Burley in Wharfedale to Starbeck 01/07/17

14.9 miles, via Askwith, Clifton, Lindley Wood reservoir, Norwood Edge, Stainburn Forest,
 Little Alms Cliff, Moor Park, Beckwithshaw, Harlow Hill, West Park, & The Stray.

Back to the Wharfedale and Washburn bracket we go, our main target for the early summer wanderings, wondering if this part of the world seems incapable of bringing the warm weather in the early going of the day as cloud cover reigns once more on another day that promised unbroken sunshine, dropping ourselves off at Burley in Wharfedale station at 9.25am after some excellent train connection discipline at Leeds. It's about three years since I was last here, out for le Grand Depart of the Tour de France, my sole previous encounter with the town, and the impression gained then is still much the same now, as it's a proud Victorian suburb somehow transported away from the city it ought to be attached to, clearly an expensive place to live judging by the house sizes down Station Road and the style of boutiques to be found on Main Street. It feels like I'm headed out to the A65 bypass once again as previously seen pavements are traversed, all looking a bit less busy this time around, but a new course is forthcoming away from the stone cottages and terraces to find the bridleway that leads under the bypass road to meet Leather Bank, and the way out to the Wharfe crossing. There's more to see down here than you might think, certainly more houses than expected, and past Greenholme Farm, it would be easy to meet the path by the Goit channel to Burley's mills and start heading south again, instead of passing over it to find Burley's famous stepping stones, which I approach with some trepidation seeing as my only other attempt to cross the Wharfe on stones ended in failure, but thankfully these are wider and flatter than those at Drebley, and a passage across below the weir isn't challenging despite the higher level of water after much rain in the last week. Good to see them well used too, but it looks like remedial work might be necessary in the future as the north bank seems to be in retreat, and the case for a proper crossing surely ought to be made, but that can wait for another time, as we pass away from the river, as the brief sunny spell for the crossing ends, hitting the field walk to the north and the pull uphill starts, up through fields full of cattle and sheep, which offer some excellent profiles of the edges of Burley and Ilkley moors as we look back, getting the feeling that the Wharfedale panoramas will be a feature of the early session, rising onwards to meet the bridleway and hard track by a remote cottage, that leads us up to Askwith, already acknowledged as a picturesque corner of North Yorkshire that offers bucolic charm and excellent Wharfedale views in equal measure.
 

Burley in Wharfedale, Victorian suburbia in the countryside.

Burley Weir and Stepping Stones.

 

Askwith brings the picturesque.

Passing through various small farming communities does get you wondering if roadside egg selling really is a profitable industry, and it's a though to carry with you as the path heads onwards uphill, tacking to the north east and rising on Hallam Lane, with excellent views offered towards Caley park and the Chevin, and among much evidence of cattle movements, taking the lower path at the junction up to Grassgarth Farm, and the green track rapidly degenerates as we pass on to the crossing of Mill Dam Beck. A field walk follows, rising over a blind hill and through the meadows in the direction of Covey Hall farm, where the path hasn't been directed out of the yard, and so an incident occurs as I disrupt the herding and penning of sheep as I try make my passage across, leaving numerous mildly disturbed animals in my wake as another field walk is gained, among much less peturbable beasts, across the pastures below Lane Head farm. Still tracking eastwards, we soon meet the field path that leads up towards Clifton, gaining views across the Aire - Wharfe gap and taking great care not to disturb the horses as a very rough filed is crossed before finding the path that leads through someone's front garden as we enter this hamlet that sits high above Otley, in seemingly splendid isolation just across the border in North Yorkshire. A grand place to come for a country retreat with a view, the perspective over Wharfedale being one that would probably never get old, and I'd bag the old chapel as the most desirable of the homes up here, really not all that far below the edge of Weston Moor, visible beyond the dairy fields, and the lane beyond also a grand view to Beamsley Beacon and Round Hill, far back at Wharfedale's angle into the National Park. Attention goes forward to the passage across Newall Carr Road, and following the path of the Six Dales Trail as we pass below the Clifton mast, high above Otley, and the attention goes towards lower Wharfedale as we pass over the cleft of Hol Beck (a name that seems familiar) and onto the field edge to the east, before we follow the trail markers onto the fields to the north, to make our dynamic shift over into the Washburn valley, but sadly the waymarkers do not indicate the correct path well. It's rather too easy to follow the trod over to the back of Haddockstones plantation, and thus on to the farm of the same name, meaning that we might as well have not bothered trying to come this way as other paths have to be regained to head over to Crag Farm and plantation, and the way we ought to have come across, heading down the driveway to focus our attention on the panorama of the Washburn, with the Norwood Edge mast rising high above the forests on the high bank that looms large over the river and the reservoirs far below.

Covey Hall farm and causing a sheep-related incident.

Clifton, with Wharfedale view as standard.

Clifton Mast, above Otley.

The descent into the Washburn, Norwood Edge at centre.

