Dinmal one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

I really enjoyed this country walk which offers an excellent and interesting Slow Way. No cattle seen, no stiles as I recall, but some paths can be muddy.

I left Maltby in weather swapping between heavy mist and light drizzle. There’s a short spell of quiet street pavement walking before the unsigned path starts from the War Memorial site. It’s a narrow but well walked path down hill all very easy to follow as it levels out. Passing under the rail bridge observant travellers may spot that the plot that follows the OS is not quite on the used path so a bit of care is needed as there are multiple paths on the east side. The path soon follows a stream while we pass through pleasant woodland.

Crossing a road we enter Roach Valley which leads to the impressive remains of Roach Abbey. After the monks were evicted by Henry VIII locals removed much of the stone which can no doubt be found in many local buildings. Around 1770 Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was employed by the owner the Earl of Scarbrough to prettify the remains as pleasure gardens for the earl’s guests. It was perhaps Brown’s levelling of the ruins that has today left one of the most complete ground plans of any English Cistercian monastery, laid out as excavated foundations.

The banqueting lodge now the English Heritage pay booth and tea room was built for entertaining the earl’s guests who were staying at his nearby Sandbeck Park estate. Our footpath offers an excellent free view of the site.

The walk continues through more woodland before climbing to follow a good wide headland path with open fields to one side and occasional views across the valley Hooton Dike to the west. The path remains well walked to Laughton en le Morthen. We don’t see much of the village and Google shows that the Hatfield Arms was closed in 2023 so best press on.

The road walking into Dinnington did knock the shine of this otherwise excellent county walk but there was a pavement all the way and no busy roads to cross. The mining memorial is impressive, a reminder that most villages around here expanded with rows of workers houses when the pit arrived. For Dinnington that was 1902 with production ending in 1992, for Maltby the arrival was 1910, but it survived until 2013. We pass along a street of local shops then dive down an alleyway towards a car park. I wonder why, that is until I arrive at the modern bus interchange.

I walked this route from Dinnington. It begins on the pavements of residential streets. The section between Dinnington and Laughton is on a pavement beside a busy lane. From the road junction in Laughton a diverted footpath skirts new housing before following field margins. It is easy to follow and pleasant to walk. Eventually the path enters Kings Wood and descends left (NE) to join a wider bridleway along the valley floor. This has obviously been quite muddy recently, but had dried out by the time I used it. After skirting the English Heritage Roche Abbey estate it joins a track to join a lane. Straight ahead into the wood on an unmade track (still easy to follow). After crossing under the railway the track is surfaced for a while. I followed the route plotted on Slow Ways, branching uphill to the right to reach the War Memorial and then onto estate roads to reach the hub. This is a good countryside walk with mixed scenery.

Easy, interesting and varied route. We added a bit by taking the field path from St John’s to the west of Laughton le Morthen that takes you round to the big church. But you can just walk up the street. We also took the path across the fields when entering Maltby, over to the church. It’s obvious and a pleasant walk. Roche Abbey a little lovely peaceful spot. We went on to Thurcroft and then back to Dinnington to make a good round trip.

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