Walks you can reach from Shireoaks by train

Flat urban canal towpaths and riverside paths along the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal and Five Weirs Walk, past Victoria Quays and the Tinsley locks. An easy waterside start to the trail.

2 highlights: Victoria Quays (A large canal basin in Sheffield constructed 1816-1819 as the terminus of the Sheffield Canal) and the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal (A canal opened in 1819 to link the city with the navigable River Don, famous for featuring in the opening scenes of the film The Full Monty)

Walk details: Penistone Line Trail / Penistone Line Partnership (PDF).

Urban streets, landscaped Victorian cemetery, municipal parkland, narrow wooded valley, open moorland, rugged gritstone edges and a scenic descent into lush valley.

Time: 6h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Recommended: An excellent route; very enjoyable. An off-road and peaceful route using byways, the Chesterfield Canal towpath, farm tracks and with some walking through housed areas on safe pavements at either end. The canal section can get hemmed in by bracken and undergrowth; no serious hills. Follows the Chesterfield Canal towpath; passes Babworth Church, linked to the Pilgrim Fathers, with a display board; few benches in the middle third.

Lunch: The Chequers pub at Ranby is the only refreshment option in the middle third and needs a detour off the towpath; stock up at the start otherwise.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A great mix of nature, old and new industrial architecture. An easy and flat walk almost entirely along the canal towpath. The Sheffield half is a little uneven and can be slightly muddy underfoot; after Rotherham it is well-surfaced as part of the cycle route. Off-road for almost the whole way with no steps. Lined with interesting industrial archaeology and some street art at the Sheffield end. Suitable for dogs, buggies and cyclists. The Sheffield canal basin (off the published route) has the famous straddle warehouse plus shops, cafes and toilets.

Warnings: Sections of the towpath have been subject to temporary closures with diversions; check before relying on a continuous route.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Some beautiful scenery along the way; excellent views over the fields near Chapeltown. A pleasant, quiet route that does a good job joining up green spaces (parks, woodland, cemetery and fields) with only a few roads between, through varied Sheffield suburbs. It has steep sections, many steps and muddy field paths and with uneven steps in Hartley Brook Dyke. Joins up green spaces including Burngreave Cemetery and woodland; good public transport links at both ends so you can start at either. Shops at Ecclesfield in the final stretch. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: Shops and a chip shop with outside seating along the main road at Ecclesfield.

Warnings: Steep sections, steep and uneven steps (notably in Hartley Brook Dyke), and muddy field paths; some road crossings without lights (Herries Road, the A6135) need care; kissing gates and narrow barriers throughout.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

An otherwise glorious walk. A glorious Peak-to-city route: a steep climb out of Hathersage onto open moorland with criss-crossing, sometimes unclear tracks (map and GPS essential), passing between Iron Age forts, then a contrasting descent through green fields and woods down the Limb Valley and along the Sheaf Valley into Sheffield. Steps, stiles and gates; broken road and dirt and very stony ground; can be boggy and very windy on the tops. Crosses Burbage Moor between the Iron Age forts of Carl Wark and Higger Tor; follows the Sheaf Walk (signed to Granville Square) into the city. Hathersage church has the grave of Little John. No refreshments until Millhouses Park; a Tesco and Sainsbury's with cafes lie near the route. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: No refreshments until Millhouses Park (a summer kiosk), then a Tesco and Sainsbury's with cafes near the route.

Warnings: The moorland tracks above Hathersage criss-cross and can be hard to find in poor visibility, requiring map and compass; the tops can be very windy and boggy. A new development blocks a short section of the Sheaf path (divert ~100m along the main road); avoid a closed footbridge on Broadfield Road. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A walk in three parts, urban, countryside and urban, with plenty of hills and a mix of pavement and well-defined but at times very muddy field paths, pleasant woodland (Nor Wood / Moss Valley) and pasture. Stiles, steps and steady climbs. No services half way, so make use of those at the urban edges. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: A couple of pubs and a supermarket near the water tower beyond half-way.

Warnings: One challenging crossing of the A6102 dual carriageway, with no pelican crossing but a surfaced central refuge near a roundabout; patience is needed. Stiles, steps and potential livestock including horses and cattle. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

An excellent route; There are always good views, changing with the seasons. Highly recommended; This is a route to be enjoyed! An easy, flat, direct route running virtually all along the Chesterfield Canal towpath, part of the well-signed Cuckoo Way. The towpath is mostly a bonded or stone surface, with some muddy stretches where the right-of-way path runs north of the canal and plus passages through landscaped former-colliery land and community woodland. A few steps at Turnerwood. Follows the Cuckoo Way along the Chesterfield Canal, with many locks and canal information boards. Turnerwood is a Conservation Area. Served by four stations along the way for bailing out, and passes Kiveton Community Woodland.

Lunch: Pubs and cafes along or just off the route at Kiveton Park station and Shireoaks, plus a shop at the Shireoaks road crossing.

Warnings: Parts of the path on the north side of the canal can be muddy after wet weather. A few steps at Turnerwood spoil the otherwise easy going.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The Foss Dyke section is excellent. A largely flat, very accessible route following the Foss Dyke canal on firm tarmac or gravel paths for most of the way and with a short grassy section near the Pyewipe Inn. The final couple of miles leave the canal to follow a decent but noisy pavement alongside the busy A57. Follows the Foss Dyke; Lincoln Cathedral is visible from a long way off.

Lunch: Excellent chippy on the approach to Saxilby station; cafe by the A57 junction.

Warnings: The A57 crossing on the alternative direct line has no central refuge; this route uses a safer signposted cycle crossing with a central refuge but no lights. The A57 pavement is noisy and narrow in places.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A straightforward route through lovely Lincolnshire countryside and villages, following the Spires and Steeples Trail almost all the way. It is mostly tarmacked cycleway or track, with some field footpaths, quiet road walking and one early set of steps. Sections can be very muddy or flooded after heavy rain. Follows the waymarked Spires and Steeples Trail almost the whole way (signage through villages can be confusing or missing). Starts on the flat, tarmacked Water Rail Way to Washingborough. Branston has a useful Co-op and a main bus route.

Warnings: The level crossing between Branston and Potterhanworth marked on the GPX is no longer usable and is blocked off; use the road nearby to cross under the tracks instead. Sections between Washingborough and Branston can flood badly after heavy rain, sometimes requiring a sizeable diversion. An early footbridge with steps. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A mix of public footpath, country lanes and some pavement alongside busier roads through Lincolnshire farmland. Some footpaths are not well trodden and cross ploughed fields and but the route is generally well signposted.

Lunch: Numerous refreshment options in Nettleham.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

An excellent route. A fairly direct, mostly off-road route on good traffic-free tracks, old railway path and field/parkland through the Welbeck Estate, with some pasture (potential cattle) and 3 stiles and 4 short flights of steps near Worksop. Some pavement walking from the stations at either end. Passes through the Welbeck Estate and Creswell Crags; the path runs over a tunnel created by the 5th Duke of Portland; a loop into Creswell village offers shops, buses and trains halfway. Extensive woodland.

1 lunch spot: Creswell Crags Visitor Centre cafe

Warnings: Steps at the crossing of the A57, which has no assistance for walkers; two further road crossings need care; pasture fields on the fringe of parkland mean potential cattle.

Walk details: Slow Ways.