South Elmsall is a small town much like South Kirkby and like its neighbour it was in existence at the time of the Domesday Book. Like so many of the area’s settlements, it was a small rural settlement until the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent arrival of the coal mining industry, the eventual loss of which left it in a familiar state of post-industrial decline. To a large extent however, it has since bounced back, with new estates on its fringe reflecting its status as a commuter town, and modern industry in a recent development on the edge of the town bringing new jobs.
South Elmsall station opened in 1866 on the Wakefield Line, but unlike Moorthorpe station it has lost its original station buildings, leaving it as yet another two platform affair with basic waiting shelters. Leave the station via the steps on High Street, then turn right and follow this uphill, looking left at the junction with Ash Grove on the left to see Trinity Methodist Church. Continue along High Street until it passes the last houses and becomes Field Lane, running through an area of fields that are gradually being turned into an industrial estate. The pavement turns into a tree-lined path running next to the road, before ending opposite South Elmsall Quarry, a small Site of Special Scientific Interest on the right. The SSSI designation was awarded because the small former quarry boasts a visible section of an unusually complete patch of coral reef.
South Elmsall Quarry
Just past the quarry, turn right and follow a new footpath next to a huge distribution warehouse to reach Hacking Lane. So new is this distribution warehouse, that at the time of writing the Ordnance Survey map for the area has yet to catch up, but the public footpath it has been built over has been realigned to run alongside it. Turn right again and follow the lane past fields on the left, continuing along the road as it bends right and then left through a housing estate. At a crossroads, continue straight ahead along Heming’s Way, and when this bends right continue straight ahead along a signed public footpath. Just after this turns left, turn right and then cross a footbridge over the railway track to reach Station Road. Shortly after passing a second footbridge over the railway on the left, turn right and follow a footpath along a field edge to Frickley Beck.
Follow the ill-defined and often muddy path path as it turns left and follows the beck, eventually reaching a footbridge over it. Cross the bridge, then turn right and walk diagonally across a field to another footbridge (again over Frickley Beck), then continue straight ahead to the edge of a second field. Here, turn left and follow the field edge to Doncaster Road and cross directly over to follow a footpath into Frickley Country Park. This is the landscaped site of Frickley and South Elmsall Colliery, which boasts woods and wetland areas. The colliery opened in 1903 and was one of the largest deep coal mines in the country. Despite being located in South Elmsall, it gained the Frickley name as part of it was sunk within the land of Frickley Hall. The colliery closed in 1993, with the site landscaped from 2005. The country park opened in 2009 and has been managed by the Land Trust since 2012. Stay on the path, ignoring the first turn off to the right, and then take the next left turn. At a large boulder, turn right and follow a zig-zag path uphill, turning right at the top to follow a path that loops around the summit. Continue straight ahead downhill towards a pond, and then turn right to follow a path next to it. At a fork, bear right, then at a crossroads of paths turn left and walk straight ahead to a sculpture commemorating the various coal seams in the area.
Frickley Country Park
Turn right and walk towards a housing estate, turning right again just before the exit from the country park. Take the next left turn and follow a path along the edge of the country park with houses on the left, eventually reaching Frickley Athletic Football Club on the left. Turn left just past this and walk to a car park, where a pit wheel memorial welcoming people to the country park can be seen. Turn right and then left along Colliers Way to reach Westfield Lane. Turn right and follow this until the Pretoria Sports & Social Club appears on the right, opposite which the Westfield Centre can be seen. Turn left just in front of the latter, then left again and right along Carlton Road, almost immediately turning left along Queen Street to reach Valley Street.
Turn right and follow Valley Street until it ends at a path. Follow this to end of Dearne Street, passing Barnsley Road Methodist Church (St. Luke’s) on the left. Turn right along Barnsley Road, passing the South Elmsall and Moorthorpe War Memorial on the corner (Grade II-listed and dating from 1923), shortly followed by the Frickley South Colliery Memorial (another pit wheel memorial) at the junction with Carlton Road. Continue along Barnsley Road, following it through the town centre, passing several shops and the town’s large, traditional open-air market (take a detour down Exchange Street to see a former Billiard Hall turned Christian Centre, one of the small town centre’s most handsome buildings). At the junction with High Street on the left, where Barnsley Road becomes Doncaster Road, continue ahead a short distance to visit the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, then backtrack and turn left along Station Road to return to the station.
With the walk complete, we have reached the edge of the City of Wakefield region and skirted close back to South Yorkshire. Thus, we now return back to Wakefield to head out on the next leg of our tour. We now once again head out another line, this time the Pontefract Line, which is a branching route with a complex history, which we shall tackle in two stages. Despite its name, the Pontefract Line runs east from Wakefield and Leeds to Knottingley via the town it is named after, with very infrequent services continuing on to Goole, more on which later. Our first journey takes in four stops, including both Pontefract and Knottingley, and beginning with the small former mining village of Streethouse...