Five Pits Trail The Five Pits Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It consists of a network of surfaced walkways for recreational use. The approximately trail links

Grassmoor Grassmoor is a village in Derbyshire, England, approximately three miles to the south of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield. Its original name, according to 16th-century parish records, was ''Gresmore''. The appropriate civil parish is called ...

Tibshelf Tibshelf is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover District in Derbyshire, England. Located between the towns of Clay Cross, Shirebrook, Mansfield and Chesterfield. It had a population at the 2001 UK census of 3,548, increasing to 3,787 at th ...

. The Trail can be extended to by continuing along the route to Williamthorpe Ponds and Holmewood. Derbyshire County Council created the Five Pits Trail in 1989, following the route of the former

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

which served the five main coal mines of

, Williamthorpe,

Holmewood Holmewood is a village in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. Historically a coal mining village, it has close links to the villages of Heath, North Wingfield and Temple Normanton. It is in the civil parish of Heath and ...

, Pilsley and

. Part of the trail (between Station Road, Pilsley, and Tibshelf) has been identified as the "Tom Hulatt Mile" and is marked at the side of the trail. This mile commemorates local runner

Tom Hulatt William Thomas Hulatt (7 September 1930 – 21 May 1990) was an English athlete notable for finishing third behind Sir Christopher Chataway in the historic race in which Sir Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile on 6 May 1954. He was ...

who took place in the race that created the first

four-minute mile A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609 m) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is n ...

.Tom Hulatt
Derbyshire Heritage, retrieved 1 May 2014 The Tibshelf end of the trail runs past Newton Ponds and joins the

Silverhill Trail Silver Hill or Silverhill could refer to: Canada * Silver Hill, Ontario, a hamlet in Norfolk County * Silverhill, British Columbia, Canada, a neighbourhood in the District of Mission Guyana * Silver Hill, Guyana Republic of Ireland * Silver Hi ...

, which connects to the

Brierley Forest Link Trail Brierley () is a village and former civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The civil parish was abolished in 2016. The settlement is tightly clustered and green buffered on a modest escarpment close ...

, and to

Teversal Trail Teversal is a small village in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, west of Mansfield, close to Sutton-in-Ashfield and the boundary with Derbyshire. Former names include ''Tevershalt'', ''Teversholt'', ''Tyversholtee'', ''Tever ...

Teversal Teversal is a small village in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, west of Mansfield, close to Sutton-in-Ashfield and the boundary with Derbyshire. Former names include ''Tevershalt'', ''Teversholt'', ''Tyversholtee'', ''Tever ...

. Access to the Five Pits Trail is possible via numerous footpaths which cross it and by a number of roads which cross it. There are car parks provided at several locations: Church Lane in

, Station Road in Pilsley, Timber Lane near

Astwith Astwith is a village in Derbyshire, England. Astwith is in the parish of Ault Hucknall. For many decades it was a part of the manor of Stainsby, which was known as Steinesbei in the Domesday survey (1087). Apparently there is no mention of Ast ...

, and at both the Birkin Lane and the Mansfield Road entrances to

Country Park.

References

Rail trails in England Footpaths in Derbyshire {{UK-trail-stub