Ilkley & Grass Wood

Miles this Week	11.41
Miles this Month	37.2
Miles this Year	37.2

A bad week for walking as the weather closed in and ice and snow dominated the weekend, meaning we did not get out of the house on this particular Sunday.

Middleton & Denton - 6.52 miles

Thanks to Paul Hannon and his "Ilkley Moor" guide for this walk which is actually on the opposite side of the valley to Ilkley Moor.

The walk starts from the riverside in Ilkley where, on a damp Wednesday in January, there is plenty of parking. The first section of the walk goes through Riverside Gardens, past the rugby club, as far as the suspension bridge over the river Wharfe.
The next section can be slightly hairy as it requires moving along the busy road that runs alongside the river and which is an infamous "rat run" for those who know the area - beware speeding cars !!
Thankfully, this section is brief before cutting across fields and skirting the underside of West Park Wood, emerging onto Denton Lane and climbing to the hamlet.  This is the furthest point of the walk, which is (in reality) triangular in shape. A few more yards uphill takes you across the top side of West Park Wood and out along some very wet fields past the former Middleton Hospital and heads towards Middleton Moor, although before reaching this you turn to begin the descent through Middleton Woods and back to the rugby club before regaining the river bank for the last few metres.
A delightful walk which combined both the river, woodland and moorland, although it does have to be said that it was fairly tough going through the fields on the moor edge which were absolutely saturated.

Grass Wood - 4.89 miles

Grassington is one of those "special" places which has featured throughout my life - I first played rugby at "Upper Wharfedale" (as it was in those days) when I was in my teens and even when living in the South-East a return visit to Yorkshire would, inevitably, mean a visit to this Capital of Wharfedale.

The weather was particularly inclement for this walk. In fact had the photo opposite been taken some 5 minutes earlier it would have been completely white !! Such is the English weather that we started in a blizzard, enjoyed bright blue skies in the middle section of the walk and returned to grey and overcast weather before driving home in thick snow !!
This is a simple route following the river Wharfe upstream from Grassington - we parked in the National Parks Car Park which is not cheap but very convenient for many walks. The walk passes through Lower Grass Wood before hitting the road from Grassington to Coniston. A few yards of road walking (without the threat of speeding traffic [see above]) meets the far corner of the wood and a pleasant path leads upwards (quite steep in places) and across the woods, leading back to Grassington.

Our 1000 mile challenge is now well behind schedule - we should have walked approximately 50 miles by this point in the month. However, as previously stated we are confident that we will make up any defecit later in the year.

Grassington & Hebden Gill

Sunday, 1st July
10.6 km (6.5 miles) - 2hrs 48min.

Wet, windy and misty ..... yes, you've guessed it July has just arrived !!

Once again this week has seen torrential rain and, on leaving the house, it looked as though we would be on the receiving end of more.  Thankfully, the rain was never really that bad, but the wind howled (especially as we reached higher ground) and the views were patrially obscured due to the low hanging cloud that seemed to envelop everything.

However, as Gill said, if it had been November or February we wouldn't have complained, so I'm not going to and instead will comment only on the positive which was that we got out into the countryside and had a thoroughly enjoyable walk.

The start point was the National Park car park in Grassington and the first section dropped down to Linton Falls which sounded spectacular even though we didn't actually see them. Just before reaching the footbridge across the Falls we turned left and headed off downstream until just past the fish farm (GR SE 007 630) where we turned away from the river and headed uphill passing Halfway House Farm (GR SE 011 630) and across a series of fields and stiles before arriving in the hamlet of Hebden.

Across the main road (just below the Clarendon Hotel) the route then heads up Hebden Gill past a row of delightful houses before taking on a much wilder and ragged look (especially in this weather).  The route is fairly direct following the beck before turning and going straight up to Scar Top House (GR SE 027 639). Whilst only gaining some 60-80 metres in height this is pretty tough going as it literally does go straight up and, at the top, it was time to find some shelter from the wind and some well earned lunch !

The next stretch of the walk proved just how much rain we have had as the well-defined path was, in places, ankle deep in mud.  I'm sure that on a clear day the views will be spectacular, but today the surrounding hills were sheathed in mist.

Eventually the path drops back down to the head of the Gill  (GR SE 026 653) and the opportunity for a hop and a skip across the swollen beck. From here the scenery takes on a eerie feel as the path winds it's way through disused lead mine workings and spoil heaps that are only just beginning to green over.

At last Moor Lane (GR SE 011 653) is attained and the descent back into Grassington can begin, although a delightful detour dropped us down through pastures to Bank Laithe and into the town itself.

Opportunities for walking seem limited this year.  My social calendar and the weather (why does it always seem to rain at the weekends) have also mitigated against us claiming the kind of mileage we did last year. My records show that by the beginning of July 2011 we had accrued 180 miles; this year a measly 50 is all we can boast (although, and in my defence, my record keeping has not been as diligent).  However, I don't want to be seen as a "mileage bagger", and it is good to get out even if not as regularly as last year.

As usual, a selection of picture is available from the link