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Walk Summary:  Moderate 6.5 mile circular walk from Lower Denby along Kirklees way, then through Deffer Wood  taking in Gunthwaite Hall tithe barn.
Start : Dunkirk Inn pub at Lower Denby
Locality: Denby Dale
Area: East
Start OS Grid reference: SE2380007990
Start What3words : notch.wedge.carriage
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance miles: 6.5
Ascent meters: 278
Estimated Walk Time  hours: 3.7
Pub & Locality: Dunkirk Inn at Lower Denby
Parking: Car park at pub
Public Transport: From Holmfirth, bus 90 to Barnsley stops near Dunkirk Inn at Miller Hill wiht 7 min walk to pub.  Journey time about 30 minutes. Check bus times.
Walk Description: From the Dunkirk Inn car park in Lower Denby, walk southwards along Lower Denby Lane, and 100m after passing the junction with Denby Lane,  fork left along a track leading to the Barnsley Boundary Walk. Here turn left and walk soutwards towards Gunthwaite Hall (1). 200m before the Hall, join the road to the farm,  passing the magnificent medieval Gunthwaite Barn (2).  On reaching Coach Gate Lane where teh road bears left, take the track south west, still following the Barnsley Boundary Walk. On reaching the cross roads at Broad Oak Lane along side Gunthwaite dam, go straight across down New Lane.  Take the next left fork to Mill Farm, still following the Barnsley Boundary Walk.  Cross the Gunthwaite Bridge and follow the track eastwards across the fields to Gadding Moor Road. Here, turn left and follow the road north east to Pashley Green Farm entrance. Turn left and walk north west pass the farm buildings, along a track to Heald Head road. Rejoin the Barnsley Boundary Way, cross over Rons Cliff Dike and follow the track to Coach Gate Lane. Turn right here past Daking Brook Farm, then take the first track on the left after the farm. Walk northwards along this track over the fields past Spring House Farm and into Deffer Wood, walking northwards towards Deffer Hill. On reaching Bagden Lane, exit the wood, turn left  then first right before Trister Hill along a track northwards towards Wheatley Hill Farm.  Turn left before The Lodge and walk westwards along a track past the remains of Hay Royds Colliery (3)  to join the Dearne Way at the Lodge at the edge of Bagden Hall Farm. Turn left and walk southwest along the Dearne Way across Bagden Park on Clough House Lane passing Dobroyds Hill down to Exley Gate and Dry Hill.  Continmue on down Dry Hill Lane and back to the Dunkirk Inn in Lower Denby.
Other comments and Points of Interest:  (1) Gunthwaite Hall  –  the ancestral seat of the Bosville family, who first became connected to Gunthwaite in 1359. While the original medieval manor house was demolished in the 19th century, the Bosvilles remained influential local landowners for centuries, with descendants later becoming the Macdonalds of the Isles.  
(2) Gunthwaite Barn – this Grade I listed barn is considered one of the finest timber-framed structures in England. Built around 1550 by Godfrey Bosville, this massive 11-bay barn is approximately 163 feet long. It is famous for its cruck-frame construction, featuring 24 massive wooden pillars and held together entirely by wooden pegs rather than iron nails. It is still an active working barn used for agricultural storage.
(3) Hay Royds Colliery  was a family-owned drift mine, known for its innovation and for selling its coal to Drax power station. It was historically significant as the last remaining independent coal mine in West Yorkshire before its closure in 2012

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