If you cast your minds all the way back to the start of this year's walking season in February, you might recall that my trip from Morley to Wakefield took in a section of the old route of the Leeds Country Way, between West Ardsley and Alverthorpe, and so another section must remain of the 1980s route, unwalked to the east, discarded when the route was sensibly re-directed entirely with Leeds district. Helpfully, this section between Fleet Bridge and Alverthorpe doesn't come into too much contact with tracks already walked in the Leeds - Wakefield hinterland, and I need a reason to stroll in this quarter after spending so many weeks in the grip of Kirklees. Also, if you recall this time last year I was owing Kirklees an apology for having neglected it so badly in 2013, and now I find myself owing an apology to Wakefield for letting it drop from my schedule so comprehensively in 2014, especially as we got out to such a good start before it only made one appearance in the second half of the year, I guess that the Wakefield Way and this land of coal and agriculture will have to wait until 2015, it's good to have something to look forward to, I guess.
Woodlesford to Wakefield, via Bottom Boat & Stanley 10.5 miles
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The Aire & Calder Navigation
at Fleet Bridge |
Fail to get an early start, as my body wants an extra hour in bed after another tough week at work, so ride the mid-morning rails out to Woodlesford to my start line, and I've mentioned before that this station is an empire of footbridges, and it's 10.45am by the time I have made the correct path selection to get me across the bridge down onto the A642 Aberford Road. I make for the river alignment, and you'd think that having been down the Aire and the Navigation channel on previous visits, that steps would have to be retraced but not so, I've not walked the north side of the canal, the official route of the Trans Pennine Trail, and that feels like most of the first mils as I plough on under milky skies, struck by the lack of breeze and the surprisingly warm temperatures. It's straight drag all the way to Fleet Marina. and my late start has ensured that the cycling clubs are all out in force by now, tearing down from the direction of Leeds and being extremely polite an courteous as I regularly dive out of their way, making my way around the oil depot and looking out across the Aire to St Aiden's Country Park, still closed to the public and wanting to be loved. Over Fleet Bridge to bid these familiar tracks goodbye, until the TPT calls me again, I suppose, and join the old route of the Leeds Country Way as it makes its way along the edge of Fleet Lane, where initial points of interest are the huge concrete abutments that hold up very modestly scaled railway bridge on the line to Castleford, and the spread of buildings around Water Haigh farm, but it soon turns into a very dull plod in a rather flat landscape. It mostly travels back in the direction that has already been walked, among fields that you know some developer would like to get his paws on, passing the Woodlesford sports fields and focusing attention on the distant spire of Oulton church, before meeting the end of Eshald Lane, which would have been the shortcut for the day if hadn't wanted to walk the old LCW route for completisms sake. Anyway, our route south finally starts here, hitting the field boundary and bringing all the muddiness of autumn with it, heading across the field to pass over Oulton Beck and up the sticky track beyond up to the A639 Methley Road.
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| The Mysterious Construction |
The fields beyond belong to Rothwell sports centre and various rugby games seem to be going on at once, the kids game having the largest and most voluble crowds, whilst the adults play on largely ignored, and I feel like I'm trespassing on a school playing field so make my way south, partly obscured by banks of trees at the field edge to slip out of sight behind the nearby estate of houses. Beyond there, we enter a small wood, where local kids seem to have carved out their own off road cycling circuit, which makes for some uneven going before emerging into the enclosed path beyond, coming up on the junction with the current route of the Leeds Country Way almost unexpectedly, as this is not a corner that immediately springs from the memory. Follow the rutted track south, taking the LCW previously walked in reverse, rising between the hedges to the top of the Aire - Calder watershed, admittedly not that far apart at this quarter, and take in the view to the south, still looking much the same as it did 2 years ago, with the panorama from Cas to Wakey still much the same, but I do have to wonder about the huge metal framework being assembled somewhere near junction 30 on the M62 as it looks more like giant scaffold than the beginnings of a high rise building, and it's in such an inexplicable location too. None the wiser to my pondering, I continue south, hugging the field edge along the perimeter of Moss Carr Wood, all the way down to the familiar yellow building at Elm Farm, and depart the current LCW as I swing west along Hungate, down the roadside to meet the edge of the M62, dropping out onto Newmarket Lane and passing beneath the motorway to enter Wakefield district. The clues of the industrial past of this rural landscape can be found in the terrace of miners cottages alongside the road, once convenient for the collieries but now pretty far from anywhere in particular, and my path south must be somewhere along here, near Savile farm and Methley Lanes, and the gate from the road prominently displays its old Leeds Country Way notice, which I'm sure nobody would mind if I pinched it as a souvenir, even if I might struggle to get it into my bag.
