One Small Step

04/01/15

Walks this week : 11.68 miles

Total this month : 11.68 miles

Total this Year : 11.68 miles

Well, we're on our way .......  only 988 miles to go to reach our target of 1000 miles in 2015. The stats at the top may look pathetic at the moment (the graph that I've drawn certainly does) but we've made a start. I have to say that both walks this week were absolutely stunning with bright blue skies on both occasions and reasonable temperatures given the time of year.

02/01/15 - South Stainley and Burton Leonard - 4.35 miles

Thanks go the the Walking Englishman (a superb site by the way) for this route.

The walk starts in South Stainley, just off the A61, not far from Ripon. Parking is available next to the village church where a honesty box operates. In fact when we finished the walk a gentleman appeared to empty the box and, whether it is a very popular spot, or whether it is not emptied regularly it certainly seems to be a money-spinner !!
From beside the church a well signposted footpath runs through fields eventually giving way to a track by more cultivated ground. Unfortunately, this is where we strayed from the published track ending up on Limekiln Lane, rather than going through Jackson's Wood as anticipated. However, we quickly consulted the map and ended up in Burton Leonard as expected.

The "return" journey is easily navigated as it follows roadways and tracks to return you to the starting point.

04/01/15 - Baildon - 7.33 miles.

Not the walk we had actually planned as the day was extremely frosty and driving would have been difficult. This walk, therefore, had the benefit of starting and finishing from home with the addition of bright blue, cloudless skies.

I have done this route before (albeit with a slightly different start/end point) and the best starting point is from the car park next to the Rugby Club. The route goes past the end of the pitches and then drops directly down the side of the valley until stepping stones are encountered crossing Hawksworth Spring. Thankfully, it had been frosty (!!) otherwise the footpath that runs alongside the spring would have been almost too muddy to navigate. Again, the route is faily easy to follow and eventually emerges on to the main road at Low Spring.

 

After a scary few yards (it is a very busy road) you escape up Sconce Lane and, once again the route is easy to follow along a series of tracks that skirt Baildon Moor before hitting the main road by a cattle grid.  Here, once again, it is straight forward  as the path follows Glen Lane until it ends at the top of Shipley Glen Tramway. 

Here our route took us along the pathway that eventually drops down to Baildon Green, but you could continue along the path, or cut through at various points on to West Lane which leads back to the centre of Baildon.