So a week of being NIW, and having started it with a colleague's birthday bash, featuring me getting blasted and dominating the karaoke (not that I can actually sing, but can give an impression of knowing what I'm meant to be doing), and following that by staying up to watch the worst Superbowl in at least a dozen seasons, the need for some walking is in order once the hangovers have dissipated. Of course, this is already turning into one of the most inconsistently weathered Februarys in recent times after the consistently grey January, so the weather eye has to be keen to spot the open windows, and time shouldn't be wasted with excess travelling, so let's start out from home. The Dales Way and the High Moors absorbed so much of last year, and after the first pair of trips in February, no more trips were made in the locality of Morley, so I may have made the North Country feel small, but I should now start making the less remote parts of West Yorkshire seem a bit closer together. So onward to spend more time on the local paths, starting by walking to the one notable place in West Yorkshire that I have avoided on all my trails so far...
Morley to Bradford, via Gildersome, Drighlington, Birkenshaw and East Bierley. 9.4 miles
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| Friends Meeting House, Gildersome |
The path to Bradford, and for all my future walks to the administrative centres of West Yorkshire, starts at Morley Town Hall, and I'll spare you a picture of me stood beside it as that has already been seen at the start of my Walk to Windermere, and you don't need that with every trip from this town to the five corners of the county. Anyway, 10.05am and the trail heads north, down Queen Street and past Scatcherd Park and the War Memorial, but turning away from the main road to down to Morley bottoms and instead ascending Dawson Hill via the rough and remote-feeling track that runs up behind the Indian restaurant that I will always call Amaan's, gaining elevated views before passing the back of Morley hall and returning down to Brunswick Street, an odd little country tack in the middle of town. From there, cut across the green to meet the A643, and to head away from Morley along Asquith Avenue, another haul through the variety of 20th century building styles before crossing over the M621 and its panoramic view towards Leeds, and then passing into countryside through Dean Wood and rising to cross Gelderd Road, the A62, and arriving on the edge of Gildersome. For a village so close to home, this is probably only the fourth time I have passed through it, and the southern portion screams of 1970s satellite town, with only the Old Griffin Head Inn suggesting a bit of vintage, and depart Town Street by the War Memorial to Finkle Lane, where some older houses dwell, and finally depart the pavements to follow the footpath around the back of Gildersome Primary School, also obtaining views into a variety of back gardens before being dropped out on Street Lane, by the Friends Meeting House, an austerely built but rare example of 18th century Quaker architecture. It's probably the most interesting building in town, as I may have said before, because we now meet Woodhead Lane and join the path of the Leeds Country Way to head into the fields properly, and some sticky going indicates that recent wet weather is probably going to make the countryside walking somewhat slower and dirtier than I had anticipated.
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| Adwalton Moor Battlefield |
Separating from the LCW route, my path up towards Drighlington appears obvious stretching up the fields, but getting to it proves challenging as I have to traverse my way across some rough ground that is midway between a spoil heap and a BMX track, and that's slippery going on the slopes and ankle deep mud on the level sections before finally finding my way the nicely impacted farm track that drags its way uphill, offering a view towards Rombalds moor, distant to the north above Airedale, and its rather slow of me to have only recently realised that I dwell on the Aire-Calder watershed and you don't have to venture too far from home to get distinct views into both landscapes. Meet Wakefield Road, the old turnpike between Wakey and Bradford, which would have been my route of choice before I speculated that there must be a greener route into the county's second city, and take a short cut on a path through some recently developed cul-de-sacs, before rolling down to meet Moorside Road, and heading out across the fields that remain in the heart of the Drighlington - Adwaldton conurbation. It's not an accident that this land is still unenclosed, and aside from providing playing fields for the local schools, the rough ground to the south is the site of the Battle of Adwalton Moor, where, in June 1643, a Royalist army defeated a Parliamentarian detachment, consolidating the Crown's control of Yorkshire in the English Civil War up to the defeat at Marston Moor the following year; I hadn't realised I had a battlefield so close to home! Head over the moor to the mill redevelopment at Cavendish Court, and the follow the Moortop lane (and a woman towing a suitcase) to cross the A58, Whitehall Road, and then to start out into the countryside for another moist walk along the field boundaries in the direction of the A650, and the black cows in the adjoining field take far too much interest in me as I pass, as if I might be able to tend them in some way?
