Resuming the alternate route to the coast and my trail across Wakefield District, we depart the railway station at 9.00am, passing through these three combined villages of Outwood, Wrenthorpe and Stanley, along the residential streets of Ledger Lane, Bolus Lane and Ouchthorpe Lane before finally finding a field or two to traverse. This leads to a path on a former colliery line, indicating the passage of industry in the area before Normanton Golf course grew on the neighbouring fields, and a trek across and around that eventually leads us to the A642, and the road to Stanley Ferry, Ferry Lane, for my third visit to the marina and another crossing of the River Calder and Aire & Calder navigation. Hitting the rising Birkwood Road, which leads towards Altofts, offers unexpected views across the district and into the nearby city of Wakefield as it goes, and the settlement at the hilltop is much larger and mixed that I had expected, and a lot of it is seen as I make my way to Station Road to cross the railway line between Castleford and Wakefield, passing along the footpath that leads me right past the entrance to Normanton station, before entering the town itself. The Midland railway heritage is clearly visible in the town as I pass along High Street to eventually arrive by All Saints church and to meet a portion of the Wakefield Wheel cycling route, which offers a hard track among the extensive suburbs, before dropping onto a muddy track that shadows Sewerbridge Beck, passing alongside an industrial estate, before heading under the remains of another colliery branch line, crossing the A655 bypass road, and leading onto a field boundary walk over to Havertop Lane.
Another industrial estate has grown up since the map I'm using was published, but the right of way is still accessible, leading up a sharply rising hill ridge to meet the edges of a school's grounds and a collection of paths to slip around the edges of North Featherstone. This leads to more field walking, with Castleford and Xscape looming to the north, and Ferrybridge power station indicating our destination, passing the boundaries of Pontefract Racecourse (my first on my travels) and Golf course (lost count a long time ago), rising to meet Park Lane, and to pass around the northern edge of Pontefract, without really entering the middle of the town. This leads to a path that takes in the entrances to both Tanshelf and Monkhill stations, passing around the playing fields of the Pontefract Collieries sports club between the two, whilst the colliery on the map is no longer present on the ground, and from Ferrybridge Lane we can drop onto the rough fields that were once home to Pontefract Priory, which, with the castle, provide a reminder of the much older histories of the town. Hit the A645 out of town, under an abandoned railway viaduct to find the rural route towards Knottingley, Sowgate Lane, which manages to pass under the M62, A1(M) and the Dearne Valley line as it passes into Ferrybridge, and we cross the Old Great North Road, and one last patch of random greenery before meeting the A645 again, and rolling up to Knottingley station at 3.00pm, where future routes can be burned into the flatlands to the east.
5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1435.8 miles
2015 Cumulative Total: 33.6 miles
Up Country Total: 1340.2 miles
Solo Total: 1208.8 miles
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| Outwood Working Mens Club. The Outwood - Wrenthorpe - Stanley agglomeration really is a fascinating blend of anicient farms, 19th century industrial housing and late 20th century suburbia. |
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| Old Colliery Lines, near Normanton Golf course. I cannot identify the colliery that they served or whether they were independent of the Nagger Lines between Stanley Ferry and Lofthouse Gate, they will have to be an enigmatic industrial relic for now. |
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| Aire & Calder Navigation Aqueducts, Stanley Ferry. From the Calder Bridge, it's surprising that the wooden bridge on this site was replaced as recently as 1971, could it have been more frightening to cross than the Trash Screen bridge? |
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| Woolley Edge, from Birkwood Lane. Walked it last year and never got a good view of its profile, it's clearly one of those hills that is best seen from a distance, looking quite dramatic despite its lack of height. |
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| Normanton Railway station. Envisaged as a major railway hub in the early days of the railways, where an interchange between the burgeoning companies could develop. A scheme which never came to fruition after the collapse of George Hudson's monopoly in 1849. |
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| Losco Colliery Branch, near Normanton. Another reminder of the industry which once dominated this landscape. These particular lines where pretty extensive in the area, but aide from one substantial embankment have been almost completely erased. |
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| All Saints church, North Featherstone. The older village, which the town of Featherstone appended to as South Featherstone in the 19th century, before gaining the North appellation and the town losing its some time in the mid 20th century. |
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| Pontefract Park. After so many golf courses, it's nice to finally meet a racecourse, and as we move into Yorkshire's lower lands, I'm sure more will appear, as Wetherby, Ripon, Thirsk and Doncaster could all show up on my itinerary. |
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| Pontefract Priory. An 11th century Cluniac establishment, dissolved in 1540, and hidden away beneath a lumpy field which does its best to indicate a church shape. No visible architecture but nonetheless a remarkable survival in this town. |
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| Pontefract Viaduct. A town still by served three railway stations once had a line that linked them all, built to link the L&Y metals to those of the Midland & NER joint lines, it was operational from 1879 to 1964. |
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| The A162, Ferrybridge. Formerly the A1 and the Great North Road, it is now one of the largest local roads that you could meet anywhere in the country, consigned to history like Ermine Street was before it. |
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| The Railway Hotel, Knottingley. One of the most imposing buildings in the town where the largest structures are all glass works, it is now a pub which really looks in need of some love, another fantasy project for my retirement? |
Next Up: March means Serious Business, and Railway Walking!
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