It was almost exactly a year ago that we first tried this lovely walk from the beautiful Heath common. At 38 weeks pregnant though, we just took this 2.5 mile shorter route. Today, with the lure of a walk so appealing we returned for the four mile option (and there is the possibility of adding a little extra on too).
Facilities: There’s a car park at Heath Common and general parking outside the pub and along the roadside. There’s no facilities on the walk, but The King’s Head is at the start and end. It’s one of my absolute favourites.
Accessibility: Not suitable for prams and buggies. Although no steps and stiles, the terrain is rough and paths are overgrown in places. I was fine with a baby carrier, although a couple of kissing gates were a tight squeeze!
Route: This is another fantastic route provided by Wakefield council. PDF is here. It’s pretty straight forward, and if you’re a regular walker with a good sense of direction, you could probably get away without using an OS map/ GPS on top. There are a couple of tricky bits, outlined below.
Heath Common to Goosehill Circular: Walk description
The walks starts on a narrow tree lined footpath between two properties in the village. If you’re standing facing the King’s Arms, you need to turn right and then take the road that branches to the left. Log barriers line the road either side. There’s a signposted footpath at a gap in a wall (NB this is different to the description on the council route- there is now no stile).
It’s a beautiful beginning, with blossoms overhead. The path leads you over a couple of fields, towards a gap in the hedge and through to the main road. Usually there is a well defined footpath here, but on today’s walk there wasn’t a clear route through the crop, so we decided to follow a more well trodden route around the outside of the field.
Between Wakefield Road and Goosehill it’s a really straightforward path; a well used path along a field and cross the road (Marshall Hill) to pick up the footpath directly opposite.
At Goosehill, the route continues from the road through the entrance to the cattery to cross the railway bridge. Take a sharp left to pick up the path adjacent to the railway.
We took the alternate route (in purple) in search for a picnic spot. Just be careful, there are a number of paths here that aren’t marked on the route description, so it may be helpful to have a map near you to check you’re on the right path. If you don’t have one, perhaps stay walking along the avenue of trees.
After crossing back under the railway, we headed back towards Heath. Up to this point in the walk we only passed a handful of people, but this stretch was a little busier (absolutely fine though).
Once back in Heath it’s an easy walk back to the parking. And given it was almost exactly a year between visits we obviously needed a comparative shot to finish. Heath Common itself is perfect for family picnics and playing games (you will frequently see cars parked up with people enjoying the green space), so you might want to pack up everything you need to make a day of it!
Other walks nearby:
I love this walk for a number of reasons, but largely because you feel a million miles removed from Wakefield, even though it’s so close you can literally see it! It’s such a quiet place and so green! And the fact that you can visit the King’s Arms is an added bonus. Such a shame we couldn’t enter today, but this absolutely did not detract from the enjoyment of the walk itself. It’s a good’un!!
