Shipley Glen, The River Aire and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal

Sunday, 17th June
5.6 Miles (9.1 km) - 1hr 57mins

 Oh dear !!  Another long gap between postings ! Another long gap between walks. I must get back into the habit as the stats for this year aren't looking very good.

Anyway, this was a good walk (although not very long) and, would you believe it from the photograph, only ten minutes drive from out house.
We parked in Salts Mill Car Park (GR : SE142379) and walked past the Mills and crossed the canal into Roberts Park.  Through the park we emerged opposite Salts School and headed for the foot of Shipley Glen Tramway,  This amazing tramway has been transporting each people up the Glen for over a hundred years.  For us it was a walk up the side of the tramway (it was closed anyway !) and eventually we emerged onto the side of the Glen (GR: SE133388 - approximately). Here we encountered open moorland and a surprising number of people walking.

A further couple of kilometres on the path drops down to the head of the Glen (GR SE128400) and crossed Loadpit Beck before following the opposite side of the Glen, through a lovely wooded walk to emerge by the side of the River Aire (GR SE 130384).  The next 1/2 mile or so was up the bank of the river which, surprisingly, takes you to the towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal (GR : SE122382). After crossing  the canal the route then took us across the aquaduct which keeps river and canal apart and through Hirst Wood before the final spell down the canal towpath and back to our starting point.

Whilst this was only a short walk the variety made it really interesting and it was a real joy to get back out into the open air.   Selection of photographs available from this link.

Oh, I do promise that I will get out and do more walking, and will keep this blog up to date