The Peatlands Way is a circular route designed to traverse the raised peatlands of the Thorne, Crowle and Hatfield moors. The cross moor routes (waymarked with the Nightjar symbol) have been selected to provide an insight into the diversity of the moors, their history and their long-term reclamation programme.
The links between the moors (mainly public footpaths and bridleways) are not necessarily the shortest routes. The aim is to provide a general picture of the nature of the Humberhead Levels, as the area is known, and to show some of the large scale water engineering which helped determine the agricultural and industrial development.
The waymarked route is intended as a core way that can be combined with other paths to make a series of walks. The full 50-mile circuit is not recommended to be undertaken in a single day except as an organised challenge. Being on one or other of the moors without support during darkness is not advisable.
This route description outlines the clockwise organised challenge circuit from Thorne. Shorter (charity sponsorship) routes run in conjunction with shuttle bus pickups from checkpoints.
Even if you are an experienced walker take great care if you depart from or lose the waymarked route on the peat moors - especially in poor visibility. Large areas are trackless apart from (often misleading) animal tracks. Water movement can render apparent routes (such as old bunds) hazardous or impassable.
Although the soft, springy peat can make for easy walking, mistakes can be very tiring. You can go a long way before finding out you can't go any further and that means a long way back to where you were!
From the Sea Cadet HQ (OS279, GR682132) turn right along Lock Lane, bearing left at the junction to cross the A614 to Thorne North railway station. Keep to the right of the station yard to a cinder track and, shortly before some sheds, go right on a narrow pedestrian-only footpath dropping slightly downhill behind apartment blocks and turning right to a road end.
Ahead to the end of a new housing development on the left to turn left by the sales office on to a signposted field path. Keep ahead, hedge on right, across fields, crossing (right, then left) a tree-lined track. Then, with a dyke on the right, ahead again over a footbridge to a path alongside the dyke.
At a footbridge (GR689152) over the dyke on the right and with a pedestrian rail crossing on the left cross the bridge to the lane (Bloomhill Road) into Moorends.
Turn left on to Marshland Road and, just before the Winning Post Community Centre on the left, turn right into Grange Road.
Go to the end of Grange Road to the entrance gate to the Recreation Ground (Checkpoint 1 - GR699158). Take the barred former pit road, now a footpath, on the left of the gate and follow it left then right to the main pit entrance road. Cross to the signposted track bearing right to Thorne Moor.
Follow first the track then a signed footpath to the pedestrian only footbridge on to the moor.
Keep ahead on the signed footpath (right/left jink after the rhodedendron bushes on to the path alongside the overgrown canal) to the viewing platform (OS 291 GR733154).
This marks the limit of English Nature's waymarked trails.
The Peatlands Way continues ahead on the track on the bund (the raised area left after the peat has been extracted). At the T-junction of tracks turn left and then turn right on to the wide track with more recent industrial peat extraction beds on the left.
Follow this through to the grey-roofed English Nature store and turn right on to the wide green lane with the Swinefleet Warping Drain on the left and the flooded Will Pits on the right.
Look for the metal Bailey Bridge (GR746149), the drain's main crossing on to Crowle Moor, on the left. Cross and either follow the waymarked bankside path or bear slightly right on to the footpath running alongside fields.
This extra loop offers the chance of spotting red deer and the path shows signs of the former hand truck railway used to haul the peat. On a straight stretch look for a waymarked track on the left on to the area managed by the Lincolnshire Trust for Nature Conservation (or continue ahead for a slightly shorter route to Crowle).
The track to the left goes through worked-out peat beds to the bank of the Swinefleet Warping Drain. Turn right to follow the drain side path to a track on the right which crosses the (part reclaimed) moor to a gate on to a green lane.
Turn right along the lane, which soon becomes a track, passing on the right the National Nature Reserve sign and parking area marking the exit of the shorter route. The track becomes a tarmac road and where it meets the road from the small peat works on the right (OS 280 - GR759141) turn left to Crowle.
