Alone Beneath The Sky: Cross Gates to Church Fenton 16/04/16

12.8 miles, via Manston, Barnbow, Parlington, Aberford, Lead, Cold Hill & Barkston Ash.

Let's strike away from Leeds, as the first two months have spent a lot of time breaking new ground within my experience bubble, and the oncoming Spring feels like a good time to set course for new lands beyond it, namely York, and as we are wandering to Church Fenton once again, we have to be particular with our start time, and allow ourselves a 5 and a half hour window to do a 5 hour walk. So off the train at Cross Gates station at 10am, and start the passage eastwards along the footpath to Railway Street and Austhorpe Road, noting sadly that the bridge on the old Wetherby Line has gone, thanks to road widening but the gates to the second Barnbow munitions works has gained a blue plaque to illustrates the industrial heritage of the area. Up to the Barnbow pub, knowing that name has a lot more resonance than it did to me a year ago, and onward down Manston Lane, where the industrial park is gradually diminishing and turning to residential use, but the Vickers Tank factory is still extent, but in need of a usage, and it would be a shame to see such a large factory destroyed to be replaced by anonymous suburbia. Past the sports club and Manston farm, we are soon out into the countryside, with it looking like it's going to be a good day, past Lazencroft farm, and the crossing house on the railway and there's little to strike the casual viewer that a century ago, the first Barnbow munitions work was assembled and operated in these fields. Employing 16,000 and staffed largely by women, it produced 566,000 tonnes of shells during the First World War and in December 1916 was the site of an explosion which killed 35 workers, a death toll that wasn't publically acknowledged until 1923. The eagle eyed will thus start to spot the foundation remnants that hide below turf and tree cover, and it puts something of a solution to the Mysterious Landscape that I saw here in 2012 when the Leeds Country Way brought me out here. Follow Barnbow Lane on a northward track to cross out friend Cock Beck and make my way to the footpath that leads out across Garforth Golf Course, a frustratingly sticky track that is well trodden enough to give an obvious passage among the golfers, but my hopes for a clear day are dashed as a hail storm starts to lash down, and 2016's winter indicates its going to have a pretty long tail.

Finally meet a hard surface as Ellis Lane meets Willow Park farm, and the way ahead is clear beyond Long Lane as Parlington Lane leads up to Throstle Nest farm and over Cock Beck and onwards into the Parlington Estate, with its large managed plantation of trees, and despite it being a quasi-industrial operation, I still feel the owners are missing a trick by not opening up all the many lanes on the estate to walkers and cyclists. It's not like many people live here, with the main estate house long gone, and only a trio of subsidiary buildings to be found along the lane, and the Aberford Railway is to be met and followed once again, as the shortest available route to Aberford, naturally, though this time I'll not be going through the tunnel, looking far too waterlogged for my liking, and following the trackbed that didn't go under it, contrary to all expectations, and it's muddy, making me think a paddle in the dark might have been a better option. So onwards to Aberford, wishing this park offered more trails as I'd love to see the American Revolution Triumphal arch (!) without trespassing, and it's once more to Main Street, which is starting to feel rather familiar, though the Swan Hotel is getting a refit, and all the local pub traffic will have to use the Arabian Horse, and I'd have liked some brighter weather for a closer look at St Ricarius church before I pause for lunch, across Cock Beck by the recreation ground. Post-feed, and it's away we head up Field Lane, and the fresh routes out of Abeford seem to be exhausted, slipping away behind the suburban sprawl to pass over the A1(M) before striking east on another of those odd embankments in the local landscape, high above the sewage works, before passing a house that isn't on any map and dropping down to a large patch of rough ground that hangs above Cock Beck. Keeping a distance from the stream seems to be the best course of action, because as the path moves downhill towards the waterside, the fields become particularly wet, almost waterlogged in places, and it feels easier to move closer to the field boundaries of Hayton House farm, rather than sticking strictly to the official route. So slow going with well chosen steps, and the route around the wettest part is chosen for me when a cyclist passes, observing to me that it's always damp around here, and sinking several inches into the puddles as he pedals his way onwards, and it's relief when the path rises away from the beck, and despite all the effort it took, I now have boots that are cleaner than they have been in weeks.

The bridleway gives firmer footing on the way down to Lead Hall farm, built on the site of Lead Hall, naturally, and the immediate point of interest is Lead Church, a tiny chapel that is all that remains of the lost village of Lead, and Yorkshire doesn't seem to be such a good place for lost villages, , but this is a doozy, sat far back from the road with only sheep for company, and fascinating place to retreat to when it clouds over and the wind comes on. Cannot loiter though, emerging as the day warms up again, moving on for one last crossing of Cock Beck and to have a read of the interpretative boards around the Crooked Billet, the pub that is the custodian of the Battle of Towton exhibition, which will also have to wait for another time, as I've got another bridleway to hit hard. Not taking the direct route to Saxton, instead favouring the field walk up and over to Cold Hill, which is immediately registered as a good choice as a look north shows up the distant towers of York Minster, some 15 miles or so away, and spotted on the horizon for the first time when so many other high points claim it is visible. Descend again to Coldhill Lane, and the hamlet of Cold Hill, really a trio of farmstead and a pond, and not really a hill at all, and the road walk doesn't last long until the next bridleway is found heading uphill to Oldgate Lane, where the view is appropriately panoramic on the edge of the Vale on York, another look to the distant city and Towton battlefield to the north, and to Sherburn, Gascgoine Wood and maybe even Selby Abbey in the other direction. The flatlands await, with the Wolds and the North York Moors on the distant horizon, descending past Oldgate farm, a much more recent establishment than its lane, and roll down to the A162 and The Ash Tree at Barkston Ash. That's a pub, not the tree, which seems to have gone, leaving only its name in its wake, and the village beyond seems to have Barkston Towers as its most prominent feature, with an utterly charming village surrounding it, with the modestly scaled Holy Trinity church and freshly tarmacked pavements as the obvious features. A beverage at the Boot & Shoe would be nice, but that last mile needs to go down, and I'm not going to risk a late arrival so push on along the footway on Common Road, arrow straight and all the way to Church Fenton arriving at 3pm, closing my 5 hour window tidily, and allowing me for a half hour of trainspotting as the worst part of the day's weather arrives, and I look forward to next weekend which will finally see me strike out to York.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2126.6 miles
2016 Total: 112.2 miles
Up Country Total: 1929.9 miles
Solo Total: 1896.5 miles