Wakefield Way #4 - Lofthouse Hill to Pontefract 27/06/15

15 miles, via Bottom Boat, Stanley Ferry, the Aire & Calder Navigation path, & Castleford.


Self at Lofthouse Hill

First walk of Summer and back on my planned walking schedule, with it actually looking like Summer out there, so the jillet finally gets an outing as an early start is due, taking the now rather-too-familiar jaunt out via Wakefield Bus station to hop off the #110 at the hurry up for a start from the side of the A61 at 9.25am, with the houses and farmsteads of Lofthouse Hill soon left behind as the farm track sets us on a course towards the distant shape of Ferrybridge power station. The heat soon comes on, as I pass between the rhubarb fields, paralleling the M62 as paces are made over to Lee Moor Road, showing up a lot more colourfully than the last time I came this way, before branching off at Fenton Road, among Stanley's outlying houses, before striking off on the field boundaries down towards the A642, with a grand lower Calder vista opening out as we go. Plenty of the coming miles are retracing paths that I have pounded over the last few years, and I had another fancy detour in mind before I realised that an excursion via Newmarket Colliery and Methley Junction would stray too far into leeds district, so I stick to the route as written, passing down into Bottom Boat, across the path of the Methley Joint lines and hitting the riverside path that now forms part of the walker's route of the Trans Pennine Trail, once occupied by the Leeds Country Way. A fresh path is met beyond Stanley waterworks, leading down through polythene covered fields and across a farmyard to meet the Nagger lines and the path down to Stanley Ferry, and this seems to be one of those corners where walking route will always be converging, and steps are made around the Fayre & Square to find my way to Ramsden's Bridge and the elevated way over the Aire & Calder Navigation.

The southern path along the canal is a familiar way, of course, and necessary due to the lack of crossing points on the Calder, but hopefully the views will feel a bit different due to three years of accumulated familiarity with the landscape, and the crossing of the river at Trash Screen bridge has it free of accumulated debris and not close to inundation on this occasion. A bit further along, at Birkwood Lock, the ridiculousness of the loop we have made to get across the Calder becomes apparent, as Bottom Boat sits a couple of fields distant after an hour of walking, and post elevenses, it's a long pound along the pound with a single barge passing me and being caught up as it goes, the path thankfully free of anglers this time around. Cross to the north bank at Kings Road bridge for the sake of variety, and detouring off the official trail so I can see the remains of the lock that accessed the Calder and the short route to Newmarket Colliery, and thence its on under the M62 and onwards to the outspill of the main route of the Navigation into the river at Woodnock Lock. Loop back to Fairies Hill marina, on the disused channel, pausing for lunch before pressing on beneath the railway viaducts, which carry the NMR's rails into Wakefield Kirkgate and among the permanent boating residents, and on to the wharf to meet the riverside path that is still overgrown and uneven, and deeply unsuited to the bold trio of cyclists who seem determined to ride along it. On under Stephensons Bridge, carrying the NER line into Castleford, and on to meet the L&Y Methley Viaduct again, and the riverside path has been restored for a more straightforward run on to the hard surface that leads under the A639 bridge and on along the pasture where the ox-bow lake is actually seen this time around. Development is starting to grow on this corner of Cas, but the path is still nicely wild, complete with crazy horse on the run to the Aire-Calder confluence, and then the familiar tracks are continued along the Aire, suddenly ridiculously wide before we arrive in Castleford's riverside district.

The roadsides past the Parish Church, to Carlton Street and the railway station are all familiar, of course, but my route soon takes me away from this town's centre, and my regular jumping off point, continuing onwards under the foot-tunnel beneath the station throat and on along Beancroft Road, through the empire of terraced houses for 19th century miners. Away from the town the size of the houses increases (where the supervisors once lived perhaps?) switching to later 20th residences as Barnes Road rises past the municipal park and on to Glasshoughton Asda, joining the A639 again and descend to the Cutsyke Junction railway crossing. Southwards between industrial units and the council recycling centre, with bridleway permission on this unlikely track, and passage gets confusing when fresh housing developments and a new road are found to have grown across the route, and so the correct path between the storage facility and the stray farm buildings is well hidden. Find the bridleway eventually, swinging around the perimeter of Glasshoughton Colliery's spoil heaps, gradually being reclaimed by landscaping and redevelopment, but reflecting a lot of heat as the day warms up, and so pace slows before I rise away from the grey soils and up to passing over the M62. Shadow the motorway eastwards, again, following the field boundaries all the way to Pontefract Park, following the rails of the racecourse on the uphill home straight, realising that I have hit the wall when I find that my watering break has lasted over 20 minutes, whilst watching the many locals strolling the interior perimeter path. No option of a ride away from here of course, so press on along the path that leads behind the paddock and grandstand, offering easier going than a trip through the long grass within the racecourse, and once down the long driveway leading to the A639 (last visit for today, honest), it makes sense to push on to the end, despite my diminished energy levels. So onwards up the hill, past the Haribo factory and into the town centre, with the street names offering the illustration of the local medieval history that I always forget about, Cornmarket, Beastfair, Market Place and Horse Fair, with older buildings in view at all angles, the streets still in the grip of market day, and altogether looking like a fine spot for a lengthy pub crawl in the afternoon sun. No Booze for me, though, feeling the legs getting wobbly whilst passing the town hall, and not a whole lot more steps to go, thankfully, as the end point comes up at Pontefract Bus Station, much better placed than any of the three railway stations, all done at 3.35pm

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1747 miles
2015 Cumulative Total: 344.8 miles
Up Country Total: 1620.6 miles
Solo Total: 1535 miles

Eastwards in the shadow of the M62, deep in the heart of Rhubarb Country, and
this pile of wool has been there so long, it shows up on satellite photographs!

Field Walking between Stanley and Bottom Boat, and that
mysterious building at Junction 30 still isn't offering up its secrets.

River Calder-side between Bottom Boat and Stanley Ferry,
altogether more overgrown down here than it was last October.

Ramsdens Bridge, Stanley Ferry, where all of the viable crossing
points of river and canal pile up in a single location.

Boating on the Aire & Calder Navigation, he may be motoring now, but once
he has traversed the locks we are actually going at about the same speed!

Kings Road Lock (former), linking the Calder and the Navigation to serve
Newmarket Colliery before the railways arrived to take that traffic away. 

Woodnock Lock, the end, or beginning of the Wakefield to Castleford cut of
the A&CN, not on the official route but worth a detour whilst I am in the vicinity.

Stephensons Bridge, still carrying trains over the Calder whilst lacking the
aesthetic qualities of it neighbouring viaducts at Fairies Hill and Methley.

The Castleford Ox-Bow lake, hard to photograph but an absolute
must for anyone with an education in physical geography.

Castleford Parish Church, one of the highest rising of buildings in this lowest of towns.

Cutsyke Crossing, scene of many hilarious traffic jams.

Glasshoughton Colliery, the main site now home to Xscape and a retail park,
whilst wildness still lingers on the spoil heaps, for the moment at least.

Shadowing the M62 eastwards again, Ferrybridge Power station now much closer.

Pontrefract Racecourse, the Grandstand. Never been to a race meeting in my life, not even on a works
trip, though the idea does appeal, replacing the gambling with the consumption of booze, of course.

Pontefract Buttercross, a cool shelter for the purveyors of 18th century dairy goods, a reminder that
this town is a Norman establishment and market town, not a product of the Industrial Revolution.

Next Up: The southwards track into the unseen quarter of West Yorkshire.