Lockdown: Day 20 - 12/04/20

Organizing my annual leave to give me a run of three four-day weeks for my return to work turns out to have been an excellent idea, as it has allowed me to not get too deep into the routine of work before being able to take some time out again, which is just fine as the lone Easter weekend lands between the second and third of these, as bright weather lands on both the Saturday and Sunday, allowing me to get out for a stretch on the mornings of both. It's a grand feeling to get out with the Spring season filling the environment, with blossoms blooming on the trees, especially on the run by Station Road rec, and the air being thick with the sound of birdsong, feeling so much louder with the background hum of traffic being almost completely absent, and getting a reverse trip out on the Morley Circuit route allows me a fresh perspective on the fields to the east of town, while also landing me above the station when a trio of Freightliner 66s run light into Morley tunnel, my first such spot in all the years that I've lived out here. Elsewhere, keeping in regular contact with Mum has kept us engaged while she endures the enforced isolation of lockdown while being in a notional high-risk group, as we have gotten into a routine of speaking on the phone three times per week, to talk around the business of self-isolation and the big picture of the pandemic, and also to turn over just about any other topic of conversation that we can find as it drops into our heads. Indeed, I think she's adapting to the situation rather well, by keeping her shopping needs limited, finding plenty of exercise opportunities with the business of gardening and yard work, and taking up a seated gym routine that already seems to be working out for her, and she's even mastered the arts of modern communication, with a significant number of members of her church's congregation having formed a group on Zoom, the video app of the hour. A remarkable enough achievement when you consider just how many of them are over 80, and probably more technologically engaged than I am at present, and this has allowed them to continue the fellowship that lockdown has denied them over the last few weeks, with the 40 minute free sessions having provided enough time for around 20 of them to have a social coffee and conflab at a safe remove, and to have services in the run into Easter, which is cheering news for all involved, as these church folks are people that i have known for much of my life and I'm glad that enforced isolation hasn't kept them too far removed from each other.

Lockdown: Day 13 - 05/04/20

The first week of Lockdown ended pretty much as it started, with myself not in work and getting out of the house only to take in an hour's trip around my exercise circuit to the east of Morley, enduring much lower temperatures and gloomier skies than we'd seen over the previous excursions out, once again sharing the paths only with dog-walkers and the few others who cannot abide being confined to their residences while being kept out of work or compelled to be at home with their kids. Working from home or enforced self isolation aren't for me though, as I've got a job at the hospital to return to, rising with the lark on Tuesday morning to see just how thoroughly the world has changed in the week that I've been at home, choosing to travel to Leeds by train as it's still the quickest option for getting down the hill, heading down to the station and noting that the long string of cars that usually stretches up much of the length of Station Road has not come out, and that the businesses at the bottom of the lane that had still been open during the preceding week have all shut up shop now. Landing at Morley station is an even more surreal experience, as the local train services have been reduced further from the level put on during the first week of Lockdown, and only six people are out to catch the 0729 service, a huge reduction in numbers from usual, like down from the 70+ who would usually turn out, and it's even quieter than a Christmas Eve might be, with the train actually forming the Manchester - Hull service, and stopping all stations rather than running as a express, and even then running at maybe 10% seated capacity as so few people need to be travelling into the city. So there's no real need to be anxious about keeping your mandated 2m distance from your fellow travelers, as there are so few people out to begin with (and it's worth noting that TPE were running 6 carriage trains on the local services in the initial week of the restricted timetable, but there's only a need put on a 3 car unit this time around), and social distancing when passing through Leeds station is just as easy as I've never seen the place so empty, with there being almost as many station personnel as travelers in the place, along with a small phalanx of police officers checking up on whether we really need to be in the city at such a time of day. I do, as I work at the hospital and the terrain of Leeds between the station and the LGI seems devoid of all life, aside from the guys out tending the extensive roadworks, with most of the establishments and offices around Infirmary Street, East Parade and Park Square having shut up for the duration, with the traffic levels reduced to a minimum, not quite looking like a ghost town but still eerily quite for 8am on a weekday.

