Pool in Wharfedale, Riffa Wood & Huby.
Return back Up Country for some necessary socialising to end my holiday week, but after a week back in work, the Summer Sag comes on once again as mood, impetus and energy levels all drop through the floor, and a weekend drops from the schedule and plans get shunted around again. Not that my plan for August gets altered, as a three day trek across the width of my annual walking field seems like a good way to go, but even then I struggle to get myself going, and find that riding out to Baildon station can involve some ungodly amounts of waiting, as you anticipate the arrival of the trains that run the line between Shipley and Guiseley. So onto the trail just before 11am, on the single platform which still possesses a lot more character than many stations which didn't endure 20 years of disuse, altogether a tidy little presentation, departed by ascending to the footbridge and dropping down to the path that doubles as a driveway to the houses behind Roundwood Grange, one of the many proud older houses that live among Baildon's suburbia. Langley Lane and Hollin Head give us much more of the late 20th century face of the town in the Tong Park district, and the way to the undulations of the corner of Airedale is found as Lonk House lane wanders its way into the valley of Gill Beck, with a war memorial midway down and a fishing lake and cricket field at the bottom, this probably being the flattest part of Baildon all told. Ascend the other side, to meet a golf course, and hang at its edge through rough grass and shady trees to get good looks at Tong Park Viaduct and the extensive woods of middle Airedale in one direction and to the rising edges of Baildon and Rombalds moors in the other, and focus requires you to look out for golfing hazards before a better surface is gained at Lunds farm and another long wall guides the walker in the direction of Guiseley. The golf course seems to just keep on going, until you acknowledge that there are actually two of them, Hollins Hall and Bradford, butted together, and as the track rises the view towards Bradford is pretty grand, whilst once the descent comes on the Aire-Wharfe gap is revealed in all its impressive scale.
It's a nice feeling to spot the familiar creases in this landscape, and Guiseley isn't really going to be met on my path of choice, only touching its outer suburban, but well built, edge at Park Gate, and skirting my way around Hawksworth Lane and Park Road to locate the most recent spreads of suburbia along the largely unadopted Coach Road. That brings us down towards the Wharfedale railway line and the crossing of two of this year's trails on opposite sides of the bridge, before we drop into the glade around Guiseley beck for a dab of shady riverside walking before we find the sketchy route out to Park View and Dibb Lane, where the prouder faces of Victorian suburbia can be found. Arrive by the A65 New Road, and wonder how the huge expanse of Nunroyd Park has managed to hide in plain sight before our track takes us away in Yeadon along Kirk Lane, home to a few old and large industrial buildings but no obvious church, and the way to the town centre is soon shown up to be much more challenging than the straight line on the map would suggest. Town Street almost hides from view and is a rather steep cobbled ascent up to the centre of the town, suggesting that Yeadon is much more of a place than just filling in some space next to Rawdon and Guiseley, and there seems to be business aplenty going on along High Street, revealing its old heart around the Town Hall and the modern focus around the Morrisons superstore. Onwards, past the Napier Lane island, and the pubs that suggest the need for a dedicated crawl, and the obvious next target is to be found along Cemetery Road, and that would be Yeadon Tarn, naturally, the local hotbed for amateur sailing and waterfowl in pretty much equal measure, and I'm not sure at all if it's natural or a reservoir, but Tarnfield Park is clearly a popular spot for the folk of this quarter, and a good lunch break spot that would have been missed had I started out earlier. A three quarter circuit fits into the trail nicely , and if the waterfront isn't to your taste, aeroplane spotting is always a possibility, as Leeds-Bradford airport resides next door, and the rejoined road swings around its northern end beyond the cemetery, though the view beyond, below the Chevin and over to Rombalds moor, is actually a lot more interesting to me than this airport located at unusually high altitude.
Beyond the airport, the road loses it footway so a wander against the traffic is needed as we wander among some industrial units which may, or may not, be associated to large plant that once grew out here where Avro built bombers during the Second World War, an interesting bit of local history that necessitated the drain of the Tarn, all those years ago. Easier going once we approach West Carlton again, but paths won't be set for the Chevin this time, instead wandering through this picturesque hamlet of stone cottages and farm buildings, so modest in scale that its chapel also doubled as a private house, and its a road walk onwards to get sight of Tinshill microwave tower and the reminder that despite all the miles travelled, we are still not that far from the city of Leeds. There's no alternative to road walking beyond, though, which is straightforwards enough along Otley Old Road, despite attention wandering to looking down into the airport and the oncoming traffic being hidden behind undulations in the road, but on hitting the A658 the worst experience in all walking comes along, hugging the kerb of a major road with no obvious escape route. Thankfully, it's only one drop and rise to come out at the Old lane corner, where a footway is regained to wander through Old Bramhope, where the new housing developments are recalled as being particularly hideous, ersatz even, but that just provides an interlude before the descent of Old Pool bank can start. It's not too far along this quiet lane do you realise why the turnpikes surpassed it, as it's far to steep and narrow to function as a modern road, but it gives good views into Wharfedale, and has quite a number of houses on its lower stretches before we meet the A660 crossing where the view is even better. We also have the turnpike toll house, and the abutments of the tramway bridge that once linked the quarries on Caley Bank with the railways far below, and the bank thus continues downhill, still used as a shortcut for knowledgeable locals, and offering up the views into the river valley as it goes steeply on its way. The eye follows the direction of the 1865 NER line to Otley through the fields, one of those ones that modern transport needs suggest should have been retained, but was lost in 1965, though hopefully a walkable path might link Pool to Otley in the future, whilst for now all that remains for the relic hunter is the road bridge and the retaining walls of the station site which enclose the back gardens of Willow Court, which doesn't even have a name to link it to the railway.