Shortly after entering the village turn right along Commonside and then left at the end on to Cross Street. At the T-junction at the end turn left on to High Street and the Community Hall (Checkpoint 2 - GR773134) on the bend opposite the supermarket.
To continue on the Peatlands Way return to the High Street and cross it or take (according to how much of the town you wish to see) any of a series of short side roads or passages on the left leading through to Fieldside, which runs parallel to the High Street.
You need to turn into Field Road (GR774126) which is on the left (bridleway sign) near the southern end of Fieldside.
Keep ahead as the tarmac lane turns into a farm track, turning right at the signposted junction of tracks and continuing through to the lane where the track emerges alongside the dismantled railway line in Ealand. Turn right and then left to follow the village's Main Street towards Crowle railway station.
Where the road swings right before the station approach follow it round to the A161 and go left for the foot crossing over the main road. Turn left over Crowle bridge crossing the railway, canal and drain and take the footpath descending from the bridge embankment to the A18.
Cross with care from the grass strip in front of the white painted company offices to the traffic island and then to the disused stone bridge over the drain opposite. Cross the minor road and follow the line of the old road to the A161.
This is a busy link to and from the M180 motorway so continue ahead with care for around 500 yards to Kingfisher Nurseries on the left and immediately beyond take the signposted broad track on the left (GR783097) between the River Torne and the Folly Drain.
Turn right through the arches of the disused railway viaduct, then left towards the farm entrance and quickly right on to the green lane running alongside the plantation. The green lane gives way to a track and where this forks (at Three Cocked Hat Wood) continue slightly right to the motorway fence (GR791085) and turn left on the track alongside the motorway.
Go right over the motorway bridge and then right again to follow a parallel track on the other side of the motorway to a clearly signposted left turn. Where the track enters the village of Belton turn right and look for the footpath (signed Jeffrey Lane GR788073) on the dismantled railway line on the left.
The line skirts the eastern side of Belton. After passing the playing field on the right turn right at the double-gated crossing of a tarmac road (footpath sign to the left) to pass The Steers public house and cross the A161 to the turning on the left and Belton church tower (Checkpoint 3 - GR782065).
Retrace your steps to the railway line and continue to where it meets the A161 by the entrance to Belton Brickworks. Cross the main road and go left for 100 yards to the parking and picnic area, continuing diagonally right across the car park to pick up the gravel track on the line of the dismantled railway.
The track rises to the right of an old windmill and just after the start of a paved area take the footpath to the left through an unusual metal portico stile. Follow the field edge path to a similar stile by the old mill and take the track ahead to the converted windmill on the A161 (GR781043).
Cross and take the signed track almost opposite, following it via a sharp right turn to the lane leading into Epworth. Follow the road uphill and round a right hand bend to take the turning on the left (Greengate). At the end of Greengate cross Rectory Street (Epworth Rectory, home of the Wesleys and now a museum is a few yards along on the right) bearing slightly right to the footpath sign and narrow pedestrian opening alongside a metal gate (GR785035).
With just one minor left/right jink at the next field edge this well waymarked path heads south for well over a mile. After a short stretch of green track turn right on a track to Low Burnham and as it passes alongside a small copse (Holy Well) watch for the waymarked U-turn.
After running along the other side of Holy Well the path bears right round the field edge. Look for the waymarked right turn at another small copse (GR787020).
Go slightly uphill to a field corner and small drain. Ignore the waymark to the right (Low Burnham) and continue ahead alongside the drain to a gap in the hedge and the (waymarked) left turn along next field edge. The path keeps to the field edge, turning right uphill past a small copse to High Burnham Farm (Checkpoint 4 - 785012).
This is also the shuttle bus pick-up point for entrants on the shorter route.
