Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Wombwell Ings is the westernmost of the Dearne Valley flashes, a wet grazing marsh in the crook of the River Dove with a public footpath running right round it and a hide on the south side looking over the main flash. The RSPB is explicit that "Dogs are welcome on the rights of way but please do not let them stray from the path", and there are grazing horses on the marsh, so this is a lead walk rather than a run-about. The approach along the Trans Pennine Trail from Old Moor is hard-surfaced and flat; the footpath round the ings itself is grass and can be genuinely wet after rain. There is no car park at the ings, so this is written from the Old Moor car park and back.
A community pub on George Street in the middle of Wombwell, run by Craft Union, with a pool table, sports screens and an outside area at the back. The operator states "We are pet-friendly and we welcome everyone" and lists it as a dog friendly pub. It is wet-led rather than a food house, so this is a pint after the Wombwell Ings footpath rather than a Sunday lunch. Level access and an accessible toilet.
A street-corner local at 15 High Street in the middle of Wombwell, a few doors from the shops on Hough Lane. Craft Union names it as a dog friendly pub, with water bowls kept behind the bar and no expectation that a dog stays outside. It is wet-led — sport on the screens, pool, and a crowd that knows each other — so it suits a pint after the Ings or the Trans Pennine Trail rather than a meal. The George Hotel is a couple of minutes away on George Street if this one is full.
A hundred and forty-four hectares of ancient broadleaf woodland between Wombwell, Jump and Worsbrough, held by Forestry England and old enough to appear in Domesday. Paths twist through the trees to a large pond and stream in the middle of the wood, with open glades on the higher ground and bluebells through the middle of spring. Forestry England lists it plainly as dogs allowed and there are no parking charges, which makes it the best free off-lead woodland in this corner of Barnsley. There are no toilets, no cafe and no accessible parking bays, and the paths turn to mud from November onwards.
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