A short distance down the line from Sandal & Agbrigg, lies the small village of Fitzwilliam, close to the town of Hemsworth. It isn’t a particularly old settlement, having been built as a pit village following the Industrial Revolution when Fitzwilliam Main Colliery (later renamed Hemsworth Colliery) was sunk in 1876. The colliery closed in 1969, after which Kinsley Drift Mine opened on the site in 1977 and operated until 1986. Fitzwilliam suffered more from post-industrial decline than perhaps any town or village we’ve visited in the West Riding thus far: when the local collieries all closed, it suffered from high unemployment and became known locally as a “ghost town” as many locals abandoned it. A council estate on the edge of the village called the City Estate become so derelict as a result that it was completely demolished in the early 2000s, and local newspapers at the time carried a photograph of graffiti on the estate reading “Welcome to Hell”. Fitzwilliam has since bounced back: private housing has now been built on the site of the City Estate, aiding the village’s much-needed regeneration.
Fitzwilliam railway station opened in 1982, several hundred yards from the site of Fitzwilliam Halt, which opened in 1937 but closed thirty years later (rare visitors to the village might wonder why Fitzwilliam regained a railway station during the nineteenth eighties whilst its larger neighbour Hemsworth did not; predictably, the answer seems to be that opening a new station at Fitzwilliam was technically easier and thus cheaper). We leave the station on Railway Terrace, with the Fitzwilliam Country Park car park on the right, where another pit wheel colliery memorial can be seen at the edge of the car park. From here, take a short detour straight ahead up the road here to see Hemsworth Miners Social Club, one of the village’s few historic buildings, then return to the car park and bear right into the country park. Fitzwilliam Country Park is another of the area’s former collieries now given over to wildlife and recreation, and occupies the site of Kinsley Drift Mine. It was landscaped in 1991 after the mine had closed and boasts woodland, grassland and ponds and a variety of flora and fauna. Older than some others we have visited in the West Riding, the country park is better established and looks more convincingly like natural countryside.
The walk takes us diagonally across the park, following a sign post marked “pond”, then along the second left turn after this to head across a meadow with trees on either side. After passing through a gap in the trees, turn right and follow a field downhill with a small wood on the left, turning left just past this and heading roughly north-east to another band of trees. Walk with these on the right to reach an exit from the country park on Rose Lane. This concrete lane is essentially a farm track serving multiple farms, which we shall shortly pass. Turn right along the lane past the first group of farm buildings on the right and then a farm on the left, then turn left along the drive (still Rose Lane) towards Hoyle Mill Farm. Before reaching this, turn right and follow a path along a field edge, which then bends right and passes through a belt of trees to follow the edge of Hoyle Mill Dam, which once provided water power to a corn mill.
Hoyle Mill Dam
Now used for fishing, it is rich in wildlife and is the jewel in the crown of this particular walk. Walk across the dam wall and at the far end cross the outflow to join Hoyle Mill Road.
Turn left and follow the road between more farm buildings, then just after the road bends right turn left and follow another track. Just before this reaches Willow Tree Farm, take a footpath through trees on the left, pass through the arch of a bridge carrying the railway track, and enter Vale Head Park. Bear right and walk across the park, bearing right at each fork and eventually reaching Hemsworth Water Park.
Hemsworth Water Park
The park is arguably Fitzwilliam’s most attractive feature, with a pair of lakes (one secluded and designated for wildlife, the other larger and with sandy beaches pedalo rides, and both stocked for fishing) and a café. Turn right and cross the bridge between the two lakes, then turn left and follow a path next to the lake to reach the Lakeside Café, which makes a good stop off for refreshments and toilets. Walk past the café, then turn left and follow a lane behind it to regain the lakeside. Continue following this to the right for a short distance, then regain the lane and follow it past the former Kinsley Church (now apartments) to reach Wakefield Road.
Turn right and follow the road to the Kinsley Hotel. Turn left just in front of this and follow Fitzwilliam Street straight ahead until it ends at a fork. Bear right and then follow a signed bridleway round to the left to gain a footpath running next to fields, with expansive views across these to the left. Take the next right turn and walk to Tombridge Crescent, then turn right again and follow this to a junction, where the road bifurcates; turn left and follow the crescent back to Wakefield Road, then turn left again. Follow Wakefield Road past a red-brick former primary school (now King’s Meadow Academy) on the right and the small, modern Church of the Resurrection on the left. Finally, just after passing the junction with Holgate Terrace on the right, turn right and follow a short alleyway to return to the station.
From Fitzwilliam, we continue down the Wakefield Line in the general direction of Doncaster, for a pair of stops on parallel branches of the line…