The first stop down the Wakefield Line is at Sandal & Agbrigg, a station serving adjacent settlements of which one is more prominent than the other. Sandal, or Sandal Magna, is an ancient settlement mentioned in the Domesday Book, which has now become a suburb of Wakefield. Its name is derived from an Early Scandinavian words sandr, which means sand or gravel, and healh, which means a meadow. It is located on the River Calder and is best known for Sandal Castle, the ruins of which are included on this walk. The small adjacent suburb of Agbrigg largely dates from the Victorian era and consists largely of terraced housing. It takes its name from that of the now-obsolete wapentake in which it is located. A wapentake, should you be wondering, is an administrative division of a larger region used in the Danelaw, that part of England conquered and ruled by the Danes during the ninth century and of which Yorkshire formed a part; the equally obsolete subdivision hundred was the Anglo-Saxon equivalent in the rest of the country.
Sandal & Agbigg station, which opened in 1866 as “Sandal” on the West Riding and Grimsby Joint Railway. It closed in 1957, but was reopened in 1987 and is a fairly basic two wooden platform affair with waiting shelters, distinguished only by the fact that it is located atop a viaduct and accessed via steps or a platform. From the station, we turn left along Agbrigg Road and when this ends at Barnsley Road, we turn left again, shortly passing the Church of St. Helen.
Church of St. Helen.
This impressive Grade II*-listed church dates from the twelfth century, with a fourteenth century tower, although much of the main body of the building was rebuilt in the nineteenth century. The interior of the church boasts a font dating from 1669. Continue to follow the road as it bends right, shortly passing The Castle public house on the left, then just before reaching The Three Houses public house (also on the left), turn right along Manygates Lane. Despite its name, the Grade II-listed Three Houses was actually originally four houses, built from the late seventeenth (or early eighteenth) to early nineteenth centuries.
On reaching a footpath on the left, follow it downhill between fields to reach Milnthorpe Lane. Turn right and then immediately left, passing through the farmyard of Castle Farm to follow a track named Sandal Pugnies to a belt of trees. On reaching another track, continue straight ahead along a path and then follow it as it turns right to enter Pugneys Country Park. We have already visited several former mines turned country parks in South Yorkshire: Pugneys is another one, but in this case it is both a former opencast mine and sand and gravel quarry, with the gravel pits lending themselves to transformation into a pair of lakes. It opened as a country park in 1985; the name Pugneys reportedly means a goblin’s nook. Take the first left turn between trees to the edge of the larger of the two lakes, then turn left again and follow a path clockwise around the lake, shortly passing the smaller lake on the left.
The path eventually passes the tiny station of Pugneys Light Railway to reach The Boathouse, which has a café and toilets. Visit these if you wish, otherwise continue past The Boathouse, still following the lakeside. When the path ends at a junction, turn right and then at a fork bear left, following a path next to a meadow. The path soon bends right and follows the bank of the River Calder for a short distance. Continue along the path, ignoring the first turn off on the right, then take the second to cross a bridge over Pugney’s Drain. Turn right again and follow a track until another bridge over the drain appears on the right; here, turn left and follow a path uphill, between a modern housing estate on the left and a field on the right.
When the path reaches Milnthorpe Lane (which at this point is a simple muddy path) continue straight ahead between fields, then bear right through a kissing gate into the grounds of Sandal Castle.
Sandal Castle.
The castle was originally built in timber by William de Warenne, the Second Earl of Surrey, at some point after 1107. It was rebuilt in stone later in the twelfth century and played a key role in the Battle of Wakefield, a major battle during the so-called Wars of the Roses in which Duke Richard of York famously gave battle in vain and met a rather ignominious end. The castle was later besieged during the English Civil War, which left it a ruin; later it was used as a source of stone for building. Today, the ruins are a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II*-listed building, with the remains of the motte offering panoramic views towards Wakefield. Explore the castle ruins if you wish, then leave via the car park onto Manygates Lane (Castle Café is located at the far end of the car park and has toilets for patrons).
Turn left, following Manygates Lane as it meanders gently downhill. When Manygates School appears on the left, look out for the Monument to the Battle of Wakefield at the edge of the road, which was erected in 1897 and purports to mark the site where Richard Plantagenet – the aforementioned Duke of York – fell on 30th December 1460. Continue past the school, then turn right and walk across Castle Grove Park to Barnsley Road. Turn left and follow this past Sandal Methodist Church, then take the second right turn to reach Woodcock Street. Here, turn left and then shortly turn right to enter Wakefield Cemetery, following a path directly across this. This is an expansive and slightly rambling Victorian cemetery, well-colonised by wildlife and boasting some interesting tombs and monuments. On reaching Sugar Lane, take an optional detour straight ahead to explore the other – larger – half of the cemetery (which has a couple of striking towers in it), otherwise turn right and follow the road as it becomes Belle Vue Road and eventually ends at Agbrigg Road. The former Duke of York public house can be seen on the corner and is the sort of building that was blatantly built as a pub, but is now apartments. Finally, turn right and follow Agbrigg road back to the railway station.
From Sandal & Agbrigg we now continue down the line to our next stop, a former pit village that for a time gained a somewhat unenviable reputation as a semi-derelict ghost town…