It seems that there is only one way to pass through Pool in Wharfedale from the south, as all the new developments off the main road do not invite visitors to their cul de sacs, and thus we walk down Pool Bank New Road and Arthington Lane past Church, Chapel and the pair of pubs once again to make our third crossing of the Wharfe via Pool bridge, and still manage to find a different direction to take as we enter North Yorkshire. Stay close to the A658 as it retains a footway, and it could lead us to our destination, but we need a more interesting trail which means leaving it up the driveway to Riffa farm, a rather large complex and meeting the dirt track beyond which leads uphill to Leafield bank, which sends us eastwards whilst offering a fresh perspective into this corner of Wharfedale. Field walking comes beyond there, again free of cows, to find the path across the beck into Riffa Wood, a large mixed plantation that dominates its hillside and offers a shady ascent up the hill and a strange sense of quiet too, but if you get the sensation of being watched, that's because there are carvings by the flagged path that are there to keep you company. A good place to break before the final push, especially as the paths beyond are all full of cows with excitable calves, so wits are strengthened to take the falls and rises on the way to Bogridge farm, an isolated home to holiday cottages these days, and risks are dropped once we get a hard surface to walk on, wandering among the grassy hilltops and wondering if Gravelly Hill Lane is really just a long driveway as it only passes Newby Farm (also cottageyfied) before we hit The Sleights and the road into Huby. Crag Lane suggests the local landmark that we still haven't visited in all my travels, but it's too late in the day for a detour and instead the village can offer a whole bunch of suburban periods, showing that Huby has been attractive getaway from Harrogate and Leeds for more than a century, and even the council house look good, with whitewash and black accenting. Strait Lane ends by a big old Victorian Terrace and we make our final contact with the Harrogate Road before Wayside Terrace leads us under the railway and to the footway up to Weeton railway station, which makes little sense as a name as we are still in Huby and Weeton is still a mile distant, but it's the end point to a hot day, and I'm done at 4.15pm, grateful that the train homeward is only 10 minutes distant after another day of sore legs, grinding hips and uncomfortable dehydration.
5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2366.2 miles
2016 Total: 351.8 miles
Up Country Total: 2150.7 miles
Solo Total: 2135.3 miles
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| Baildon station may only see trains to Ilkley and Bradford on a single platform, but it's a lot more picturesque than many stations in West Yorkshire. |
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| Tong Park Cricket Club and Gill Beck fishing lake, on what passes for flatland in this quarter, a delightful and quiet idyll to enjoy hidden between the West Yorks conurbations. |
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| Rising above the Golf Courses, and taking a look back to Idle Hill, Bradford and Upper Airedale, I had promised adventures for this season out here, but they'll have to wait until 2017! |
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| Above Guiseley and looking towards The Chevin and Wharfedale, the best view of the gap between the dales is to be found up here. |
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| Guiseley Beck, at the bottom of another Aire tributary, and a surprising little glade hidden amongst industry and suburbia. |
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| Yeadon Town Hall, midway between Gothic pile and Addam's Family house, definitely worth a visit after a sharp ascent up the cobbled streets. |
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| Yeadon tarn, is it a Lake or a reservoir? Or is it really called Tarnfield Dam? We might not now these things, but I do know the locals will come out to play here. |
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| Across the Aire - Wharfe divide, and the landing lights of Leeds - Bradford airport add something to the landscape. |
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| West Carlton, where the chapel hides in a larger house, and where the whole local population could still be fitted in side it, I'd wager. |
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| Old Pool Bank, far too narrow and steep to be a modern road, but the red route into Wharfedale for cyclists, and a reminder that the world wasn't really very well designed for humans. |
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| The Toll house and tramway bridge remnants should grasp the attention by the A660, but you'll look away from them when Wharfedale offers a view like this one. |
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| The site of Pool in Wharfedale station, at the foot of Old Pool Bank, active for a century and lost for another half century since, one I'm sure we ought to have back on the network. |
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| Across the Wharfe and taking the A658 towards Riffa farm and Riffa Wood, as prominent a plantation as you'll find in any quarter of the county. |
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| Ascending through Riffa wood, where the path is flagged, the air is still, and the carved faces on the rocks are watching you pass by. |
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| Above Bogridge farm, another idyll that seems pretty commonplace in this part of Wharfedale, all hidden away at the end of its own lane. |
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| Huby shows up all sorts of suburban faces, but I think its late Victorian Terraces are the pick of its dwellings. Oh to have £300k to drop on one. |
Next Up: The walk continues, through unseen tracks north of the Wharfe.
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