11.2 Km (6.9 miles) - 2hrs 33 min
The beauty of where we live is that the outskirts of Leeds provide us with some wonderful winter routes that are not too far from home, are not to remote but, nevertheless, provide us with the opportunity to get away from it all. This walk provided that with a welcome escape from home, only about 10 miles travel, yet a delightful 7 miles, although it was muddy in places.
The walk was take from Paul Hannon's "Harrogate and the Wharfe Valley" and started in East Keswick, a sleepy dormitory town between Leeds and Wetherby.
The route quickly escaped East Keswick and, in no time at all we were on top of Rigton Moor. The day had started with heavy rain but thankfully this cleared and we had a very bright day with hardly a cloud in the sky. The wind, which was also quite breezy when we started also dropped and, within a half-hour we felt over-dressed.
The route drops from Rigton Moor through Scarcroft before a delightful stretch through Hetchell Woods and into Bardsey (another of those dormitory villages). The final climb took us back over the ridge and into East Keswick, the car and a short journey for dinner with John and Marilyn - well received after the walk.
The next month is going to see me travel further afield and, hopefully, share some walks in and around the cities that will host the Rugby Six Nations Tournament. It all starts in a fortnight in Edinburgh !
As usual I tried to get some photos of the walk. The bright sunshine with the sun low in the sky made this difficult and I only managed a few - available from this link.