Road walking resumes as we meet the B6451, passing Rose Tree farm, and keeping the wits sharp as the traffic takes on the twisty and descending lane like it's Brands Hatch, and as 100m of elevation is lost since entering the valley, the way ahead is clearly visible, rising much higher and more quickly up the opposite side, but before we beat the road up there, we've got Lindley Wood reservoir to admire, spread down the valley and already familiar from last year's passage across its viaduct, with the sun making another appearance as we go across, to literally illuminate the highlights of the morning. The route forwards is all uphill, passing the edge of Lindley Wood and killing the pace, somewhat, and finding that the scattered hamlet of Norwood Bottom has more to it than you might think, rising to pass the old Methodist Chapel and Norwood Hall, before taking a field detour to cut off a corner at the edge of Warren Plantation before re-joining the road by the entrances to Stainburn Forest, which seems be a hotbed for off-road cycling. Our way east, through the lower reaches of the Norwood Edge plantation, far below the mast, is thankfully free of mountain bikers, but views from between the older conifers above and younger trees below are not much forthcoming, as the path rises gently before passing into open fields above Prospecthouse farm, an apt name as the views across both Washburn and Wharfe are excellent, though the field walk is rough and uneven, rising among boulders and wild plant growth to get back into Stainburn Forest and the day's summit, above 270m. An open track offers itself, but the right of way is rather hidden, behind some obscuring tree growth to be found following the boundary wall between the old parishes of Lindley and Norwood, a route that is thankfully never in doubt, tracking to the north east, between a dense and ordered planting of conifers above, and a more random scattering of deciduous trees below. Pressing on we meet an outcropping of gritstone boulders, the Hunter's Stone, met just as the sunshine decides to make itself permanent on the day, an indictor that this was once the wild and remote top of Stainburn Moor before the Forestry Commission started their works up here, and the ongoing route gets frustrating, as the moorland turf is still in place, containing much of last week's rain and allowing it to spill into my boots with frustrating regularity. Thus we press on, thankful for the shade and find open sections to the south where felling and replanting has gone on to open up the woodland, for a while at least, but also to give me a reminder of why I dislike plantation walking so much, as distances get warped and the views are rarely rewarding, we might have had only a mile of it to do today, but it's more than enough, so joy unrefined comes along as we pass out of it and onto the open fields below Little Alms Cliff, and the views resume, in extremis.

Lindley Wood Reservoir.

Norwood Edge Plantation.

Above Prosepecthouse, looking over the Washburn.

Stainburn Forest.

Located only three field enclosures distant, it might be a more modest gritstone outcrop than its namesake off to the south east, distinctly less prominent in the landscape but actually at a higher elevation, about 250m up, it brings the viewpoint that I had hoped to get when visiting Almscliffe Crag, revealing a panorama to the north that is actually pretty breath-taking, indeed this whole upland does as familiar points to the north appear as soon as we are out of the woods, the listening station at RAF Menwith Hill being the obvious location just a couple of miles distant. The northern panorama revealed is the view that stitches together all the lands above Lower Wharfedale and reveals the relative proximity of Nidderdale to West Yorkshire, as it's possible to take in everything on the distant horizon, from Barden Fell and Simon's Seat at the western edge, above upper Wharfedale, across Grassington Moor and up to Great Whernside, the high moors above Scar House Reservoir, the mast on Nought Moor, and Brimham Moor and rocks rising above the middle of Nidderdale. To the east, the distant bulk of the North York Moors rises, from its eastern edge near Osmotherly and across Sutton Bank and the Kilburn White horse, right around to the Howardian Hills and the top edge of the Yorkshire Wolds adding to a 180 degree view that easily trumps the view of it's near neighbour, and it might have been even better, if it wasn't for the trees of Stainburn Forest obscuring everything to the south, still it's another place to get a fresh persecpective on Norwood Edge, not often seen from this angle. I'll lunch here, despite the breeze, and pull out the binoculars to absorb just about as much as the eye can see, discovering after only 18 months that they actually work much better if I use them with my glasses off, and the view to the immediate east advertises the way that I think we ought to be travelling towards Harrogate, above Oakdale and the woods up to Birk Crag, and onwards over the top of Harlow Hill. There's a long ways to go before we get there though, departing Little Alms cliff after an appropriately long break and descending to meet Broad Dubb lane and passing the eastern entrance to Stainburn Forest, still taking in the views and getting better sight of Scargill Reservoir and the oft-seen windfarm on Knabs Ridge, pressing on along the dead straight Norwood Road, which gives plenty of warning of the sparse oncoming traffic, that seems to be using this lane as a good spot for a savage burn. Even once the forested top has been cleared there still aren't many views to be had to the south, as all we get are fields leading over to the masts atop Briscoe Ridge, and it's a long plod along the gradual descent of the lane to meet the outer edge of Moor Park and Phoenix farm, our first close signs of civilisation in a long while, well illustrating the emptiness of this particular quarter of North Yorkshire.

Little Alms Cliff, the county's best hidden viewpoint.

Looking back over Stainburn Forest.

High Nidderdale, RAF Menwith Hill, Brimham Moor,
Knabs Ridge wind farm & Scargill Reservoir, from Broad Dubb Lane.

Norwood Road, going east.

