13.4 kms (8.3 miles) - 3hrs 10 mins
Once again it seems I have to start with an apology for not keeping this blog up to date. I/We have, however, been keeping up our walking, it's just my record keeping and recording that are at fault. I suppose I should chastise myself and promise that I will do better, but to be honest, as long as I'm walking the recording of routes and statistics will remain secondary to actually getting some exercise.
For the record (and to salve my conscience) I did a pretty long walk - longer than it was meant to be - when on holiday in France. The French are superb at laying out their routes with coloured poles marking the way with enough to to reassure that you are going in the right direction without there being too many to intrude.
Fairburn Ings is a famous nature reserve owned and maintained by the RSPB. Constructed (if that is the correct word) from former mining spoil it is nestled amongst former mining communities and within easy reach from our home. It is incredible when you look at the map to see how close you are to both Leeds and Castleford, yet the tranquility of the walk was unspoilt. I still marvel that we have such easy access to beautiful and scenic countryside within a very few minutes of urban conurbations.
The walk started from the visitor centre at Fairburn Ings which is well signposted. After winding through the reserve itself a path leads you along an embankment which separates the main lake from the River Aire. The path eventually drops to the banks of the Aire (GR: SE468272), where a further path leads across another embankment which separates bodies of water and into the village of Fairburn itself.
The encounter with Fairburn is short lived as a path (Beckfield Lane) leads upwards onto Caudle Hill and views back over Fairburn Ings. This easily followed path goes through Wormstall Woods before dropping into the village of Ledsham (an appropriate place for lunch).
A short section along the road (thankfully not very busy), before another path through woods took us to the village of Ledston. Once again it is necessary to walk down the road before picking up a pathway (named as Arrow Road on the map) which runs along the top of the reserve. The next section of the walk was the only section where we could possibly have made a complaint as the path was very overgrown, full of nettles (my legs are still stinging) and wet after a shower we had just passed through.
Although eight miles long this was not a difficult walk (indeed the magazine grades it as easy) but was, nevertheless, just energetic enough to make you feel that you had had some exercise. The weather was quite hot and humid, so this suited us completely !
Usual set of pictures available from the link.