Lockdown: Day 6 - 29/03/20

So it came to pass that on Tuesday 24th March, the nation officially went into Lockdown because of the Corona Virus outbreak, shutting down the retail sector and effectively sending a huge swathe of the population into enforced self-isolation, largely due to too many people not seeming to appreciate the urgency of the situation, and only taking matters seriously when actually told to do so, I'd guess because too many people think rules do not apply to themselves, only to the sort of people whom they'd believe need social control. That leaves those in the so-called Key Worker sectors to remain in business, those operating the food supply, the distribution and power operators, and naturally the NHS, to massively reduce the amount of social contact in the population in a hope of restricting and arresting the infection rate of COVID-19 as it grows into the largest global health emergency in over a century. Not that any of that has made an immediate difference to myself, as the subsequent week to the announcement has had me Not in Work and already doing my bit for self-isolation and social distancing by staying at home to pay attention to my non-walking related interests and needs, but exercise has to be considered a pressing necessity, just to prevent my brain going numb and my limbs going lazy, and thus a stretching route had to be found locally, keeping as far away from other people as possible while providing enough of a challenge to make it worthwhile for proper exercise. It's thus mildly amazing that an adequate route into the countryside was assembled on my very first effort, picking a path of almost 3 miles in to the east of Morley, starting out at the railway station, and setting off along Valley Road, above the tunnel portal and below the cliffs where the colliery once stood, to pass the site of the borough gasworks and around the Valley Mill site, to land by the footbridge that wasn't in situ in 2013, to take us over the railway and onto the alleged country lane that leads up the hill to the turn to Broad Oaks farm. The farm driveway leads to the fine view over the city of Leeds and then down through the fields to the old footbridge over the railway, which we cross again to meet the woodland trail behind the White Rose Centre, which shifts us southbound onto the right of way that traces the cutting and embankment of the line as it leads us back to the 'new' footbridge, which we cross again to turn the path into a figure-eight route. We then split from the tarmacked path to follow the rough path west up onto Daisy Hill, where suburbia has grown at Morley's eastern fringe around the old mill site and equestrian farm, keeping a suitable distance from the bungalows and semis before we reach the terraces on New Bank Street and slip down the path by the side of the Station Road recreation ground before sealing the loop by returning to the station as the descending road passes Dartmouth Mill.

Rumination: COVID-19

It should come as a surprise to no one that we are now officially on hiatus, as my ninth season of walking is suspended until further notice as measures to restrict the spread of the Corona Virus are being put into place to attempt to reduce the risk of increasing the COVID-19 infection rate, a move that I hoped wouldn't be coming, but the speed of the evolution of events over the last week has ultimately rendered inevitable. It's a huge shame on the personal level, especially as I had just arrived at the start of a 10 day break from work, which I was due to spend Down Country, helping Mum with a heavy dose of Spring cleaning of stuff that got somehow lost in the whirl of events of last year, during which we were scheduled to travel to London to see the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery and now it looks like doing anything like that will not be possible for a while. We had both acknowledged that a jaunt down to London looked unwise a week ago, but absolute confirmation came with the announcement of the gallery's closure on the 18th, along with advice against all non-essential travel being issued on the 16th, meaning that I won't be travelling anywhere as far away as Leicester for the foreseeable future, and advice for the over 70s to self-isolate being given on the 15th means that Mum is going to be home alone for a while too. As public transport was still running to a regular timetable this weekend, my hope was still to get out on one last walk so that I wouldn't feel like all of Spring was to be lost, slipping out un-noticed on an under-used train to an under-populated corner of the county, burning off a 5 hour circuit before returning to formal social distancing and self isolation back in Morley, but the preceding evening was filled with disturbed and stressed-out sleep, as if my sub-conscious was telling me that the time to stop had already arrived. Thus that is where we are, with me having been told to not think that I know better, staying in while the wider world starts to shit down around us, with the schools having closed down on Friday, the leisure and service sector having had their last night in business on Saturday, and the sporting calendar having shut down more than a week ago, with a restricted public transport schedule to start on Monday 23rd, the next act has to be lockdown, effectively closing down everything except essential services, and then we shall all be into completely unknown territory.