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The Adsley-Laisterdyke branch,
Birkenshaw |
Over the A-Road and over another damp field to pass through the embankment of the former GNR Ardsley - Laisterdyke branch, active 1857-1968, and better known as Morley's other railway line, and follow the bridleway beyond, some deeply sticky going which shares a route with the Kirklees Way, so hopefully I might come this way with some drier going in the summer, and a look south indicates the higher lands beyond Calderdale, indicating that we are now on the other side of the watershed; it's also odd to meet the fish van on this track, out to make deliveries to the local farms, I assume. Over Cross lane, to traverse the rough ground that resides south of the site of the industrial unit that now occupies the site of Birkenshaw railway station, and attention is drawn away from the urban surroundings as my route follows the edge of the cutting for a stretch, though I am aware of the unenclosed Tong Moor in the heart of this village, but the cutting itself looks far too damp for an impromptu railway walk. Pop out onto the A651, Bradford Road, and head down South View Road for a long pavement walk down through East Bierley, which still trumpets its Best Kept Village 1994 award, and also features a War Memorial to the men of Hunsworth, wherever that might be, a surpassed parish name, perhaps? It's long stretch down through the suburban sprawl, but I find that the cricket club has probably the best view of any sports club in the county, looking down to the Kirklees - Calderdale uplands, with Castle Hill standing out prominently, and a passing local man pauses to sing its praises as I photograph it. Eventually find the footpath that follows the field boundary down to a beck crossing, with some nicely horse-carved going on the one side, and in the rising field opposite, a horse that is far too eager to nudge me along out if its paddock. What is it with me attracting the unwanted attention of farm animals? Anyway meet the road by Model Farm, and that is its name, and it does look like a prime example of its period of agricultural architecture, and I think this road has me finally arriving in Bradford district, with industrial units up on the hillside and a look west has me saying goodbye to the countryside as I tramp up Toftshaw New Road and into the city.
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| Bowling Park |
Still on footpaths, though, as I cross Shetcliffe Lane, uneasily around the back of more industrial units before meeting a section that seems to double as a holding pen for the local primary school, and then it's out onto Burnham Avenue for some Bradford Council houses in a variety of vintages, leading me out to Rooley Lane, the A6177 Bradford ring road, where St John the Evangelist, Bierley, stands out as a neo-classical incongruity next to the traffic island. Find my over the road and onto the cycle path that runs between Bowling cemetery and the Asda superstore, and this is another hello to Route 66, the path I would have met if I'd followed the cycle track from the end of the Spen Valley Greenway north from low moor, so that's a useful reference point, and it means I don't have to take detour for some greenery among the graves, but I do have to go through a deeply unattractive cul-de-sac instead. That leads to the southern edge of Bowling Park, and to keep to the green theme, I detour into to follow half of the cycling circuit within to its northern edge. It's a very pleasing green space, landscaped nicely as it hugs the hillside, and offering both contemporary and Victorian aspects, but almost completely devoid of life on a Tuesday lunchtime, and I hope the local citizenry make good use of it on less chilly days. Also notable, on the hill above the park is Bolling Hall, largely medieval and 17th century, and described by Pevsner as 'one of Bradford's better houses'. At the top of the park, I feel that I should be rewarded with the view of the city in the valley below, with Rombalds moor in the distance, but unfortunately the best of the day has passed and the transition from Victorian suburbs to an industrial landscape is marked and depressing. Onwards down Hall Lane as the sun refuses to illuminate the city centre, crossing the abandoned Laisterdyke - Bowling junction branch, which retains its barriers and rails in the road surface, and still stands as a grounding risk on the descending road, and beyond is the still active railway tine to Interchange, as well as mills, still in use but representing a small fraction of the number which used to fill the landscape south of the city. I doubt the Bowling Hotel does much business these days though, and I feel the need to get into the city proper, and rolling out to the A650, and the confusions of the inner ring road means it isn't too far distant.
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| Bradford City Hall & Self |
I won't take the underpass down to Interchange though, I'll stay up on Bridge Street to look north into the void where Bradford Exchange station once stood, before being demolished in 1976 to be replaced by a car park. At least the Great Victoria Hotel endured, standing next to St George's Hall, and across Hall Ings stands the City Hall, the Gothic revival pile of 1873, by Lockwood & Mawson, the definitive architects of Victorian Bradford (and Saltaire), and a pleasure to look at from almost any angle, certainly a rival to Manchester as the best Gothic town hall in the country. I'll wander all the ways around it, wishing for sunshine that doesn't come out, and feel pleased that recent redevelopments in the vicinity, including the City Park and the Mirror Pool have attempted to undo some of the damage done to the city of the 'improvements' of the 1960s. I do wonder why this city has been treated so badly in the latter half of the 20th century, and I think that it is because it is a settlement of national significance that has been regarded as a provincial backwater for most of its life, and whilst I might be generally down on the place personally, I hope it comes around, as from certain angles it's a very attractive place. I could easily fancy a further architectural and cultural perambulation, but that's for another time. Instead, I'll head for a ride home, and make the mistake of going past the Forster Square hole, where redevelopment has been stalled for more than a decade, reminding me of all that is wrong with this city's history, and instead have to take a look at the Wool Exchange to feel better. So on to Forster Square station, which has retained the Midland Hotel intact, but has suffered the same indignities endured by Exchange/Interchange, crudely cut down to three platforms and hidden down an alleyway, with old station demolished in 1990. Probably not the best spot to end, but that's a wrap on the day at 1.30pm, and my first walking day of 2014 was 9+ miles in 3 and a half hours, all done without stopping, and that is definitely a good feeling.
Next on the Slate: Goin' South!
1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 922.6 miles
(2014 total: 9.4 miles)
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