The move back towards the town progresses along the long perimeter wall of Moor Park, the plantation at the western edge gradually passing to reveal the extent of the park, which is pretty considerable, with a Victorian vintage house and farm at its centre, and with cottages by the entrance gate, looking like its most a residential redevelopment these days but has so far resisted growth beyond its initial footprint of buildings. Pace on along the lane, following the perimeter wall to meet the B6161, which gives us a footway of sorts as we shift northwards up to the village of Beckwithshaw, our first real settlement since Askwith, and not an especially large place but spread out around two road junctions, with the older farmsteads being by the one to Shaw Lane, with what looks like the planned estate village sitting on Otley Road to the north. It has a school, a church and some particularly sympathetic suburban growth, along with a pub, the Smith's Arms that seems a very popular watering spot with cyclists, and the turn onto the B6162 has us finally putting Moor Park behind us as we press on along what was once the red route from Harrogate into Wharfedale. Pace the roadside as far as Woodside farm before finding there's a footway on the other side, allowing less fraught going as the road presses on past Beaver Horse shop and the Bluecoat wood nursery, and soon hitting the rise up by the perimeter of RHS Garden Harlow Carr and the path of the Ringway, confirming my impression that the views across the fields lead all the way to Nidderdale. Harrogate awaits beyond there, rising with the lane into the suburb of Harlow Hill, past the factories and the Pine Marten pub to the south, and the cemetery and chapel as the road crests, meeting some very 80s suburbia at the sides of Otley Road and getting good sight of the water tower and unspecified tower across the playing fields, which loom large over this corner of the town. Press on as the town turns to upscale stone terraces with many of the Hornbeam trees that seem to a feature of the local landscape, and descending on through 1920 and 30s suburbia and on towards the Victorian and Edwardian town, featuring that scale of townhouses and terraces that always seemed way too large for normal family living, passing the grounds of the Grammar school and soon dropping out on the edge of West Park. It's odd to be so close to the centre of the town so soon, already visible across the parklands to the north, but this is a town that's smaller than I think it is, though certainly not one that's short on stature, as the late Georgian and early Victorian villas that face the parks prove, a town of many facets that still retains so much of the feel of the Spa town that is used to be, looking its best in the summer sun as we move on across it, avoiding the town centre and setting course for an easterly route across The Stray.

Moor Park.

Beckwithshaw.

Harlow Hill water tower.

West Park, Harrogate.

 

Before we get there, we can run around Trinity Road, on the western edge, where the proudly spired Trinity Methodist church stands on the site of the first station in Harrogate proper, that of the Y&NMR, which operated between 1848 and 1862, now long lost to time but memorialized by a tablet in the park, and the crowds of Italianate villas are left behind as we cross the A61 to join the Stray, the extensive parklands that were laid out when the town prospered and have endured ever since. The fields are littered with paths, but not necessarily in the directions I wish to travel, so grass across is paced as well making my way along the tree lined boulevards to pass over the railway and meet the path that carries on along the southern edge of The Stray, and on a hot afternoon like this, I might have expected to see bigger crowds out here, there's one large on set out in the plot by Stray Rein, ready to barbecue, but beyond there's not a lot of people out, no one out for ballgames or sunbathing, all the activity is dog walking and cycling on the paths. Strange that the view to the few notable buildings on the northern edge should seem familiar seeing as I've only been here once before, and the feeling is that these fields ought to have a better class of development along the southern boundary, as there seem to be too many unappealing 70s apartment buildings and poorly located semis along the edge of Slingsby Walk, the former up to Oatlands Drive and the latter up to Wetherby Road, which are at least explained by the dispersal of the grounds of Wedderburn House, still in situ by the parkside. Roll on to pass Harrogate District Hospital, which might offer some of its wards views across the parklands, before concluding our walk across the Stray at Knareborough Road, soon slipping back into suburbia, both stone terraced and council estate-y which gives the town the oddest of feelings, like the passage in Leeds through Harehills, Gipton, Gledhow, Oakwood and Roundhay, only even more smushed together. There's no other route to our finish line down this way, so the pace is kept up as the Hornbeam trees keep on coming and the housing styles look nothing like those in other towns (a remarkable achievement that still surprises), rolling on past one of the few urban caravan parks that I've ever encountered and meeting the many terraces of Starbeck, right as the sign is passed. The only actually ancient looking building in the town turns out to have been the Workhouse, and everything else is of a vintage that post-dates the railway, which grew the town here when the Leeds & Thirsk parked their Harrogate station here in 1848, and the immediate environs are well worth a look, especially the railway cottages and signal box that still controls the level crossing on the A59, doing a circuit before concluding the day at 3.50pm, checking another station off the list as we go.

Trinity Methodist Church, on the Y&NMR Harrogate station site.

 

The Stray, Harrogate's Epic Parkland.

Knaresborough Road.

Railway Cottages and Signal Box, Starbeck.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2857.6 miles
2017 Total: 292.6 miles
Up Country Total: 2613.3 miles
Solo Total: 2601.3 miles

Next Up: Wharfedale and the Washburn again, just to check an obscure station off the list.