Force an early start, as the enthusiasm is high today, as is the risk of the afternoon turning very warm indeed, so make for the train to Weeton to disembark at 9.20am, primed for a long day, and take the first steps to see the old station houses by the A658 Harrogate Road, which endure to provide the NER atmosphere for the station since the actual platform buildings left us only relatively recently. So away, and into Huby, with actual Weeton still a mile or so distant, looping back under the railway to pass among the district of council houses, complete with vintage VR post box, and on to the road to Weeton, which could easily be mistaken for a driveway to one of the posher houses in this quarter. On to a road walk under gloomy skies, avoiding the horse riders and mail van that are racing me down this lane and letting the mind wander among the wrinkles of Wharfedale whilst I try to plot out what the manicured lands around the cricket field might have been in a previous life, and spot the spire of St Barnabas's church a couple of fields away to show just how close we came to having been here before. So Weeton itself arrives, a settlement with a lot of proud looking gritstone, scattered along the Main Street, all of it expensive looking, but mush less substantial than Huby, which makes you wonder how it named the parish and the railway station. Press on, as Weeton Lane wends its enclosed way to the east, gradually rising and giving views to Almscliffe Crag in one direction and Rougemont Carr in another, and that keeps things interesting in a terrain of a lot of hedges before the hamlet of Dunkeswick arrives. Never been too sure how to pronounce this one, uncertain where to place the emphasis, and there's little more to it than a trio of farmsteads, along with a small dog running around to proudly display the rabbit it has caught, and from there it's a short walk to meet the A61 Harrogate Road, crossed in short order to get away from the cyclists and to have the fields to myself for a while.
So a grassy track leads off behind the lake in the old claypit, a riot of ducks on this morning, and then roll up to pass my path to Harrogate for last year and then strike east on some level going along the field boundaries and tracks towards the curious little wood with its own ruin hiding within it before passing through the hedges to the back lawn of Swindon farm. A path supposedly exists on the rising field across the beck, but no sight of it comes through the wheat, so the boundary is hugged for a while before a way can be found onto the bridleway coming up from Harewood bridge, and so views to the south can be a bit familiar as we move along the hard surface to join West Gate, the way into Netherby that seems to be a hamlet with a much larger population of caravans than people. The rising lands on the Wharfe's start to make their appearance known as they take me up Chapel Hill, to meet another cluster of houses and farmsteads, and the lane down to the supposed Carthick ford, and as our day has started to brighten nicely, a look back will show the rain starting to slay Wharfedale in the lands beyond the Chevin. Gill Lane starts to pull the day's trail away from the river, rising among hedges to another couple of clusters of houses, Kearby and Clap Gate according to the maps and the natures of the exact locations of the hamlets in this quarter can be somewhat confusing, though I can be certain that we have not seen Barrowby, and that a country away from the pace of the modern world could be easily found in these parts. The quite yellow lanes are left behind once we join the Kirkby Road, and the lane provides a fall and rise over Araker Beck, and interest in the locations of the laneside farms and the former isolation hospital, brick built and far away from any major settlements. The road walking and associated needs for attention have just started to get tiring once we get the relief of a pavement to walk on, reaching out to meet Sicklinghall's cricket field, and easy going continues into the village, past the upper pond and pinfold, and down past the primary school and St Peter's church, with all the street facing houses looking like they've planned to make the place appear to be as picturesque as possible.
Pass the pub, the Scott's Arms (with workmen listening to REM), and the RC Church and convent (another in this quarter?), and once the green and lower pond have been seen it's easy to conclude that Sicklinghall has to go on the desirability list, along with about 80% of all the places I have visited, and it's nice spot to rest for lunch, under the shade of the trees before we can cut a trail into Stockeld Park. A quiet lane winds its way to the south lodge, giving the feeling of sneaking up someone's driveway, before heading up the rising track through the woods, past the nursery and into the open parkland, and the bridleway route might send you across the fields, but I'm in a mood to stay on the road surface to get a closer look at the 18th Century Stockeld house, which is actually rather hard to see, hidden by foliage and its extensive collection of stables and outbuildings. Still the driveway offers views down to Home farm and Spofforth hall in the fields to the north, whilst the park staff are all busy marshalling the visitors to the amusement park by the northern lodge, from where we depart to cross over to the path that leads through the yard of Stockeld Grange, despite signage vaguely suggesting that the path is not in use at present. Field walk to the track that crosses the Y&NMR Church Fenton - Harrogate line, just above the cutting that runs north from Wetherby, and our route will be taking us on a circuit to completely avoid said town, meeting field paths that offer views to Spofforth church and the wrinkles formed by Crimple Beck before swinging eastwards to meet a farm track that runs out to Lime Kiln Lane, the end of which has a new house rising in its parkland contained in an old quarry. With Wetherby hidden by a rising ridge fringed with trees, attention focuses to Kirk Deighton, where late 20th century developments have been relegated to side roads to keep the main Street pretty and providing another fine aspect up to the church at the top of the village, and here the Bay Horse looks like another prime country pub opportunity.
