Yorkshire Wolds Way #4 - Fridaythorpe to Wintringham 04/09/16

17.4 Miles, via Brubber Dale, Thixen Dale, Cow Wold, Vessey Pasture Dale, Deep Dale,
 Wharram Percy, Wharram le Street, Cowcliff Hill, Whitestone Dale, Settrington Beacon
  & Milburn Fields.

National Trail means Selfies!
#4 at Fridaythorpe

To late Summer holidays with My Parents then, to walk the remainder of the Yorkshire Wolds Way and hopeful for a largely relaxed week, away from the stresses of work, abandoned to its own devices as I dash out at lunchtime on Friday so we can all take a leisurely ride out to Filey to take up a week's residence at Perran Court in The Bay development, south of the town. Unfortunately, an easy start is not what we get as even before we've even gotten in through the front door, My Dad takes a fall in the hallway, cutting his forehead, and we have to get the ambulance responder called out to tend to him before spending a large chunk of the evening at A&E in Scarborough hospital as he gets assessed and glued back together. Fortunately, indications suggest that he hasn't done any lasting damage to himself and the worst knock has gone on his confidence, so we can all return to base for a very late tea and be thankful that we hadn't planned anything for Saturday, as we sleep off most of the morning and do little more than shopping and seeing a few sights through the teeming rain in the afternoon. Thus, Sunday morning means walking time, and rising for an early start as we have chosen to holiday close to our destination on the Yorkshire Wolds Way, and therefore about as far as we could get from our start point for the week, but we've ridden the A166 on our ride out so heading back out there offers no difficulties for my Parental taxi, and it's only a 45 minute burn away. An early start to proceedings then, as this will be the longest day on the Way, and I know that it could get challenging after many miles on the flatter lands of Yorkshire, so away from Fridaythorpe at 9.15am, with its village green and duck pond looking exactly the same as I did the last time I came this way (aside from all the cones set out for Wedding parking at St Mary's church) and head out to meet the farm track off the Thixendale Road, past the animal feed mill and out onto the high fields.

Selby to York 10/07/16

15.8 miles, via Barlby, Riccall, Naburn, Bishopthorpe, Knavesmire & The City Walls.

Saturday drops from the schedule as the weather looks gross and I'm really in need of a lie in, but I've still got a timetable to maintain so footfalls have to come on the Sunday, which requires some creative transport usage to get eastwards, and unlocking a travel achievement as we go, having now departed from all 17 of the platforms at Leeds station, checking off the elusive and rarely used #14 on this morning. So back to Selby for a 10.15am start, with a six hour walking window ahead of me and a day that looks distinctly changeable in the air, ready to burn another track to York as the last of the major railway paths in the locality is to be found out here, but there'll be a few miles to go before we get there, so early steps are made to Ousegate and on over the river to find a different, non-A19 track through New Barlby, rising onto the flood embankment around the backs of the council houses to see rather a lot of vegetation and little of the river itself. It's a theme that persists as the path takes us past the towering flour mills and eyes are cast to the river to take in what must be remnants of docks which once served them, a small crane being the most interesting relic seen atop the former landing stages. Pass around the back of the small council estate at the bottom edge of Barlby, but this supposed riverside walk isn't offering much that isn't vegetation, so steps are made across the field to York Road, arriving at about the point I left it when I passed through last year, to take a proper look at the village, the best course of action as picking up the railway route would involve pacing the side of the A19 bypass. It's an altogether odd place, with an old core around Barlby Hall, along with a spread of suburbia and council houses at both bottom and top, but lacking a pub and a church, and it's still growing too, a field being claimed for new developments when I'd figure that everyone should know the folly of wanting to live on the Selby Levels these days. Still onto the superseded main road on the path north, past Turnhead Farm and finally getting some railway relics with the crossing houses at Sand Lane and Newgrove farm, before the A19 is met, still sat on the alignment of the old ECML and with an independent cyclepath for us slow travellers, and it's an odd thought to ponder that 'Flying Scotsman', 'Mallard' and the Deltics all used to consider this line home.

Yorkshire Wolds Way #3 - Londesborough to Fridaythorpe 26/05/16

14.2 miles, via Nunburnholme, Warren Dale, Sylvan Dale, Nettle Dale, Pasture Dale, Huggate, Horse Dale & Holm Dale.


