TV expert reveals five of the best walks in Doncaster to help you through lockdown and exercising locally

Lockdown may mean you can’t travel far for exercise – but that will never leave you short of options in Doncaster, according to expert Andrew White.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The 46-year-old dad from Cantley has made knowing the best places to get out for a walk his business, and has become a television expert, with a series already under his belt.

And now he has even been recruited by regional tourism bosses to sell the attractions of Yorkshire as a place to go out walking.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At present, Andrew is part of a team of three who are putting together a walk a day over a 12 month period under a regional campaign called Walkshire. In all he will be logging 120 of them over the next year.#

Andrew White, pictured with Mocha, is putting together some walks as part of the Walkshire Project. Picture: NDFP-12-01-21-Walkshire 2-NMSYAndrew White, pictured with Mocha, is putting together some walks as part of the Walkshire Project. Picture: NDFP-12-01-21-Walkshire 2-NMSY
Andrew White, pictured with Mocha, is putting together some walks as part of the Walkshire Project. Picture: NDFP-12-01-21-Walkshire 2-NMSY
Read More
Here are 10 of the best walking routes around Doncaster

They won’t all be from Doncaster – but he believes the borough is one of the best places you can go to take in the great outdoors.

He said: “The idea is to do something that is a campaign that Welcome to Yorkshire can sensibly use through the year,” he said. “When you think about things they’ve done in the past, like the Tour de Yorkshire, with its crowds of people, it’s not something that can be done at the moment.

"Even during lockdown, you can go out and exercise, and Yorkshire is a great place to go walking, and you don’t need specialist equipment. And there are different places you can go depending on how mobile you are.

Date: 3rd December 2020.
Picture James Hardisty.
Andrew White, presenter of Walks around Britain, as he and his new dog Magic set's off on one of his favourite walks over and around Conisbrough viaduct, Doncaster.Date: 3rd December 2020.
Picture James Hardisty.
Andrew White, presenter of Walks around Britain, as he and his new dog Magic set's off on one of his favourite walks over and around Conisbrough viaduct, Doncaster.
Date: 3rd December 2020. Picture James Hardisty. Andrew White, presenter of Walks around Britain, as he and his new dog Magic set's off on one of his favourite walks over and around Conisbrough viaduct, Doncaster.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I think in the past, there has been a feeling locally that Welcome to Yorkshire has tended to promote West and North Yorkshire, and South and East Yorkshire has been a bit forgotten. But I think the current boss, James Mason, has come in and wanted to push the whole county, and he’s been really proactive on that.

"We have so many fantastic things in South Yorkshire.”

Some of the walks Andrew has posted are in places like Beverley – and he says people in Doncaster are clearly not going to be going there during the current lockdown. But many of them are going to be in Doncaster.

Andrew always enjoyed getting out and about around Doncaster as a youngster. But he fell in love with walking as a student at the University of Wolverhampton in the 1990s. He and his friends used to trek along the canals of the West Midlands, not lease because they found there good pubs along the route.

He was a video production student, and discovered many routes along the banks of the waterways, which linked up many of the towns in that part of the world.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After graduating, he lived in Rome for a while, travelling all over Italy to walk, before returning to the UK.

Around the time his first daughter was born in 2009, he decided he wanted to promote walking.

He developed a Walks Around Britain project, with routes between two and eight miles. Initially, it was just on a website, before moving onto the television, where he has had his programme shown on Freeview channels and Amazon Prime. He’s now working on Walks Around Yorkshire, due to be shown on Together TV on Freeview, and Amazon.

He said: ``If they’re defining local during lockdown as in a town, there are loads of places to go in Doncaster, some that people may never have thought of.”

Here are some of Andrew’s favourite walks around Doncaster.

Town centre

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Andrew believes there are lots of good town centre walks, based around the historic buildings.

"There are great things to see if you’re looking at history,” he said. “You can see the way the town’s progressed and changed, with buildings like the Minster and the Manson House.

"I call them look-up walks. There are beautiful buildings like the HSBC and on the corner of High Street, and the Nat West opposite the Mansion House. If you look up you can often see the dates on the buildings.”

He says Town Moor and Sandall Beat are both accessible from the town centre.

North Doncaster

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Fishlake and Sykehouse are beautiful places for a walk, believes Andrew.

He said: “The ground is just so flat, you can feel close to nature in an amazing way. With a bit of frost and a clear sky, it just feels like the sky goes on for miles around there – there’s such a massive vista.”

East Doncaster

One of Andrew’s favourite walks involves his home village of Cantley, where he loves to take his pet dogs.

He said: “My favourite in Doncaster is probably going up through Cantley Park, and through the woods to Markham Main pit top, and down Jenni's Hill. From the top you get fantastic views – you can see every landmark in Doncaster. You can even see the Peak District on a clear day.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He also believes the woods around Cantley are a great walk, along with the race course. “People tend to forget you can walk there, on Doncaster Common.” he said.

South Doncaster

A walk from Wadworth to Edlington Woods via the motorway junction is one Andrew enjoys.

He said: “You can walk underneath the interchange where the M18 joins the A1(M). We’ve all driven over it, but you can walk under it, and you see there are fewer cars. Then you can go from there all the way to Edlington Woods.”

West Doncaster

Andrew believes the walk from Sprotbrough to Conisbrough is a classic with amazing views.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: “You head from TransPennine trail and over the viaduct, and you get a beautiful view of the River Don from up there, and Conisbrough Castle too. You can do a circular walk. It’s beautiful in the morning because of the way the sun hits it. People talk about the famous Ribble Head viaduct, but the one near Conisbrough is taller and longer.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.

Related topics: