Morley to Bretton Park 07/10/23

12.9 miles, via Levisham Park, Burn Knolls, Birks, Woodkirk. Hey Beck, Gawthorpe,

  Ossett Street Side, Ossett, South Ossett, Horbury, Aggingford Hill, Hartley Bank,

   New Scarborough, Netherton, Stock's Moor Common, Bretton Common, West Bretton,

    and The Weston; plus October's Long Weekend. 

The first weekend of October drops us our next long weekend, thanks to extra days of leave purchased from work, falling neatly between my late Summer and end of season breaks, which had been intended to be a few days to relax and stroll a bit, but turned into a four day spell of activity when I found a steam rail tour for the Thursday, the last of the West Coast Railways season, which travelled up the Settle & Carlisle line and neatly dovetailed with the occasion of my Mum's 81st birthday, which allowed me to fulfil a promise that I made the previous year to take her out for a steam train ride for her 80th, so I've got her company for the period, with us taking each other out to celebrate our birthdays. Riding out from Wakefield Westgate, it's not needing a early start despite the descent of Autumn, though our travel window does tighten somewhat thanks to the service running out of York some 45 minutes late, at 10.25am bringing us our rake of vintage BR Mark 1 coaches and topped 'n' tailed diesels that will take us to Leeds for a reversal and then a merry pound up the Aire Valley to gain our steam traction from Hellifield to take us non-stop over the watershed and up the Long Drag of Northern England's premier scenic line, which we haven't seen in far too long, up the Ribble Valley and among the Three Peaks, to Dentdale, over Ais Gill summit and on down the Eden Valley. Somehow, all the time lost early is regained as we reach Carlisle, at 2.15pm, where we can find that it's been the line-appropriate LMS Jubilee 45627 Sierra Leone hauling us (actually 45699 Galatea in disguise, and oddly wearing the number of 45662 Alberta on its cab sides), and there's locomotive manoeuvres to be watched at both ends of the break, which is otherwise only long enough for a stroll from the Citadel to Tullie House museum and back, where we can have brews and cake, and purchase that Hadrian's Wall Path t-shirt that I've been promising myself since failing to find one in 2014. Departing at 4.30pm, with the daylight still strong and the changeable and rather poor weather not really spoiling the trip we re-ride the path homewards, breaking for water and photographs at Appleby before lamenting the lack of audible chuffing from the locomotive and clickety-clacking of the rails as we ascend to Ais Gill again, gradually losing the landscape in the gloom as we come down the Ribble valley and finally finding ourselves in darkness as engines are swapped again at Hellifield, a long break that coincides usefully with teatime, before we run back to homewards in a surprisingly familiar 1980s train fashion, with the jaunt concluding at 9.15pm, a round trip of nearly 11 hours that we both enjoyed immensely, thankfully.

Morley to Harewood 30/09/23

13.4 miles, via Valley Mills, White Rose, Beeston Park Side, Cross Flatts Park, Hunslet Carr,

  Pottery Fields, Crown Point, Leeds (St Peter's), The Leylands, Sheepscarr, Buslingthorpe,

   Scott Hall, Chapel Allerton, Moortown, Moor Allerton, Alwoodley, Alwoodley Gates,

    Sturdy Bridge, Cote Hill, and Wall Side. 

