Thornes Park
Location - Thornes Park, Thornes Road, Wakefield, WF2 8QD
Distance (around) - various options
Terrain - mostly tarmac
Points to note -
Parking is free for all, limited spaces
There are lots of birds, be careful with dogs
Lack of toilets
Information can be found here - https://chatparks.org.uk/topics/the-parks/
Running space in the fields for dogs
Another of our favourite regular haunts is Thornes Park, which can also incorporate Clarence Park and Holmfield Park depending on where you want to walk, it’s the first ‘other world’ place we took Betty when she was allowed to mix with others (outside of Nostell Priory).
The car parking isn’t great, however the spaces right up by the fence are probably best and most spacious, but at times it does seem a free for all. There is the option to sit and wait because the turn around is pretty quick.
Once out of the car there are a coupe of options, although all are rather firm underfoot in terms of it being on tarmac, the first option is to walk on the path with the least incline which is past the water towards the aviary, which houses a wonderful array of birds which you can observe, the water itself also has a wide variety of water birds including swans, Canadian and grey lag geese, mallards and even at one point a mandarin duck and a kingfisher! Unfortunately Betty has developed a taste for bird droppings so we have to make a quick walk past this section of the water so she doesn’t have a help yourself buffet. There are plenty of benches to take a rest too along this strip. Once you get to the end you will reach the rose garden and glass house which can be nice to have wander and see a variety of different types of rose plants, although this can be a bit bumpy and unstable for the scooter with the uneven flags. If you then return on the path you have come and back past the cars there is a large field where lots of dogs have a run and people play ball. Betty remains on the lead and is prone to barking incessantly at other dogs so we often keep walking, allowing her to sniff as we go, which she seems to prefer. Once past the car park take the slope upwards, where you will walk to Clarence Park, another large playing field, skate park and children’s play area will greet you, there is car parking in this area too, but this is in the grounds of the sports centre so we don’t take this option. The incline of this slope can be pretty steep so care needs to be taken, although the scooter doesn’t have a problem. You can go around the playing field towards the right, another area for dogs to run should you let them off lead. As you walk along this path you will see the miniature railway on the left, this is seasonal so would be best to check if it’s open if you want a proper look. The path around Clarence Park is generally flat, and again tarmac. You then follow the paths along and down the other side field now going down the incline you may have just come up, going towards Holmfield Park, again the tarmac surface remains making it sturdy underfoot, on this route there is an old amphitheatre which is interesting to see. There are a few other things to observe as you go along including a disused drinking fountain, bandstand, rhubarb statue and the Holmfield Arms (which has its own review here). Finally you will come back along past the bowling green, Stork Lodge and tennis courts before reaching the carpark. At Stork Lodge you can borrow clubs for the crazy golf and tennis rackets for the hard surface tennis courts. There is a little cafe just by the entrance gates to Thornes Park, but it isn’t always open so you would need to check before committing, they do allow dogs outside and spoiled Betty with some delightful sausage on one of our visits. The ice cream van however is a regular and he is often always there!
Thornes Park and Clarence Park can be visited individually, however it is more difficult to do this with Holmfield Park as it is more incorporated into the fields. We either visit Thornes Park by itself or we visit it as a whole, and it is around 1.6 miles with varying inclines, but the terrain remains quite constant - when we visit as a whole we often stop off at Holmfield Arms for food, this is dog friendly in the bar area and easily accessible via scooter, with an radar key accessible toilet.
Tip - a good place to visit even in the colder and wetter months as the ground is pretty solid.