Ravensthorpe to Slaithwaite 14/03/20

13.4 miles, via Northorpe, Little London City, Kitson Hill, Lower Row, Cooper Bridge, Bradley,
 Bradley Bar, Fixby, Round Hill Bottom, Badger Hill, Fixby Ridge, Ainley Top, Lindley Moor, 
  Mount, Hirst Wood, Scapegoat Hill, Clough Head, and Crimble Clough.

It's been in the background since my walking season opened out, but this week the Wuhan Covid-19 Outbreak has officially spread enough to be classified as a global pandemic, and that means that enforced social distancing and self-isolation are a near certainty in the coming weeks, and the probable restriction of travel means that a severe crimp on my walking plans as usage of public transport for leisure, and potentially exposing myself and others to the risks of the Coronavirus, will be an absolute no-no for a while. There's no formal restrictions in place yet, and working in the NHS means that I'm not likely to be able to be kept out of work unless I'm felled by illness, and on the edge of the walking year really getting going, there's a significant chance that all of Spring will be lost as the country does what it can to restrict movement and contain the spread of this virus, so we'd better put down some miles on the trail before the opportunity gets taken away, pulling up a left over trip from last year to take us over the hills between Calder and Colne. So away from Ravensthorpe at 10.15am, leaving the station for the fourth time, having yet to end a walk there, but pressing north for the first time, and finding it frustrating that it's hard to get a good look at the L&YR vintage goods shed, as it's hidden away just a bit too deeply in its industrial estate, so we head on over the Calder via the Truss bridge, noting that the river looks placid below, and that there is access to the north bank path that I failed to see in 2012, before press up towards the A644 between the mass of riverside industry and long runs of terraces. Cross over the Huddersfield Road and get tied up with the paths of the roads around the traffic islands that I believe simplify access to the retail park across the way, on the site of the old gasworks just along from St Saviour's church and the old Co-operative store, where we take a right turn onto North Road, which goes further to reveal the extent of Ravensthorpe as we pass its terraced face and the Diamond Wood school, noting that both churches and pubs along the way have been re-purposed to suit the needs of the local population. Pass into Northorpe, if it really is a place, as the lane divides, with both portions meeting the site of the station on the former L&YR Mirfield - Low Moor lines, of which some embankment and retaining walls endure, making this corner of the village feel over-served in the pre-suburban past, as it sits just a short way south of the equally lost station on the L&NWR Heaton Lodge - Wortley lines, which we touch base with again, along with The Plough inn as we start to graze the upper edge of Mirfield proper, as Shillbank Lane passes above the suburban splurge over the railway alignment to meet Flash Lane, where proud terraces face the view down to St Mary's church.

Mirfield to New Pudsey 07/03/20

13.5 miles, via Knowl, Old Bank, Sunny Bank, Roberttown, Liversedge (Knowler Hill & 
 Littletown), Royds Park, Spen Lower, Cleckheaton Spen, Gomersal tunnel, Hunsworth, East 
  Bierley, Tong Street, Holme Wood estate, Tyersal, and Pudsey (Delph End & Owl Cotes Hill).

