Hoffmann Kiln and Stainforth

Visited July 2024

We had two visits in one, as they are literally a 5 minutes drive from each other.

Craven Limeworks and Hoffmann Kiln was great place to explore that we hadn’t been to before. Bring your torches, as you can go inside the “tunnels” as we called them and have a good look around. Inside you can see what used to be the firing chambers and there’s lots of information about the history as you go through. At the far corner there is an outdoor trail which was nice. It takes you to the Spencer Kiln and inclined plane, as well as the “caves” which we went in. The boys were fossil hunting and even found some! We spent ages in the caves looking at the rocks and shining their little torches on the hunt for diamonds! We spent around 2 hours here and then retreated back to the car for lunch.

5 minutes drive down the road, we went to Stainforth which was briliant and dog friendly. There is a car park 10 minutes walk (with children walking), which was only £3.50 for 2 hours. We would get 4 hours next time if we were fully equip with everything for the day. Stainforth is great. It has waterfalls, lots of different area’s to get in the stream and have fun. Under the bridge seemed better for younger children, as when you get towards the waterfall it’s very deep and a strong current. There were people jumping off the swing ropes and diving in further down, people having bbq’s, lots of dogs. People had their life jackets on and paddle boats, which is def what we will do next time. No toilets or food vans, so you will need to bring a packed lunch and drinks.