Turn right on to the road in front of the farm and around 100 yards past the farm take the stile and signed footpath (GR780013) running alongside the right hand hedge of a long field. Towards the end of the field take the stile on the right and cross a short stretch of field to the hedge end almost opposite. Take the left hand side of the hedge and continue ahead to a broad track leading down to the A161 and the outskirts of Haxey.
Turn left across the road and take the right turn into Haxey a few yards further on.
After crossing the dismantled railway line the Peatlands Way continues on the footpath on the right about 50 yards further on (GR771103). Follow this main path round to the left, crossing a lane as the path develops into a farm track. Ignoring all turnings to left or right continue for two miles to the track end (GR748103).
A faint footpath bears off slightly left but turn right along the hedge (soon dike) side to a footbridge, Cross and bear slightly left to another footbridge on to a large turf-growing area. Cross with care bearing slightly left towards trees and a clear track running alongside a hedge. At the junction of tracks turn left and where the track forks take the right hand fork, following the clear track as it curves left to a metal gate on to Greenholme Bank.
Turn right and, at the tree belt, right again on to the track through Haxey Turbary. Continue ahead to Turbary Road and turn left over the waymarked footbridge at Skyers Farm (GR758015). Follow the footpath round the rear of the farm and left on to the farm track. Continue ahead on this track and the footpath alonside Old Turbary Drain to the polite notice and footbridge on to Epworth Turbary and continue left along this to the junction with Epworth Road.
Cross slightly right to the pedestrian gate into the Turbary Nature Reserve and take the path to the right. Where the path forks take the right fork and continue ahead to where a track enters through a gate on to a lane on the right (GR753042). Go through to the lane as it turns right to Sandhills Farm. Continue ahead past the farm buildings and the waymarked footpath ahead. Where the footpath turns right on to the track alongside Ingham Drain turn left. This is a permissive path for this challenge walk to the metal gate (GR753049) giving access to the River Torne bank. Turn right and go along the right hand side of the plantation ahead to Scawcett Lane.
Turn left along the lane to cross Scawcett Bridge and continue to the T-junction by the equestrian centre. Go left on to Fishings Lane and look for the farm gate on the right (GR747052) to take the little used track (another permissive route for this walk) to Nineveh Farm (Refreshment Point 5).
Continue along the farm drive to Idle Bank and cross the road to the old hump back bridge over Tunnel Pits Drain. Cross and continue ahead to English Nature's green metal gate on to Hatfield Moor. Turn left on to the track between the boundary hedge and the drain following it to where the track crosses on to the moor at the self-clip (Checkpoint 5 - GR708038). Recross the drain to continue on the moorside track to where a new footbridge over the drain on the left gives access to the village of Wroot.
There is a comprehensive re-instatement programme on this moor so it is important to follow the waymarked routes. After passing the footbridge take the second track on the right to the edge of the industrialised peat workings. Turn left to follow the track around the edge of the workings. Do not attempt to cross the deep drainage ditch on to the worked area.
At the south western edge of the workings turn left along the track through the wooded area to circle a lake which has become a wildlife haven.
Behind the bird viewing hide at the north west corner of the lake (OS279, GR695038) English Nature has cleared a wide green ride through the worked out peatland. This curves westwards to a long established track (Moor Bank) which takes the Peatlands Way north through English Nature's land for the next four miles. On the right hand side of this track one of the country's biggest nature reserves is being created out of the former peat, sand and gravel workings.
Continue alongside the lakeside fence to a green metal gate with a broad track coming in from the left. Go left up this track to Boston Park Farm, the white building at the top (Checkpoint 6 - GR677045), crossing the A614 with care as this is now a busy link to the new Robin Hood Airport.
Return to the track down to the nature reserve, turning left at the end on to Moor Bank again, passing the sand banks specially constructed to encourage the sand martins to nest and the car park, bird hide and open area on the right which is the site of the planned visitor centre overlooking the lakes.
