The Permian Way is a new long distance path from Nottingham to Ripon following the Magnesian Limestone ridge. It runs for about 100 miles as the car drives and takes in castles, abbeys and ancient halls. We will come across large country houses, parks, canals and nature reserves and some other places of interest close to our route will also get a mention.

It goes through countryside that may not have the striking scenery of the Pennines, The Dales or the North York Moors but has its own subtle charm. What’s more, most of it is a gentle stroll with very few steep slopes to bother you.

I’ve used existing footpaths and bridleways and linked up with other named paths to give you a continuous route through some pleasant countryside taking in lots of places of interest. It is not too challenging as there are very few steep slopes. Although it doesn’t reach 200 metres in height anywhere, it is high enough in places to give some excellent views. It is accessible from many towns in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and is close to sections of the A1 and the M1. It has been very refreshing that almost all of the paths described have been well-walked and signposted so it is difficult to get lost.

There are a multitude of paths, tracks and trails in this country, many with famous names like the Pennine Way or the Coast to Coast. There are many walking and rambling groups always looking for somewhere new to go. We have thousands of miles of footpaths, bridleways and byways, many of them conveniently signposted and way-marked. I just hope there is room on the map for another named route.

Somebody once said that the landscape is the surface expression of geology. So, let’s peel back some of that surface. What is underneath makes the hills and valleys and even the plants that grow on it. Most of this walk is on limestone and that has its own particular kind of wildflowers. As so much has been ploughed up, any remaining grassland is very precious, especially so in limestone areas like this.

There are four belts of limestone running from north to south through central and eastern England. In the east and south is the Chalk; from Lincolnshire to the Cotswolds and beyond to the west is the Jurassic Limestone. In the north is the Carboniferous Limestone that used to be known as the Mountain Limestone and forms much of the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales. Then from County Durham to Nottingham is the Permian Magnesian Limestone.

What they all have in common or more importantly what they largely lack, is surface water. The rock is permeable so rain water seeps through and the land soon dries out. This has meant that in ages past they have provided a good route for travellers.

If you look at the geological map of Great Britain you will see a thin blue line that runs from the mouth of the River Tyne in the north, through County Durham, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire for about 150 miles. It is only about 5 miles wide but it represents a rock that stands out in the landscape and gives a distinct scenery that in places is not unlike that of the Cotswolds or the Lincolnshire limestone but on a smaller scale. This is the Magnesian Limestone that was laid down about 250 million years ago in the Permian Period. At that time the Earth was a very different place. What is now Great Britain was part of the supercontinent called Pangea and our country was at a latitude of about 20 degrees north of the equator. An ice age had just ended and on the east side of the country the Zechstein Sea was depositing limestone and minerals like gypsum.

They were laid down on top of the Carboniferous Coal Measures and later tilted to the east so they form a gently dipping escarpment. I’ve kept to within the boundary of these rocks as far as possible but have had to stray off them occasionally where there haven’t been suitable footpaths.

This limestone here provides a characteristic building stone not unlike that of the Jurassic Limestone of Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire. You can see it in stone walls forming field boundaries and in many older houses, cottages and barns as well as cloaking many newer buildings. In some places you can see it in crags, quarries and road cuttings such as on the M18 and A1(M). Apart from some in Poland it is only found in Eastern England.

Limestone is of course a valuable commodity. As well as being used as a building stone it is a raw material in the iron, glass, cement and concrete industries. When burnt to make lime it can be spread on the land to neutralise acid soils and has been used since Romans times in mortar. Oh yes, here is a bit of chemistry as well but I promise, the only bit. It is basically calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), but the Permian limestone has been modified to form dolomite as some of the carbonate atoms have been replaced by magnesium atoms to form CaMg(CO₃)₂ and that’s where the name Magnesian Limestone has come from.

The limestone forms a ridge about 75 metres (200 feet) above sea level with a steeper west facing slope with views across to the Pennines and a gentler slope to the east. In this direction you can see across the Vale of York and the Trent Valley way over to the east, to the Hambleton Hills, the Yorkshire Wolds and the Lincoln ridge. From some places you can see as far as Lincoln Cathedral. (I have tried to spot York Minster but there is always something in the way.) The highest point is about 180m (600ft) near Bolsover. How Hill near Fountains Abbey is almost as high at 175m. Its views may not be a dramatic as some of those in the Cotswolds or the Downs but the subtlety of the contours gives you an opportunity to look closer.

