The Upper Don Trail formerly known as the Upper Don Walk is a 15 mile long recreational multi use trail which links the centre of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

to the village of

Oughtibridge Oughtibridge ( ) is a residential village in the north of Sheffield within the bounds of Bradfield, South Yorkshire, Bradfield civil parish. The village stands about northwest of the Sheffield City Centre, city centre in the valley of the Riv ...

. Various sections continue along the course of the upper Don to Dunford Bridge and along the Little Don from Deepcar out towards

Stocksbridge Stocksbridge is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish, it is encircled to the north and east by the southern edge of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, although since 1974 it lies within the borders of the City of Sheffield, in ...

and

Langsett Reservoir Langsett Reservoir is in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, near the villages of Langsett and Upper Midhope, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. The reservoir was constructed between 1898 and 1904, and ...

. It follows the course of the River Don and partially the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

route 627. Beyond Wortley the Trail forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail. The route is variable in quality, the first mile is well defined as it has been integrated into the newly developed quarters to the immediate north of the city centre. The section through Beeley Woods between Wadsley Bridge and Oughtibridge is heavily used by walkers and cyclists. The rest of the route is a mixture of path, road and woodland walking.

History

The Upper Don Walk Trust was formed in 2004 as a registered charity and was made up of interested people, organisations and planners. They are committed to creating a walk that can be used by walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users, prams, canoeists and anglers. The walk links with the

Five Weirs Walk The Five Weirs Walk runs alongside the River Don in Sheffield, England. From Lady's Bridge in Sheffield City Centre (), it heads downstream, northeast, over the Cobweb Bridge, through Attercliffe to Meadowhall (). As the name of the walk s ...

Lady's Bridge Lady's Bridge is the oldest bridge across the River Don, South Yorkshire, River Don in the Sheffield, City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the central section of the city, linking the Wicker (Sheffield), Wicker to the north with Wainga ...

, and the

Trans Pennine Trail The Trans Pennine Trail is a long-distance path running from coast to coast across Northern England on a mixture of surfaced paths, with some short on-road sections, and with gentle gradients (it runs largely along disused railway lines and c ...

at Oughtibridge.''"All About The Upper Don Walk Sheffield"'' (Leaflet), Upper Don Walk Trust, History and details of route. In November 2019, the Trust was renamed the Upper Don Trail Trust to emphasise the shared use aspect of the route and its ambitions extended north of Oughtibridge to Stocksbridge and the Peak District beyond.

Route

The walk starts ()(//gent.film.else) in the newly developed

Riverside Exchange The Riverside Quarter, or Riverside Exchange is one of Sheffield's 11 designated City Centre Quarters. Its borders are West Bar, Coulston Street, Bridge Street, Castlegate, Exchange Place and the Parkway to its south, the Wicker Viaduct, John ...

quarter of the city, an important area of industrial heritage which was formerly known as Millsands, it was the site of the Town corn mill from the 12th century onwards and was later developed by the

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

family as a steel making site. The walk continues on a tarmac path on the south bank of the river passing the Nursery Street footbridge and a stone rectangular column which is the memorial to the

Great Sheffield Flood The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died and more than 600 houses were da ...

of 1864. The walk negotiates the Bridgehouses roundabout using pedestrian crossings and continues through the

Kelham Island Quarter Neepsend is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it stands just north-west of the city centre. The main area of Neepsend covers the flood plain of the River Don, South Yorkshire, River Don from Lady's Bridge at the Wicker (Sheffield), Wicker up ...

passing the associated industrial museum.''"Information board at Millsands"'', History of Millsands. The original plans for the walk called for a footbridge to link Kelham Island back to the south bank of the river at the

Brooklyn Works The Brooklyn Works is a former site of steel, saw and file manufacture, it is situated on Green Lane in the Kelham Island Quarter Shows map of Kelham Island Quarter. of the City of Sheffield, England. In recent years the works have been converte ...

