Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
A flooded former colliery and coal preparation site at Manvers, now a lake with a made circuit of about a mile and a quarter run by the Manvers Lake and Dearne Valley Trust from the Boathouse on Station Road. The path is flat enough for a wheelchair or a buggy, though the surface turns to dirt track in places and there are one or two slight inclines. Two longer circular routes of three and five kilometres link the lake to the Trans Pennine Trail, and the Dearne Way runs along the northern side towards Old Moor. The site itself is open on foot at all times, with most of the footpaths permissive rather than public rights of way.
A flat run east along the Trans Pennine Trail on the old Dearne Valley railway embankment, with the flooded subsidence flashes of Bolton Ings opening out to the south. The RSPB states "Under control dogs welcome" here, which makes it the natural dog walk of the Dearne Valley given that the main Old Moor reserve a few hundred yards west takes assistance dogs only. The trail surface is hard and level the whole way, so it works in winter and with a barrow, and the public hides on the embankment let you stop without stepping off the path. Park at Old Moor and walk out; there is no car park at Bolton Ings itself.
A five minute walk west of Old Moor and the short option in the Dearne Valley, Gypsy Marsh is a strip of wet grassland and reedbed with a surfaced right of way through it that is flat enough for a pushchair or a wheelchair. The RSPB is unambiguous: "Dogs are welcome on the designated rights of way. Please keep your dog on a lead at all times", because of the sensitive habitat and the cattle that graze it. It is open at all times, unlike the Old Moor reserve, so it is the site to know if you arrive early or late. Park at Old Moor and walk out; there is no car park at the marsh.
A roadside pub on Manvers Way at Wath upon Dearne, on the edge of the Manvers regeneration area and within reach of the Dearne Valley flashes. The pub states that it welcomes four legged friends in the whole pub, not just the bar, which is unusual for a food-led house of this size. Water bowls and treats are kept behind the bar as a matter of course. There is a beer garden and a car park, which makes it a straightforward stop after a walk at Old Moor or Bolton Ings, about two miles north.
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