Ladies Spring Wood

What does this walk have to offer?

• Woodland
• A good work out 
• Scenic
• Very few joggers/cyclist 

Where?

Ladies Spring Wood is located in Totley, Abbeydale Road South next to Beauchief Golf Club. 

Abbeydale Road S, 

S17 3LA

Parking

Using the postcode above should bring you to the parking area for this walk. However, I have to admit the parking for this walk is terrible. The only area we could find was on the path next to the bus stop where others were also parking. This would be okay, however it is on a main road, and getting off would also mean reversing onto it. Parking really puts us off coming back here. There is a bus stop on the same road as the parking which has a few routes that go to it including numbers 97 & 98 which go straight from Hillsborough interchange and all the way through town covering a lot of Sheffield. Although there are lots of buses that stop here and more information can be found at the travel South Yorkshire website. 

(Screenshot of Google Street View)

After parking you cross the road and walk up the side road adjacent to it. There is a route to your right with some building work being done. Avoid this and carry on further up, on your left should be a small entrance with a sign saying "Ladies Spring Wood", this is the entrance. Go through here and soon you have the option to walk up some very steep steps to your right or drop down a bit. We decided the steps option as there is a railway track near the bottom bit, although I do think it is fenced off or a least a good bush in the way. The steps are VERY steep and long (a great work out!) but there is a bench at the top for a rest. We went during Autumn, so there was lots of orange leaves around which made it very scenic but the steps a little bit slippy so be careful. 

It's a straight walk across the top of this, although there is some more paths that lead further up/away but did look like they were heading onto farmland so we avoided those routes. The further you go the further down you go, but there are a few nice spots for some photos. The ground can be quite slopey, so in wet weather it may be difficult to keep your footing without the right walking gear or at least proper walking boots or shoes. 

Once you're back on ground level you go under a tree tunnel, where the path is covered by arched trees which is very pretty! On the other side of this badly fenced path is the golf course, so if your dog, like Watson, has to meet every person he comes across I'd suggest leading it here as the golfers were not too impressed with his efforts to join in!

After this bit you come to a road so best to keep them on/put them on the lead. This is, we admit, where we got lost and weren't really sure where to go next. We did follow the road down and it did seem like the "round walk" route continued but seemed to be going between houses/cottages. There are maps along the way but they are quite sun damaged and difficult to read. The road lead back to the main road as well, so we went back on ourselves and took the route we came. We do plan to go back and check other routes but in the mean time if you do this walk, please let us know if you found other routes!

There are no immediate dog friendly cafes/pubs or restaurants within walking distence. The Beacheif Pub is further down the road, and although not dog friendly they will allow them in the beer garden so this will be nice in the summer months to cool down after the walk. They serve food outside. Hopefully we will be visiting for a drink in the coming months as the weather gets warmer and will add to this review accordingly.