens, many of which are now displayed in the Wakefield Museum, and turned his attention to studying and protecting his local wildlife. At a time when shooting parties were an intrinsic part of landed gentry society, he created what was perhaps the world’s first nature reserve, building a high wall around his estate to keep the poachers out. However, he opened the grounds for the peaceful enjoyment of local people. Over the next 40 years he fought against pollution, planted countless trees, managed his woodland for the benefit of the wildlife and built hides from which to watch the wild birds. He also experimented in encouraging breeding. One success was the establishment of herons on the estate; their descendants still around today. He spent over £9,000 (the equivalent £2.5 million today) on his project, funding it, he said, ‘from the wine I do not drink’. When he died after a fall in 1865, he was buried in the woods he loved, a linnet supposedly singing as his coffin was lowered into the ground. Ironically, his son Edmund subsequently resorted to hosting shooting parties to help to pay off his own debts. But the estate survived and today is split between a country park, nature reserve and a golf club, with the house forming the centrepiece of the four-star Waterton Park Hotel. Beyond the wood and parkland of Waterton’s estate, areas of the country park have been reclaimed from industry. The main lake was once a vast, opencast coal pit surrounded by spoil heaps, while the two reservoirs to the south supplied the Barnsley Canal. Opened in 1799 to carry coal, the waterway later lost traffic to the railways and was plagued by subsidence from the mines it served. Closed since 1953, it too has reverted to nature, adding yet another dimension to the habitats of the area. At the country park visitor centre, you will find exhibitions illustrating Squire Waterton’s work and highlighting the local wildlife.

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About the area

Everybody knows that Yorkshire has some special landscapes. The Dales and the Moors first spring to mind, but what about West Yorkshire? That’s Leeds and Bradford isn’t it? Back-to-back houses and blackened mills… Certainly if you had stood on any of the hills surrounding Hebden Bridge a hundred years ago, and gazed down into the valley, all you would have seen was the pall of smoke issuing from the chimneys of 33 textile mills.

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Route details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

3.5 miles (5.7kms)

Ascent:

197ft (60m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

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The lakes around Walton

Recommended by

Our view

"A short walk around a country park and the home of a visionary naturalist."

Walk details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

3.5 miles (5.7kms)

Ascent:

197ft (60m)

Walk directions

1 of 5

2 of 5

Go left, but leave after 50yds (46m), going left again on a waymarked path that climbs beside a fence. At the top, pass through an opening in a high brick wall and swing left again to emerge onto the hotel’s main drive. Follow it up to the right, rising to a bridge over the Barnsley Canal near the golf clubhouse.

3 of 5

Immediately over the bridge, drop left to the tow path and follow it away beside the disused waterway. After 0.25 miles (400m) bear off right, rising to another bridge over the canal. Cross and swing right in front of a gate on a broad track running above the opposite bank.

4 of 5

When it later forks, keep left beside the boundary wall of the Walton Estate into woodland. Eventually reaching a junction at the end of the wall, bear right with the main track. Walk on to a second junction by an information board and go left towards Anglers Country Park. Leaving Haw Wood behind, the track later develops as a lane, eventually leading back to the car park and visitor centre.

5 of 5

Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Good paths and tracks throughout, canal tow path

Landscape - Country park, lakes, woodland and canal

Dog friendliness - Good, but care should be taken when near wildfowl

Parking - Anglers Country Park on Haw Park Lane, between Crofton and Ryehill

Toilets en route - At the visitor centre, at start of walk

Walks in West Yorkshire Dog-friendly walks in West Yorkshire

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

West Yorkshire

Nearby places to stay

View all (8)

The lakes around Walton

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The lakes around Walton

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