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Trans Pennine Trail (E8)

Recreational Route: Northwest England/East Midlands/Yorkshire

Trans Pennine Trail E8 path

Southport to Chesterfield, Leeds, York or Hornsea
560km/350 miles (including spurs) EASY

A coast-to-coast route from Merseyside to Humberside via Stockport (Manchester) and Doncaster along disused railway lines, canal towpaths and other paths. Connecting spurs to Chesterfield via Sheffield, Leeds via Wakefield, and to York allow the Trail to provide off-road links between many of the major cities of northern England, interestingly mixing rural and urban walking. A shared use route also open to cyclists and sometimes to horseriders, developed by a partnership of 26 local authorities. Much of the route is wheelchair- and pushchair-accessible, and the central section forms part of European Path E8 (see below).

The Royston and Carlton Boundary Walk is a 16km/10-mile circular walk from the Griffiths Bridge, Royston, using part of the Trans Pennine Trail along the disused Barnsley Canal and paths via Notton Wood and Athersley North.

Connects with

  • Barnsley Boundary Walk
  • Bollin Valley Way
  • Centenary Way (North Yorkshire)
  • Cheshire Ring Canal Walk
  • Cown Edge Way
  • Cuckoo Way
  • Danum Trail
  • Doncastrian Way
  • East Riding Heritage Way
  • Ebor Way
  • Foss Walk
  • High Hunsley Circuit
  • Howden 20
  • Howdenshire Way
  • Jorvic Way
  • Leeds Country Way
  • Midshires Way (Etherow-Goyt Valley Way, E2 Dover route)
  • Minster Way
  • Nev Cole Way (via Humber Bridge)
  • Oeverloperpad LAW6-1 (E8, via ferry Hull-Rotterdam)
  • Pennine Way
  • Rotherham Round Walk
  • Sefton Coastal Footpath
  • Sheffield Country Walk
  • Tameside Trail (E2 Dover route)
  • Viking Way (E2 Harwich route, via Humber Bridge)
  • Wicklow Way (E8, via ferry Liverpool to Dublin and link path)
  • Yorkshire Wolds Way (E2 Harwich route)

Parks and countryside

Highway Authorities

Accommodation

Click to begin your search Click here to find bed & breakfast accommodation on this path

Maps

The route is shown on recent editions of these maps.
Route maps see below

Publications

  • Trans Pennine Trail Map 1 West: Irish Sea - Yorkshire, ISBN 0 9532277 4 X (Southport to Broomhill, Barnsley)
  • Trans Pennine Trail Map 2 Central: Derbyshire and Yorkshire, ISBN 0 9532277 5 8 (Leeds to Chesterfield and Penistone to Sprotbrough)
  • Trans Pennine Trail Map 3 East: Yorkshire - North Sea, ISBN 0 9532277 6 6Broomhill, Barnsely to Hornsea and Selby to York)
    £4.95 + p&p each. Order here!
    Fully revised new editions of the official route maps at 1:50 000 scale for all three user groups. People following the linear coast to coast route from Southport to Hornsea now only need maps 1 and 3, while map 2 covers the north-south spurs in the central section.
  • Trans Pennine Trail Official Accommodation & Visitor Guide, ISBN 978-1-901464-18-4. Excellent Books, £6.95. Order here!
    Detailed guide to where to stay, where to eat and what to see along the Trail.
  • Trans Pennine Trail Leeds, free booklet from Leeds Council.
  • Royston and Carlton Boundary Walk, free leaflet from Royston and Carlton Community Partnership (see below).

Contacts

  • Trans Pennine Trail Office c/o Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Planning and Transportation, PO Box 604, Barnsley, S70 9FE, tel 01226 772574
    www.transpenninetrail.org.uk
  • Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail 164 High Street, Hook, Goole DN14 5PL
    See also Get involved on website above.
  • Royston and Carlton Community Partnership The Grove, Station Road, Royston, Barnsley S71 4EP, tel 01226 700070
    www.roystonandcarltonpartnership.co.uk

E8 Atlantic - Istanbul

E8 path

Total planned length: Dursey Head, Cork - Istanbul 4390km/2750 miles
British section: Liverpool - Hull (Trans Pennine Trail) 300km/188 miles

From the Atlantic coast in the southwest of Ireland, this European Long Distance Path follows a variety of Waymarked Ways including the Kerry Way and Wicklow Way to Dublin Ferryport, where it links via ferry to Liverpool. It then uses the main route of the Trans Pennine Trail (see above) to Hull, for a second ferry link to Rotterdam Europoort where it connects with the Oeverloperpad LAW6-1 towards Leerdam.

The route continues across the German border east of Nijmegen, and uses a variety of paths through Aachen, the Rhine Valley, the Romantische Straße, northern Austria, Wien, Bratislava and the Northern Carpathians to the Beskid pass on the Ukraine border. Eastwards from here, large sections still remain to be opened, although a route through Romania is under development and 400km of paths through the Rodopi mountains in Bulgaria are already open. Eventually it is hoped to continue the route into Turkey, terminating at Istanbul.

Contacts