Tadcaster & Bingley

Walks this week :  14.17 miles

Total this Month : 25.85 miles

Total for Year : 25.85 miles

Sadly, we're slightly behind schedule for both the month and year (we should be around 33 miles into our 1000 mile challenge), but given that we've started in January and the weather to date this year has not been conducive to walking, we're not too worried at the moment. Plus, we reckon we'll be doing some longer walks once the weather improves.  Anyway, we only managed to get out twice this week visiting Tadcaster and, on Sunday, Bingley and the St. Ives Estate.

07/01/15 - Tadcaster - 7.7 miles

A cold, grey day for this walk with rain in the air and very muddy under foot. In fact the route shown above is not the route that I found on trailzilla.com, once we had reached Catterton we should have gone through the village and cut through fields to reach Healaugh. The fields around this area are mainly given over to arable farming and the mud was ankle deep and cloying, so instead of the planned route we stuck to the road to reach Healaugh.

 One of the joys of walking is discovering new places. Places that you would never dream of visiting if in a car. In fact I must have driven past these two villages on a number of occasions as I hurtled down the A64 towards York.  After trudging through ploughed fields we hit the village of Healaugh, and what a delight. Some very old cottages and the village church perched on what passes for a hill around the parts !

The return to Tadcaster was very straightforward following a series of hedged tracks flanked by fields just starting to show their crops for the current year.  This is, maybe, a route to be repeated later in the year when everything is growing.

By the way, as an added advantage to a yorkshireman, parking in Tadcaster is free !!

11/01/15 - Bingley and the St. Ives Estate - 6.4 miles

I suppose one of the things about a walk is that distance isn't everything. Whilst this walk was a good mile less that the previous one it was much more strenuous and the section from Marley up Marley Brow is a good (lung bursting, thigh burning) drag. However, as with all walks the reward comes at the top with tremendous views down the length of Airedale.

This walk came from AA book "50 Walks in the Yorkshire Dales". My sister bought me this as a Christmas present and, given the challenge we've accepted, we will be trying to complete all of them in the course of the year.  If I have one criticism of this particular walk it is that the printed directions are not always clear and there were a number of times when the obvious route (which we followed) led us away from the route prescribed in the book.

Anyhow, the route starts from the middle of Bingley (we parked close to the station and, again, it is free on a Sunday - although not during the week). It is surprising how just following the route of the river one escapes from the confines of the town suprisingly quickly and after only a mile or so you could kid yourself that you were miles from the nearest habitation.

As I mentioned the middle section climbs quite steeply and evetually leads out onto an outcrop called "Devil's Altar" which gives extensive views down and along Airedale.

The final section of the walk goes through the St. Ives estate visting Lady Blantyre's Rock which is surrounded by rhodedendron bushes. Again, this must be one to repeat when they are in flower as it will be spectacular then. There was a twist in the tail of this walk as we went badly wrong near the end, crossing what we thought was the packhorse bridge at Beckfoot, only to find we had not gone far enough along the beck.  We hope the gentleman in front who went striding across the golf course not realising his mistake, was able to retrace his steps !!

A very enjoyable walk, only three or four miles from home providing a real escape into the country.

Bingley and the 5 Rise Locks

Saturday, 23rd July
8.8 km (5.5 miles)

 

The inspiration for this walk will, for the time being, have to remain a mystery but we decided to do this relatively short walk which only took 1 1/2 hours, on a Saturday evening and what a bonus it turned out to be.

Firstly, the weather was aboslutely fantastic with hardly a cloud in the sky, although there was a chill wind which made it ideal for walking.  Secondly, who would have thought that the urban surroundings of Bingley - an old West Yorkshire factory town, could have provided such pleasing walking.

The walk started from the car park next to the Railway Station and, after a short distance along the Main Street cut off onto a path that skirted behind the houses and gave a real feeling of being away from it all. Having said that it was a case of "tiptoe through the dog p**" at times before emerging onto the road opposite Bradford & Bingley rugby club.

A skip across the bridge and a  gateway gives onto what looks like (and undoubtably is) someone's garden ! However, a clearly defined footpath skirts the manicured lawn and, for the next couple of miles the path hugs the banks of the River Aire and you feel as though you are truly out in the country, although looking upwards shows you the Aire Relief Road  zooming above you. 

As the footpath that follows the river dips away, the route takes you up and on to the towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool canal and over an aquaduct. From here it is a stroll back into the urban surroundings of Bingley passing one of Bingley's landmarks the Damart Factory. A short step on and you come to the world famous (?) 5 Rise Locks.  What always surprises me is the height that is gained in such a short distance.   After a trip to the top of the locks we turned and retraced our steps crossing the road by a footbridge to regain the car in the car park.   A wonderful, short walk which had plenty of interest and scenery.

Usual selection of photos are available from the link