After the most productive of Walking Februaries, the March of this year is probably not going to be quite as serious as most that have preceded it, not least because we've effectively had one of its weekends lopped off, and having done my press towards Calderdale two weeks back, that teaser of the coming year will still not be picked up on as early season going has us keeping closer to home once again to fill in another trajectory between the railway lines to the Calder Valley and the big city of Bradford, especially as the month's weather is looking aggressively mediocre still. So we ride the rails out to Mirfield again, finally putting this station to good to use after so many years away, alighting at a measure after 9.40am, as the effects of Northern Fail's business ripple onward, setting off to the north again, past the Lidl and Bull Bridge to take a right onto the Huddersfield road this time, noting that this corner of the town is called Eastthorpe, which convinces me that this place is a lot of smaller settlements that coalesced into a larger one, even gaining itself a town hall on the Knowl Road corner in the 19th century, which the Salvation Army occupy much of these days. This will be our path up from the low portion of town, elevating us away among a run of proud run of Victorian terraces with the old Liberal Club among them, with the path of the lost L&NWR Leeds New Lines only visible to those who might know what to see in their absence, before we have Knowl Park arriving to the east, offering no sightlines toward the Parish Church, but revealing considerable altitude gained away from the Calder Valley, before we rise on to the urban village of Knowl, with its own smart shopping parade and nursery in the old Wesleyan chapel. Onwards as the lane twists its merry way past the Zion Chapel in its old Sunday school, and the village Community Centre in the old school on Water Royd Lane, getting beyond the reach of the formerly rural and 19th century stretch of Mirfield as we pass the Savile Arms on the Lee Green corner, with Old Bank Road displaying the last run of town houses and terraces on its way up to the Co-op, where our arrival coincides with the morning's fresh bread delivery. Take a left onto Sunny Bank Road, which gets us back onto a directly northwards run, revealing that Mirfield does indeed have a lot of suburbia at it's northern edge, all of it poorly placed for the railway station, but once past the shops around Chelle's Deli-Cafe, we find ourselves close to the A62 as it bypasses Roberttown, and ahead of the Fountain Inn junction we can look east to contextualize our location, high on the west side of the Spen Valley, looking across the fields to the high points of greater Dewsbury.

Ravensthorpe to Bramley 29/02/20

14.5 miles, via Thornhill Lees, Dewsbury Mills, Crow Nest Park, Dewsbury Moor,  

 Heckmondwike, Westfield, Popely Fields, Gomersal, Swincliffe, Birkenshaw, Tong Street, 

  Pit Hill, Holme, Black Carr wood, The Bank, Tyersal embankment, Greenside tunnel, 

   Pudsey (Windmill Hill, Chapeltown & Lowtown), and Swinnow Moor.

After a few weekends away, we get back on Saturday walking and just as well, as it's the fifth one in February as our Leap Year day makes itself available for the first time during my walking career, and I ought to have an ambitious trip planned for such an auspicious occasion, but the weather projections have proved so wildly inconsistent, I not feeling brave at all, indeed, I'm only getting out because this opportunity won't be repeated until 2048, when I'll be 73 and will probably have run short of walking ambition and available paths. So to Ravensthorpe we ride, departing the station at 10.15am, using the line of the Calder for another jump off, setting off down Ravensthorpe Road again, among the parades of semis and industrial plants, spotting a rare appearance of a 144 Pacer unit in the wild as it passes on the Wakefield line before we touch the corner of Thornhill Lees and find our fresh course northwards for the day, joining Forge Lane by the Filltex factory and spot a bridge to nowhere as we pass over it, which once allowed rail access to the Thornhill Ironworks which once filled the derelict sit to the east. Cross the channel of the C&HN and move to pass under the railway where a mass of metalwork carries the lines overhead, at a remarkable width as we land between the former Thornhill station and junction, moving on towards Dewsbury in the direction of Ratcliffe Mills and Holy Innocents church, before we take a sharp left to cross the Calder with the B6117 via Cleggford Bridge, with the river looking about as high as its capacity allows, and head along Thornhill Road past the imposing bulk of Dewbury Mills. There's rather a lot of suburban growth on this low patch in the loop of the Calder, ahead of the river's runoff channel, which we first met in 2012 and definitely looks like it had floodwaters flowing though it in the last month, which used to be a canal in its original incarnation, and we'll spy its house before passing though the industrial band beyond where we rise to pass under the mainline railway, where TPE's 802 Nova units provide new spotting opportunities, and Fall Lane rises further beyond to land us on the A644 Huddersfield Road by Ravens Lodge house. Cross to ascend Temple Road, between St Paulinus RC school and the Boothroyd Primary academy, arriving on Cemetery Road above the graveyard and mortuary chapels, and just across from Crow Nest Park, Dewsbury's best green space, with trees boldly surrounding its perimeter and the imposing, and eponymous, house dominating its centre, and after a glum looking opening to the trip, as we arrive above the Spen Valley, I allow myself to speculate that we might actually have a nice day on our hands as we continue to press north.