National Trail means Selfies!
#3 at Londesborough

Wednesday brings the rain, as is predictable for May, and a rest day is spent with limited activity, like hitting the Woodmansey garden centre for many, many cups of tea, and taking a ride into Beverley to check out the new Flemingate shopping centre and to get in a cut price meal in Prezzo. Rest is good when faced with the glum day that follows, with no chance of the sunshine enjoyed on the first two days, and so the will is stiffened and a determined attitude is donned for a 9.30am start in Londesborough, picking up the path outside All Saints church once again, and determining this estate village as notably desirable in a brick built and Arts & Crafts sort of way, before pressing off north-ish along a lane which seems to lack a name and carries us to the very lowest edge of the Wolds Terrain. Naturally, with limited elevation and grey skies, it's here we find an interpretative board, to point out the sights of Vale of York which are largely hidden by the low-hanging cloud, only Church Hill at Holme on Spalding Moor is identifiable. It's an altogether inauspicious start to the days trail, with only Cleaving Coombe illustrating the scenery you'd expect of the Wolds, and once the next lane has been met and the yard of Partridge Hall has been traversed, we hit a field walk around the low edge of Burnby Wold and the long grass gives the trews a heavy soaking, meaning that spirits start to dip as we meet the rough growth and sketchy path down towards Nunburnholme. It's a village with a stream, and nuns, if the name is to be believed, but we won't be seeing much more of it than a few houses and the quaint church of St James (complete with organ rehearsal!) before landing on another field walk, with more long grass getting me we right up to my thighs, and spirits aren't good as we note that we have dropped well below the expected altitudes of the Wolds and the coming paths are going to feature a lot more uphill trekking.

Yorkshire Wolds Way #2 - South Cave to Londesborough 24/05/16

14.4 miles, via Weedley Dale, High Hunsley, Swin Dale, Newbald Wold, Hessleskew, Arras
 & Goodmanham.

National Trail means Selfies!
#2 at South Cave

I'm not going for consecutive days of walking, even when the weather is spectacularly warm and clear, I still need my rest days and Monday will be spent on Retail Therapy and Fish'n'Chips in Hornsea (both rather belatedly) and driving around Holderness to watch the continuing disappearance of the caravan park and WW2 era battery at Kilnsea. Back to the trail on Tuesday then, with the parental taxi taking me to the edge of South Cave for a 9.45 start, with the sun blazing down once again, and after the gentle start to day one, we are straight into the hard stuff today, hitting the pull and ascent away from Beverley Road and up to Little Wold Plantation, for some shady going and the rise to Comberdale Hill for what ought to be our last views back to the trail seen before and our long time companion the Humber Estuary. The descent down to Weedley Dale is made through is subsidiary branch Comber Dale, and the high sided valley below would be a fascinating feature in itself but becomes even more interesting with the presence of the former Hull & Barnsley main line running through it. I've mentioned that the H&BR was a late arrival and always doomed failure in competition with the NER, and had to build a heavily engineered route through the Wolds as their rival had already claimed the easiest path, and part of that line, operational from 1885 to 1959 can be found here. The Drewton Estate might not want us to walk the Wolds Way down their chalk cutting anymore, but I'll have a trespass when at this close proximity, westwards down to Weedley Tunnel, short and in good condition, though gated off, and eastwards to Sugar Loaf tunnel, also short but in much worse condition with deteriorating lining, but accessible right through to the cutting infilling at its eastern portal. Worth a look with no one around to chase you away, and that will satiate my need for railway relics for now, as the mile-plus beast of Drewton Tunnel is too remote and inaccessible for the casual visitor.

Yorkshire Wolds Way #1 - Hessle to South Cave 22/05/16

12.9 miles, via North Ferriby, Welton, Wauldby & Brantingham.

National Trail means Selfies!
 Leg #1 at Hessle.

Spring Jollies are here already, as 2016 continues apace, and the feeling of not having achieved anything of substance so far this year has to be put aside as my path returns me to East Yorkshire and my next tilt a National Trail, as its been two years since my last one, and the nearest available one (aside from the Pennines's Way and Bridleway) is the Yorkshire Wolds Way, established in 1982 and a 79 mile coast to coast trek entirely within one county. It's a pretty sedate sort of trail too, not regularly topping 200m, and yet pleasingly remote without ever getting into moorland and feeling far from rural civilisation, but there will be ascents and descents, of remarkable steepness, along the way, so a bit of neat planning is in order to not get yourself too many long days over the long band of chalk that rises between the flatlands of the Vale of York and Holderness. My Parents have come along too, to share another residence at Barmston Farm, Woodmansey, and the relaxed days between the trail, and it's sort of fortunate that they are not of a mood to get too ambitious in their holidaying these days as I'm again in need of a taxi service to get me from point to point over the first three legs, and I'll be fancying just as much of a sit down and relax on my days off as they would as this is proving to be a generally tiring year in nearly all aspects. Anyway, enough rambling, after sitting Saturday out after a pleasingly long sleep and relax, the parental taxi is needed for a Sunday morning start on the Humber Estuary, amongst a landscape that couldn't be much further removed from that you would anticipate in the Yorkshire Wolds.

