Walks Around Britain

Lying on the eastern side of the Pennines, and a stones-throw from the Peak District, South Yorkshire is a metropolitian county in England, with an area of 1,552 km2 (599 sq miles).

It consists of four metropolitian boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and the city of Sheffield, and was created on the 1st April 1974 from the south part of the former West Riding of Yorkshire, along with several other districts from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

The county council was abolished in 1986, but the 4 districts remain more closely linked than any of the other previous metropolitan boroughs.

Completely land-locked, it is surrounded by the counties of North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire.

Three major rivers span the county - the Dearne, the Rother and the Don -which flows into the Ouse and onto the Humber Estuary. The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation canal - opened in the early 1700s - runs through the county.

The main settlements of South Yorkshire grew up around the industries of mining and steel manufacturing - with mining mainly in the north and east of the county, and steel mainly to the west.

Doncaster also developed a reputation for railway locomotive production, with arguably the 3 most famous steam locomotives in the world, Flying Scotsman, Mallard and Sir Nigel Gresley all being built in Doncaster.

Walking wise, the county has much to offer, and thanks to the excellent transport links, walks are easy to get to. A great number of the more common walks are accesable by public transport too.

The reminants of the Pennines can be seen in Sheffield and Barnsley, with the area here being quite hilly. The terrain levels out the further east you go, with the extreme east of of the county past Doncaster at the Humberhead Levels only being 10 metres above sea level.

Travel South Yorkshire
All the information about bus, train and tram in South Yorkshire

Countryside Walks in South Yorkshire
A look at a few lovely walks in the county.

Official Trans Pennine Trail website

Stone to Steel
A project celebrating 10,000 years of human history in the Upper Don Valley