The area it passes through was seriously affected by the exploitation of the coal that lies beneath it. To the west are the Carboniferous Coal Measures where the coal was exposed at the surface and where the coal was mined from the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution and before, but where the coal is hidden below Magnesian Limestone it wasn’t until the 20^th century that deeper, larger mines were sunk to greater depths and intruded more dramatically into the landscape with mountainous spoil heaps. Yet most of the countryside between the pit villages remained unspoilt. Nice places for the people of the mining towns and villages to go for a stroll on a Sunday afternoon to get a bit of fresh air and exercise.

This is a part of the country that has changed beyond recognition in the last 30 years with the demise of the coal industry. Where once there were mines and tips, all is now green.

At the peak of the mining industry there were 85 collieries in Nottinghamshire alone. The mines are now all gone and the pit tips removed or grassed over and the green spaces have all linked up so you can now walk for miles without seeing anything of the old industry.

We will mainly use PRWs (Public Rights of Way) but in some cases permissive paths are a better option.

There has long been a network of public rights of way criss-crossing the fields and woods of the limestone belt like everywhere else. I have worked my way through these to link them up and give you a continuous path from one end to the other taking in many of the villages and points of interest on the way. There are many local recreational paths these days and I have knitted some of these together to build up the longer route. The Permian Way will be a continuous way but can be the link between many of these shorter circular local paths.

I have written this walk to be taken from south to north. This is always the best direction to go as it means that the sun is mostly behind you and the views are better that way.

The Great North Road follows the ridge through the Yorkshire section and this may have been a track-way back in prehistoric times. It would provide a relatively high dry route between possibly boggy or wooded land either side. Our path is never far from the M1 and the A1 and so is reasonably accessible but they are only occasionally intrusive. It starts just west of Nottingham and runs close to the border between Notts and Derbyshire up to the Yorkshire border near Worksop and across South Yorkshire passing Doncaster and along the line of the boundary between West and North Yorkshire, finally reaching the cathedral city of Ripon. Northwards from there much of the limestone is covered by the glacial deposits from the Ice Age, so the ridge is less distinct and it isn’t until reaching the Sunderland area that the limestone becomes more apparent again, ending in dramatic cliffs at Marsden near South Shields. I’ll leave the land north of Ripon for another hand.

This is not going to be a field by field and stile by stile account (well, some of it is) but a picture of what you can see and the points of interest en route. It could easily become a long distance pub crawl, a café caper or tea room traipse.

I’ve noted some details of the many churches on the way. These are some of the best links to our historical past and it is very sad that most of them are now locked up - an unfortunate sign of our times. There are usually details available of whom to contact if you wanted to look inside. Some of the books I refer to at the end can give a lot more information.

I’ve included references to places to eat and drink and I’ve tried to find somewhere to sleep but of course things change quickly and can easily become out of date.

There are many bus routes crossing the path and these could take you “off piste” to overnight accommodation in a nearby town.

The internet is a wonderful source of information about all those things and further details of the towns, villages, castles and parks on the way. There are “Apps” for your phones for you to get help with identifying almost anything.

I have tried to confine the route to within the limestone belt but there have been a few instances where there hasn’t been a useful or safe path so I have had to go “off piste” and descend to the adjoining Carboniferous rocks. However, the escarpment is never far away and usually visible.

We begin in D.H. Lawrence country and end where Lewis Carroll may have got some of his ideas for Alice in Wonderland.

This is not aimed at people with specialist knowledge but at those who like to know what makes up the landscape, its places and people and why things are as they are. So there is a bit of geology, history, archaeology, architecture and wildlife, but it’s mainly just about what you can see as you go. And it doesn’t matter where you go, there is always something interesting to see. Hopefully I will be giving you a picture of the landscape but describing a soundscape too.

I took about a year to cover all the ground so what I found was appropriate for the time of year. There are references to the flora and fauna, the trees, wildflowers and birds reflect the season when I was there and there may be others that occur at other times. I can’t guarantee total accuracy with the identification and I’m sure that there will be other things to add. Don’t be put off if you are not familiar with some of the things I’ve written about, because you can always look things up on Google.

You should of course arm yourself with Ordnance Survey Explorer maps to give yourself a more detailed picture of the route and the landscape.

So, if you would like to follow in my footsteps, you will probably find things that were not there when I was. I hope that you enjoy the stroll as much as I did. Good hunting.

Things you might need: Explorer Maps 260, 269, 270, 278, 279, 289, 290 and 299

High vis. jacket for road walking.

Waterproofs - do I need to say

Sun hat ?

Compass - always useful but rarely essential.

Mobile phone.

Water