Church Fenton to York 23/04/16

16.6 miles, via Cawood, Kelfield, Stillingfleet, Naburn & Fulford.

If you've decided to travel from Church Fenton station, you have to start when the two-hourly trains allow you to, so against all my normal walking instincts the day has to start by hopping off the 8.50am arrival, with the weather bringing on a bright Spring-like sky, but a fearsome wind coming on from the North-West, and the day has to start with some trainspotting before striking off along Station Road to the village centre. The road beyond the White Horse is wholly new territory, finally making an appearance after many comfortable days inside West Yorkshire, and my impression of the village holds steady, continuing to grow as a commuter settlement but still retaining a lot of rural charm, and populous enough to sustain two pubs, as the Fenton Flyer is met as Main Street starts to snake its way back into the countryside. Run out of footways as Busk lane turns to Brackenhill Lane, but for once we seem to have found a country lane that doesn't have a lot of traffic on it, and once beyond the turn to Biggin, you could kid yourself that you have this flatland lane to yourself, and attention can wander to the extensive site to the north that was once RAF Church Fenton, and has since become East Leeds airport, which seems like a rather overly ambitious title at the moment, but let's see where the economics take it, eh? Press on past Paradise Grange farm, and on to the long drag to Violet Hill farm, with only Paradise Wood and the passage of trains on the distant ECML for company, and this landscape illustrates well the difficulties of any walk from West Yorkshire to York, as your path of choice will be wholly determined by where you can cross the Ouse or the Wharfe. No train action at all to be seen once I get to the footbridge over the railway, and the farm track walking continues, onto and around Primrose Hill farm before hitting a brief field walk to meet the avenue of trees at the outer end of Fostergate Lane, which leads us purposefully over towards the village of Cawood, where contemporary development has grown around the peripheries but the centre still has the feel of a 19th century fishing village. The 19th century feeling extends to the roads, clearly inadequate for the B1223 and B1222, but it would be impossible to widen in any way, and the traffic directing measures on the 1872 swing bridge don't feel like they've been updated since its construction, and it's a wonderful moment of serendipity coming my way as I cross over the Ouse and meet a horse-drawn Gypsy caravan crossing to the south.

Beverley to Kingston upon Hull 22/05/15

11.6 miles, via Beverley Beck and the River Hull.

Having not had to drop any days from my schedule on my Trail to the Coast has left me with a day free for a bonus walk, and it makes sense to make for the East Riding's other coast, and to the big city too, not least because a red route presents itself to guide me through this flat landscape. So get an early start from Beverley station at 9.15am, and I'll allow myself a few moments to admire the canopy roof, signal box and station house before moving away down Armstrong Way, and on to Flemingate, where the former industrial sites are getting redeveloped into a new shopping centre, which suggests that this town is in definitely in good health. This leads me to Beckside, now free of the road works that had blighted it all week (finally allowing view of the statue of a dock worker), and beyond lies Beverley Beck, the tidal channel which brought to outside word to the town for many centuries, canalised in 1802 and fuelling the relative industrial boom of the town in that period. Once even boatbuilding took place along this riverside, but now all the signs of industry have passed, the beck forming a starting point for leisure boating and the warehouse and dock buildings having gone to be replaced by apartments and a mid range waterside redevelopment, 'like Bruges' according to my Mother, but all feeling a bit airless and inert to me. Push on along recently developed path on the north side, under the A1174 relief road and into the countryside, thankfully on the other side of the beck from the anglers but having to negotiate the narrow road between boatyard and council depot, leading on to the crossing of the Beverley & Barmston drain, and passing across the flood lock at the small marina at the beck's end.

Beverley to Hornsea 20/05/15

16.7 miles, via Hull Bridge, Leven, Catwick & Sigglesthorne.

Only my fourth night away of my jollies, and already I'm on the last leg of my Trail to the Coast, which seemed like a serious undertaking when conceived during the winter, but now the sea lies only a few miles away across the flatlands of Holderness (or maybe not, that district might be to the south of my trail for today). A 9.35am start is due at Beverley station, but before the trail turns east, a large section of this town centre ought to be examined, taking my path down Trinity Lane, past the Masonic lodge, and to the bottom of Eastgate for a walk around the Minster Yard, taking a look at the outsize parish church which shows the town's medieval significance, before making my way up Highgate, and past the Wednesday Market Place, still setting out its stalls as we pass. Up the main drag of Butcher Row and Toll Gavel, showing the Georgian face of Beverley's second prosperous phase, passing the Saturday Market Place, and on to the other pair of Medieval relics, St Mary's church, which would be a proud parish church in any other town, and the 15th century brick Toll Bar, still with a main road running through its narrow entrance. Historical touring done, it's time to make for Norwood road, finally setting course for the coast and closing my loop around the town, crossing my previous path and following the passage of the A1035 over the railway and among the outer suburbs to cross the relief road and make my way along the shared use track alongside Beverley Meadows, which still functions as the town's common land. Break off the main road at Hull Bridge, taking the old road alignment to the original site of the crossing of the River Hull, replaced in 1976 after two centuries of use, and we turn to the bankside by the Crown & Anchor, rising onto the flood embankment and passing away for the noise of the roads to enjoy a leisurely, and long, walk at the riverside with fields for company and the town slowly receding from view.