The first weekend of Autumn is spent away from the trail, as we've got a reunion to do celebrating (almost) 30 years since we first came to Leeds to attend University, reuniting five of the original ten members of our first student residence, seven (7!) years after our last meetup and feeling a lot more like a reunion of old guys this time around, as we ate and drank an afternoon and evening together, also presenting pretty nice day for it as well as we trolled ourselves from town to Hyde Park and back along the way of it, and experience that I'll probably have more to say about at the year's summation, but for now it's just good to take a break and catch up with some old heads before we resume another push into the Late Season. When that does come around, the weather hasn't travelled and we've got both a tight window ahead of rain and a total lack of trains to play with as our route chooses itself, having intended to approach if for much f the Summer, and as we descend to Morley Station for our 9am jump off, noting proper construction finally having started around the lift towers at the new station, we find our early going is all very familiar, down Valley Road past the old gasworks and mills, and onto the muddy avoiding path and thence down the railway-side, mostly undercover of overgrown foliage as we travel towards the White Rose Centre and its own woodland walk. This leads us out to the Dewsury Roads, amidst the tangling of the main road with the access way and the petrol stations, crossing over by the island in sight of the culverting Millshaw Beck and hitting the surprisingly long drag uphill on the A653 Dewsbury Road towards the greater city, with the railway bridge at the urban edge, beyond Stank Hall always being further along than expected, and running into Beeston Park Side, you become very much aware that we've already set two tracks in this direction, as we merge in with Ring Road Middleton, past the old St David's church and up to the Tommy Wass junction. The Dewsbury Road will be our obvious red route into the city, taking the left-side pavements along the dual carriageway to mix things up from our last trek this way in 2014, passing the long stretches of terraced ends of South Beeston around the shopping parade, across from the suburban semis that run down to the Broadway Inn and the Harrison Sparks plant, before we touch base with Cross Flatts Park, astonishingly less than an hour away from home, and pass the Dewsbury Road social club and the corner where we dwelled very briefly back in 1998, carrying on as industry bumps up to the lane, as the terraces return to the roadside, displaying a fine ghost sign before we pass the former cinema (and 'health club') on the Parkside Lane corner.

Morley to Baildon 16/09/23

13.3 miles, via Daisy Hill, Laneside, Daffil Woods, Rooms, Farnley Wood, New Farnley,

 Park Side, Roker Lane Bottom, Pudsey (Fartown, Greenside, Chapeltown, Waterloo, Hill Foot),

  Bradford Road, Gain Lane, Fagley, Eccleshill, Bank Top, Blake Hill, All Alone, Idle Hill,

   Wrose Brow, Wood End, Baildon Wood Bottom, and Low Baildon. 

The warm week away that we had already feels like a distant memory as gloom and chill return to the atmosphere of West Yorkshire for the last weekend of the Summer, ensuring that there will be no long pushes across the county as we get into the Late Season, with the impetus that we gained already feeling squandered as we start pulling up the shorter treks that we had in mind for the dwindling days of the year, not that I feeling in anything like the condition that would be needed for tilting at a trail in excess of 14 miles now, as getting back into work and the midst of a physical task that we we all seem to feel the need to get to the end of as quickly as possible has burnt off a whole bunch of energy. So the modest treks from home will start as we aim at the Aire valley again, meeting the start line at Morley station at 9.20am, with our north-westerly path rising above the station site to observe the completion(?) of the drainage works that had left a deep, flooded hole in the car park, and passing on into the empire of bungalows again, passing over Daisy Hill and up King George Avenue to trail out to the A643 Victoria Road to observe that the Laneside housing development is coming on at a pace as houses spread out over the once green fields to the south, already looking like some might be plausibly liveable by the end of the year. Across the main road, we enter the suburban hinterland of Morley and Churwell, keeping things green as we drop down among the urban woods along Westwood Side before we join the track that leads into Daffil Woods and wander on among the local nature preserve before joining the field path that leads us under the M621 and on to the view towards Leeds that casts it in a dense pall, before arriving on the track that services the farmsteads of Rooms, before we come down to pass under the old bridge on the New Leeds Line and emerge beyond onto the A62 between the trailer park and the Jewish Cemeteries. Over Gelderd Road and we rise again, up the track to and onto the field paths around Spring End farm, elevating ourselves onto the Farnley Wood hillside, to join the high path across its top, still admirable for its lack of suburban growth, and also being the namesake of the (unsuccessful) 1663 plot against the Restoration government of Charles II which I learned about on one of my many wiki-crawls, getting little of a projected horizon abounds due to the low cloud, before we meet the path that leads us over to New Farnley, over the hillcrest and away from the flocks of gulls and crows that are supervising the ploughing, and tracking downhill to the yard of the house with a concrete alligator in it.

Morley to Guiseley 09/09/23

13.9 miles, via Croft House, Springfield, Dean Wood, Gildersome, Upper Moor Side, Park Side,

 Troydale, Little Moor (Bottom), Pudsey, Primrose Hill, Stanningley, Westroyd Park,

  Farsley Beck Bottom, Bagley, Calverley Bridge, Swain Wood, Horsforth Low Fold, West End,

   Beechwood, Horsforth Golf Club, Plane Tree Hill, Yeadon, and Shaw Lane.