On to Scriftain Lane, which peters out as it approaches the old A1s (As1?), Deighton Road and the A168, and our path joins the edge of the new-ish B1224 as it rises to Junction 46 on the A1(M), with a cycleway wide enough for me to feel secure away from the traffic, and the taxi party of Geordie revellers stopping for an emergency toilet break. Over the motorway as the northern relief road crosses Swinnow Park, with a verge wide enough for security, approaching the racecourse, and only once we land upon the York Road roundabout does the footing get challenging, and I'll assume that no one goes to the races on foot in this particular direction. Hello again to Wetherby Racecourse, still open for business (and camping in the carpark, apparently) despite the lack of horses, and the right of way wanders its way up towards the Grandstand and paddock, gaining a better perspective of the site from this short axis than was gained by walking along its long southern edge. It's here we get our only look at the town of Wetherby before heading east again, on a track that doesn't have right of way but cuts off a corner as we head towards Syke House farm and its driveway, which also isn't public but does have signs reminding walkers to be careful, so bafflement and interest in the view towards Walton as we ride the rollercoaster track of Moor Road up to the Walton Road crossing and its associated houses, touching base with the old railway again before joining the road walk towards the village. The church seems to be far too tall for the settlement when viewed from afar, and a look west will reveal distant hills far off beyond in the Dales, but even in my fifth year of wandering I cannot positively identify them, and so attention turns back to the road and relief comes as School Lane gives us a footway into the village. Yet another one that's a charmer, full of yellow sandstone, with the modest church of St Peter sat on a lump to give it the lofty perspective and it's here we'll have late lunch before moving on along Main Street to pass Walton hall and depart via Smiddy Hill to Wetherby Road again, and though a bus could be caught here, a wander into the Thorp Arch trading estate needs to be tagged onto a walk and this seems to be as good a time as any.
So onwards down Street 5, where few views can be gained of the British Library (lending division), despite it being the largest building on the site, and the early steps seem to be rather like any industrial estate, but things get interesting as we cross Avenue A as we are now within the ROF Thorpe Arch, a munitions works that opened in 1941 and filled shells and ammunition of all types over two periods before finally closing in 1958, leaving in excess of 600 buildings to be redeveloped. Many of the smaller sheds and factory buildings have endured in various uses, in among rather more prosaic industrial developments along Avenue C, Street 7 and Avenue E, but so have the concrete sheds surrounded by high embankments, and also a number of semi-underground bunkers, now home to the Thorp Arch retail park off Avenue D. It's odd to find an ex military site that is in public use and still retaining its original aspect, and most would either remain in use and secretive or be bulldozed out of existence. Altogether a fascinating site that needs a heavy duty guided tour to fully understand its scale and purpose, especially as so much of it remains, and there isn't an awful lot of information to be found about it elsewhere but it makes a whole lot more sense now than it did a year ago on my railway walk of a year ago. That's a path joined again as we depart on the NCN cycleway through what was I'm now sure was the works marshalling yard on the LNER metals, some shade appreciated at the closing of a hot walking day, arriving by the site of Thorpe Arch station on Church Causeway, still annoyingly concealed away by conifers. Dowkell Lane leads us to the final steps into Thorpe Arch, positively glowing in the sunshine so sorely missed when I was here eight weeks ago, and I could feel the need for some shandy in the Pax Inn and a sit watching the cricket in the neighbouring field, if it wasn't for the pub being closed and it being a very long bus ride back homewards, and the risk of not keeping a time check is exposed as the 770 bus arrives seconds after my concluding selfie is taken, all done before 3.50pm.
5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2383.3 miles
2016 Total: 368.9 miles
Up Country Total: 2167.8 miles
Solo Total: 2152.4 miles
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| Weeton Lane railway bridge, and the VR Victorian Post Box, not something you'd expect to find in the least auspicious corner of Huby |
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| A Mile down the lane and we finally meet Weeton itself, and the farm at the other top end of Gallogate Lane suggests we've almost been here before. |
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| Dunkeswick, three Farmsteads and a dog with a rabbit. |
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| Field walking to the copse containing a mysterious ruin! |
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| Netherby, barely qualifying as a hamlet, but this view is a lot more picturesque than extensive the caravan park. |
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| Clap Gate or Kearby? Who knows? Even the road sign lists it as 'Kearby with Netherby', so I'm none the wiser! |
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| Siclinghall Main Street. Probably the most appealing Main Street encountered so far. The best view of it is looking uphill, the best way to walk it is going downhill. |
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| Stockeld House and Park, this is literally the only view of the house you can get from the PROW, most of the park's visitors wouldn't even come this far. |
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| Crossing the Y&NMR line and the Thorp Arch - Spofforth greenway in a single stride, a familiar sight after a whole lot of unfamiliar ones. |
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| Kirk Deighton, providing another fine Main Street and the feeling that its road once had a lot more purpose than it does now. |
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| Hello to the A1(M), always making its presence felt in these parts. |
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| Wetherby Racecourse grandstand, that's another track visited and I'm still wondering why I've never been to any race meetings. |
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| Walton Road crossing houses and hello to the Y&NMR line again, you've probably seen these houses before and I don't care that I'm sharing them again. |
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| Walton village, with the tiny church of St Peter apparently towering above it, the odd perspective giving us a grand optical illusion in another lovely village. |
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| ROF Thorpe Arch (former) and I wish I could tell you what went on the various buildings of this former munitions works, but I honestly don't know. These buildings are located on the Avenue A - Street 5 corner. |
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| Concrete sheds with blast proof embankments on Street 7. |
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| Thorpe Arch retail park, where you can buy furniture in semi-underground bunkers, complete with grass roofs! |
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| The Pax Inn, Thorpe Arch, the village that shows its best face on a sunny day. |
Next Up: If there's a long trail going on this year, it probably goes to York.
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