Market Weighton to Beverley 18/05/15

12.2 miles, via Kiplingcotes and Cherry Burton (The Hudson Way)

It's raining, but the fortitude of the hardened walker has me setting out regardless (and wondering when that became the norm), with My Parents dropping me off at Market Hill in Market Weighton for a 10am start, and after a brief tour past the Londesborough Arms and All Saints church, the path is set to the site of the old railway station, where four lines of the NER once converged and now nothing at all remains. The ongoing route to Beverley does endure however, once the 1865 NER line, and in use for 100 years exactly, now forming the multi use Hudson Way, named after George, the infamous railway entrepreneur, MP and criminal, even though this line was constructed long after his fall from favour. Once away from prosaic redevelopment of Aspen Close and its public park, we have a rail trail to follow for most of the day's trekking, immediately setting off into the shade of trees, ideal for keeping the worst of the rain off, and rising gently along Goodmanham Wold, the change of scenery becoming immediately apparent when we meet the Red Lane overbridge. Even a gentle rise feels challenging after 20 miles of level walking, and so note is regularly taken down to Mill Beck and up to the rising Wolds as we pass the natural spring at St Helen's Well and cross over the Wolds Way at the missing underbridge on Goodmanham Dale Road. Tree cover passes, replaced by dense hedges, not offering any view at all of the route previously travelled, but rising hills of rough grass immediately shows up the Wolds profile, feeling like moorland even though we are nowhere near even the 100m contour, and the going distance becomes hard to perceive through this terrain, my inability to check my map because of the rain not helping matters any. Exposed chalk in the Kiplingcotes quarry nature reserve puts some more of the landscape character on display before lamenting the loss of the Southwold farm underbridge and not being able to get any kind of profile on the towering bridge over Goodmanhan Dale Road, but disappointments are put aside once we meet the site of Kiplingcotes station. The planning of the line took so long because of the stalling of the landowners at Dalton Park, only agreeing to its construction after accepting the offer of having their own private station, and thus this halt in the middle of nowhere came into being, still with all station buildings and fixtures, goods shed and signal box intact, a small scenario that really deserves a better day for photography.

Selby to Market Weighton 16/05/15

21.3 miles, via New Barlby, Osgodby, Cliffe Common, North Duffield, Bubwith (& the Rail Trail), Foggathorpe, Holme-on-Spalding-Moor & Shiptonthorpe.

Spring Jollies are upon us, and the latter half of the Trail to the Coast awaits, three days across the virgin territory of the East Riding of Yorkshire and no need to have My Parents driving me out to my start point as I can do that from home and only have to rely on them once I am deep into the lands of no railways. A long day awaits, so a very early start comes calling, off the train in Selby just before 9am and down to the river front to slip across the Ouse and into the remaining Riding that has so far gone unexplored, early footfalls carrying me along the A19 through New Barlby, past its assortment of tall factories and flour mills, and avoid a verge walk along the Barlby bypass by entering the bottom corner of the village and slipping across Barlby Meadows to the A19 and the former alignment of the ECML. A field walk leads over to Osgodby, and the side of the A63, offering a welcome footway as we are lead down to my target for the day, the 1848 Y&NMR Selby to Market Weighton line, forming an almost completely straight route across the flattest sort of terrain, before closure in 1954. The alignment is far from completely intact, of course, so we can enjoy less than a mile of formation, maintained as a nature and wildlife reserve by the local parish councils, before running out at Cliffe Common, were the intersecting county lanes all present the original crossing houses, still in use but all showing later extensions that make you wonder why the residents didn't just seek a larger house. This remote corner of level fields also had a station, which gives you a picture of mid 19th century economics, but the formation beyond isn't easily traceable, so no path is made toward Menthorpe Gate and the insurmountable problem of the river Derwent, instead having to take the verge walk along Lowmoor Road northwards, through many arable fields and past the business park that occupies the home of the former Whitemoor Colliery (once part of the famous and extensive Selby Coalfield).