. This was to be a one tenth replica of the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

in New York City to commemorate the strong industrial links between Sheffield and

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in the 19th century. However, the floods of 2007 caused the plans for the bridge to be put on hold and even though new flood defences were installed around Kelham Island and the bridge design was modified accordingly,Sheffield Telegraph
Details of Brooklyn bridge. it was never built. Reports from 2016 now say that permission has been granted for the building of a 20 metre long bridge with a simple contemporary appearance.Sheffield Telegraph
Details of new bridge plans. The absence of the bridge forces the walk to use the public roads of Alma Street and Little Kelham Street (pedestrianised) passing the industrial heritage sites of the

Green Lane Works The Green Lane Works are a disused industrial facility situated in the City of Sheffield, England. The entrance gate to the works is particularly ornate and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building. Nikolaus Pevsner called the gate '' ...

and

Cornish Place Cornish Place is a listed building situated in the Neepsend area of the City of Sheffield. The building was formerly the factory of James Dixon & Sons, a Britannia metal, Sheffield plate and Cutlery manufacturer. In the late 1990s the disused bu ...

before crossing to the north bank of the Don by the

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Ball Street Bridge and going left by a riverside path to reach the suburb of

Neepsend Neepsend is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it stands just north-west of the city centre. The main area of Neepsend covers the flood plain of the River Don from Lady's Bridge at the Wicker up to Hillfoot Bridge. The suburb falls within th ...

. There are no riverside paths through Neepsend and it is necessary to follow the busy Neepsend Lane for roughly 750 yards to reach Hillfoot Bridge. Club Mill Road is then followed for one and a half miles, first a quiet road through an industrial estate and then as a path passing through the disused Wardsend Cemetery to reach the suburb of

Owlerton Owlerton () is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, England, northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and River Loxley. Owlerton was a small rural village from the Early Middle Ages; it became part of Sheffield in the e ...

The next one and a half mile section to reach

Beeley Wood Beeley Wood is a woodland in the north of the City of Sheffield, near Middlewood, South Yorkshire, England. It is one of 35 ancient woodland areas within the Sheffield city boundary. An ancient woodland is defined as a site that has been contin ...

is once more on

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

roads, there are two recommended routes, one goes via Middlewood Road with the route leaflet recommending a visit to the Niagara weir at the bottom of the Winn Gardens estate, however the weir was damaged in the 2007 floods and is now only half of its original height of 10 feet and not so impressive. The route then continues through Middlewood Park to the closed Middlewood Tavern to enter Beeley Wood by the Rocher footbridge. The alternative from Wardsend goes by Herries Road South, Clay Wheels Lane and Beeley Wood Lane. The final mile of the walk through Beeley Wood is on a hard surfaced path which can be used by cyclists and is much used by runners and dog walkers. The path emerges in the centre of Oughtibridge (). (//silk.mock.spring)

Further expansion

At its annual general meeting in June 2022, the Upper Don Trail Trust announced various plans to extend the trail in the future. Extensions beyond Oughtibridge include a new section of riverside trail at the site of the former British Tissues paper mill between Oughtibridge and Wharncliffe Side which has been converted into a new housing development by David Wilson Homes. Additionally a new section of trail is planned on the site of the former Morehall tip where the Ewden Beck joins the Don. Current efforts (2025) are focused on securing two critical links through the Oughtibridge Valley estate: gaining access to the existing path north of Aspen Road to Holmes Farm and Wharncliffe Woods, and completing the link over the river to Oughtibridge village. Barnsley Council has used

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

funding to extend the trail beyond Stocksbridge using a former rail track past Underbank Reservoir and up to Langsett Reservoir.Sheffield Star Newspaper - accessed 10 June 2022 - Details of 2022 extension plans.

References

{{GeoGroup Geography of Sheffield Transport in Sheffield Tourist attractions in Sheffield Footpaths in South Yorkshire