After an immensely satisfying week away, our long week off, and holiday, continues as we return to West Yorkshire, bringing the bright and warm spell with us, which guarantees I'll be getting our for another trek despite still having Mum around the place, as she stays on for a Sunday dinner date, but as she's in the position of having some writing of her own to catch up that she didn't get done whilst away, it gives me freedom to get back into the business of Shuffling the Tiers by pulling up the first trail that I'd slated for this scheme, plotted quite a while back when I though there really weren't all that many original trajectories left to walk away from Morley, somewhat naively, it would seem. We start at Morley station, at 9.20am in the already gathering warmth of a late Summer morning, to observe the works at the new station where they've gotten very good at assembling scaffolding around the lift towers without actually building anything, before we set off up the steps to King George Croft and New Bank Street to find another original path through this town, this time tracing a pavement through the empire of bungalows on the Croft House estate, negotiating multiple corners to emerge onto Church Street and to cut a corner to cross the A643 Victoria Road and renew the theme by pacing the pavements of Springfield Road and Avenue through the suburban estate east of the Ingles, with its namesake house concealed within. Also note that The Arkle inn didn't survive the pandemic era closure before the way is found out via Woodland Drive and Horsfall Street to land us on the very familiar side of Asquith Avenue to bet onto our north-westerly trajectory, passing through Dean Wood and rising to the A62 by the Gildersome Arms to cross into the village and deliberately shift onto the right-side pavement to vary things up as we descend Branch End Road to pass the Old Griffin Head and come down Harthill Parade to the Green and the War Memorial, ahead of passing the Village hall and Library and the curious wood carved sculptures that grace the sides of Town Street.

Rumination: Summer Jollies (with Trains, Birds & the Night Skies)

Featuring: Ruswarp to Whitby - 1.5 miles, via the Rail & Riverside Path. 07/09/23

Esk View cottage might be the
 best letting we've scored so far!

Back in May, I pontificated some on the real value of a holiday break away from home, having let the disappointing opening of the year pass away and getting the spirits lifted with a warm week away on the Yorkshire Coast to get my walking year going properly, and three months on from the revivifying benefits of my Spring Jollies, I can tell you that exactly the same benefit can be felt at the End Of Summer, having endured two of the most frustrating months of poor weather, low energy and lacking motivation, heading away from the persistent gloom and changeability that has blighted July and August to be rewarded with the bright and warm week and the universe knew I spiritually needed. It’s another Friday-Friday let that we’re taking, going back to the coastal edge of the North York Moors after Mum expressed an interest in staying in the vicinity of Whitby, and I pulled up a very plausible pair of walks on the moors that got plotted when I was first seeking out rail trails at the start of my walking escapades in 2012, having managed to find a cottage at a significant reduction in price for the week after the end of the schools Summer break, just outside the town in the village of Ruswarp (which is pronounced Ruh-sup, if you were wondering), in a peaceful little idyll of its own, away from the tight streets and general throng of visitors that comes with this most beloved of coastal settlements. Even arriving having passed over moors under the heaviest of damp palls hanging in the air via the A169 does not do anything to temper our enthusiasm that we feel for Esk View cottage, and even on arrival we know that we’ve scored ourselves a gem that will be absolutely ideal for our rest and relaxation needs, amply sized and quietly out of the way at the end of its close, right on the north bank of the river Esk, with its own terrace and directly across from the railway bridge, which means that there will be entertainment to be had, even when settled in at our holiday base, be it on the rails above the water’s surface, or on the banks and their surroundings. 

Rosedale Railways #2: Rosedale Circular 06/09/23

11.4 miles, from Blakey Junction, via Glead Holes. Slead Shoe Bents, Low Blakey Moor,

 Sherriff's Pit, Thorgill Head, Thorgill Bank, Hobb Crag, Bank Top, Chimney Bank,

  Rosedale Abbey, Abbey heads, Bell End, Plane Trees, School Row, Hill Cottages,

   Low Baring, Stone Kilns, Iron Kilns, Black Houses, Dale Head, Nab Scar, Reeking Gill,

    Seven Head, Cross Gill, and Blakey Swang.