At this point you may like to make a small diversion to the group of trees on the top of the slight rise on the right and then go left on to the larger mound behind them. On this man-made hill you may wish to pick up pebbles (which have previously been hidden under the peat for 6,000 years) to add to the cairn created by long distance walkers developing the Peatlands Way. It is hoped the cairn will form the basis for a memorial to the airmen who lost their lives on these moors during WWII. Descend from the viewpoint to turn right to regain the Moor Bank track.
As the track passes Lindholme Prison and former gravel pits which are now filling with waterfowl it becomes Moor Dike Road and, at a metal gate (GR693069) and new car park, becomes a tarmac road. Ahead there is limited access to 100 Acre Lake (yet to be fully developed as a nature reserve, but worth a few minutes diversion to the lakeside viewing platform). Turn left along the road and follow it through to Hatfield Woodhouse.
Where the road meets the A614 turn left and just before the next junction and the Working Men's Club (GR678086). Go right at the footpath sign to the Village Hall. Pass the new Village Hall on your left and then bear slightly right along the footpath to a bend in a lane (GR677093). Co straight across to the wide clear track opposite. Follow this, turning left, right and then left on to a track to the A1146 with the M18 beyond.
Turn right along the road and just before the Moorlands Open Prison on the right cross to a slip road and farm bridge over the motorway on the left.
After crossing the bridge turn right on the track towards the M18/M180 intersection.
As the track begins a left curve round the intersection turn on to the track coming in from the left and follow this to a crossroads of tracks (GR664106). Turn right and as the track approaches a pumping station with another track coming in from the right hear left alongside the pumping station. As the Stainforth pit spoil heap looms ahead there is a stretch of industrial dereliction, with rubbish dumped on either side, as the track crosses the railway and curves left then right under the spoil heap rail track before reaching the road.
Turn left and where the road forks take the left fork to St. Mary's Church, Stainforth (Checkpoint 7 - GR642119). Leaving the church turn left and then right and almost immediately straight on to cross two bridges over the canal and the river.
At this point there is the option of continuing on the road to Fishlake or turning right on to the footpath along the north bank of the River Don. Take particular care (e.g. torch, luminous clothing) if following the road route in the dark. The road route leads directly into the village. The riverside path makes a left turn into the village after passing the Anchor Inn. In both instances continue ahead past the Donside Stores to the Hare and Hounds (Checkpoint 8 - GR655133).
From the checkpoint go up to the church and then right to the stile and the left-pointing signpost to the floodbank footpath on the River Don. Turn left on the floodbank path for just over a mile to Jubilee Bridge at Hangsman Hill.
At this point many entrants will be finishing in the dark and, since there is little difference in distance, may prefer to complete the walk under street lighting.
(An advantage of the footpath route is that it passes the end of the car park, enabling rucksacks to be dumped, boots changed etc, for a possibly more relaxing finish and meal afterwards)
So, in both instances, at Hangsman Hill cross the river with care over the narrow road bridge.
Those preferring the footpath route should turn immediately right over the stile on to the opposite bank. The path drops from the floodbank to the river bank and where it ascends left again cross the stile and turn right along the footpath (alternatively you can continue on the floodbank path).
Where the footpath meets a road continue ahead past the John Bull pub and a line of houses and, as the track bears left into a house driveway continue ahead on the footpath. After crossing two stiles turn left over a stile (the path from the floodbank comes in from the right at this point) and quickly right over another stile on to a track.
The track goes under the motorway, bears left then right around the Sheraton factory and is waymarked across the industrial estate road and round the side of the Dixons car compound. Where it reaches a T-Junction turn right under the railway bridge and follow the track through to Lock Lane (or take the footpath signed right at the end of the track) and the finish at TS Gambia.
Those preferring the road route should continue to the A614 Selby Road after crossing Hangsman Bridge and turn right along it towards the motorway flyover roundabout. Take the second (Thorne) exit from the roundabout and continue along the road under the railway bridge and past The Delves to Lock Lane and the finish.