Two warm and pleasant days off from the trail are spent, filled with activity before we get back to the business of the walking plan for this round of Summer Jollies, and we did not expect moorland mist to be on our menu in the midst of our warm spell, as it hangs in the air for the full duration of our 23+ mile ride out onto the moorland top, during which Mum demonstrates an amount of fearlessness in her motoring that belies her years as we tool our way up to the crest of Blakey Ridge again, to resume our exploration of the railway and ironworking that took place in the moorland edges of Rosedale, which falls away to the west and south of the road we ride the high road. We alight at 9.45am at Blakey Junction, with a 5 hour trip in our sights as we descend beside the infilled cutting that passed under the ridge road, down to the site of the Little Blakey hamlet that stood by the division of the railway lines around both sides of Rosedale, of which nought but feint foundation remnants remain in the landscape, and we'll head south from here, down the western branch, for reasons that will become apparent as we start our circular tour, with the mist already burning off as we pass through the gate by the end of the long switchback siding, with mist still obscuring views to the east, and the kiln complexes at the end of the eastern branch, which will get much of the day's attention. It's a steady contour-hugging walk to enjoy as we progress south, at about 360m with only the slightest of declines as we trot away on a decent cinder track surface, with sleeper markings still present underfoot as we look over the valley of Rosedale, trying to get some context of the landscape below as move on among the banks of purple heather that illuminate in the sunshine behind us, settling into the shallow cuttings that run atop the edge of the Glead Holes edge, and looking down across the long rib of Middle Ridge, where it looks like a huge piece of the valley side sloughed its way downhill in antiquity, leaving a scarred and wild landscape in its wake, one not caused by human mining or quarrying activity, with our surroundings becoming more steadily apparent as we track south. 

Rosedale Railways #1: Battersby to Blakey Junction 03/09/23

10.4 miles, via Bank Foot, Park Plantation, Ingleby Incline, Greenhow Moor,

 Bloworth Crossing, Farndale Moor, Wares Gill, Middle Head, Dale Head, Gill Beck,

  Esklet, Oak Beck Head, High Blakey Moor, Blakey Gill, and Blakey Ridge. 

Late Summer Jollies arrive, not a moment too soon, and we're off to stay in Ruswarp, a stone's throw up the Esk Valley from Whitby to operate as our base as Mum and I get in a week of relaxation and I can target some walking on the North York Moors, having trailed the coastal railway path and dropped feet on my OL27 plate for the first time in the Spring, it's time to get onto the OL26 map for the first time as the 20 miles of the Rosedale Railways on the remote High Moors, demand my attention as a complete change of scenery from all my day tripping from home, and not least because I've had them on my walking target list for longer than I can immediately recall. They're not especially local to where we're staying of course, and instead of using the Parental Taxi privileges to get to the start line, we'll catch a train up the Esk Valley line instead, starting out relatively late due to the scheduling of the Sunday services, and already in the grip of warm Summer conditions that we haven't seen the like of in two months, having snared a cheap ride for only £3 and travelling along a line I've seen in part before, having ridden the NYMR section to Grosmont in 2016, and as far as Danby back in 1985 in order to visit the National Park centre (Oh Hi, School Trip Memories!) and thence it's a dawdle into the unknown, beyond the head of the valley and into the catchment of the Tees where we can alight at Battersby, that odd junction station where all services have to reverse, in the apparent middle of nowhere. We'll depart here at 11.25am, away from the station complex and the long terraces of railway cottages shadowing the start of the branch line as it split off towards the moors, looming large on the southern horizon, a wholly industrial line constructed by the NER in 1858 to service the distant ironstone mines in Rosedale, creating a significant freight interchange in this landscape where the only immediate remnant to see is the crossing house on Stone Stoup Hill, from whence we have to follow the turns of the local lanes with the trackbed inaccessible through the fields, allowing attention to wander to scoping our surroundings, placing the Captain Cook monument on Easby Moor, and the anvil peak of Roseberry Topping behind us to the north, while a trio of prominent moorland tops rise like knuckles on the edge of the Cleveland Hills to the southwest of us.