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| Missing Bridge, Methley Joint Line |
South we go down the muddy track, still looking over to the metal framework under construction, as if constant attention to it might yield clues, and a familiar path soon crosses mine, meeting the Methley Joint Line and its greenway as it slips around the missing bridge over my track, and I'll head down between the abutments and onwards to take a westward turn to parallel the old railway line deep into the heart of the post-coal landscape. Rough grass and spindly trees cover the landscape to the south, and a distinct grey hue stains the soil as I pace the track to the west, being surprised by a number of dog walkers along the way, on what is another path that seems to be more popular than you would expect, and as you pace west, you keep expecting to get a view of the river Calder, until you realise that a large flood embankment keeps it hidden from view, and the first bungalow met on the lane has its own steps and terrace on the riverside. Going gets cleaner as it the track gains a hard surface, and becomes Bottom Boat road, and as it enters the village, some narrow gauge rails slip across it, and I'm left to ponder where these might have come from an go to as once railway formations pass below a certain scale, it seems that accessible history has a habit of forgetting about them. Pass along through the village, still an equal mix of post-industrial terraces and rural suburbia, where the pub, the Rising Sun, endures, and the Working Men's Institute does not. As the hoses end on the south side of the road, the path shifts to meet a raised field boundary that runs parallel to the river and the Calder finally appears below as I look out towards Altofts and wonder if I'm going to get much action south of the river before the season runs out. Press on muddily, passing behind a high hedge and the backs of a rather plush terrace of houses at the bottom of Lake Yard, clearly an expensive property and one of Stanley's better house from back in the day, another thing for which the internet can find particularly little provenance. Back on the river bank, I pause for watering, sitting on the embankment to lament the fact that I didn't bring any lunch with me, foolishly thinking this would be a rapid stroll, all done in time for me to press on home for lunch at 2pm, but my late start has done for that, leaving me hungry.
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| The River Calder, near Stanley |
Continue along the riverside, as the path rises and falls, even more muddily, rising quite high above the water's edge, with only a heavy growth of reeds protecting you in the event of a stumble, which is very possible in these conditions, so relief comes once the path abandons the riverside and cuts away to the south as the channel snakes away in a different direction, passing alongside the sewage works that provides the most unpleasant smells encountered on the trail this year. The access road leads me back to the A642 Aberford Road, and into the edge of Stanley, moving along by the council estate on Oak lane, and over to Lime Pit lane to meet the track that shares the path of the old narrow gauge railway from Lofthouse Gate to Stanley Ferry, and I'm not retracing this path for the sake of some trackbed exploration, I'm just coming this way because the Leeds Country Way used to. Appear on Rook's Nest Road, where fields spread to the south and the suburban estates which have caused Stanley and Outwood to merge spread to the north, a pavement walk eventually leading to the field boundary walk which leads down to the edge of Normanton Gold Course, another one which continues the tradition of being located nowhere near the town which lends it its name. Apparently there's another path around here which follows an old mineral railway, but my location senses fail to spot it, instead rising between the high hedges to meet the hard track that rises pretty sharply across the course, a rare occasion where the ROW coincides with the best surface. Avoid the glares of the golfers as I pause to admire the view north, one that I haven't seen enough of this year, before exiting the course to cross Ouchthorpe Lane, and following the path around the perimeter of Fieldhead Hospital, which is well hidden from view as I go, pushing attention to the east as Ossett parish church makes another appearance and the view over Wakefield finally appears. A straight route could be taken through the new housing development to the south, but lacking a up to date map might make that confusing, and so I pass on down towards Newton Hill and abandon the old LCW before it reaches Alverthorpe, leaving a mile or so of that track for another day, and I pass down the alleyways between the old houses and the new, to come to the link road between the A61 and A642 which doesn't seem to have a name, as far as I can tell.
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| St John's, Wakefield |
The track into Wakefield heads down a narrow path between two expanses of sports fields, including running track and courts but doesn't seem to be a public park, or attached to a school and looks good enough to belong to a university, though I don't think this town has one, so I can only assume it is private, and looking underpopulated as the day tries to warm through and the clouds finally break apart. Moving on along a slick, flagged path behind the large Victorian villas (one of which has s tree/summerhouse perched above the path), we meet more mysterious buildings along the west side, featuring tower blocks and an array of buildings that have a vintage police feel to them and signage eventually reveals them to belong to West Yorkshire constabulary, even though there seem to be a distinct absence of people among them. Just being off Leeds Road means I'm only a short walk from the St John's district, where big and bold Georgian Terraces were constructed in the late 18th century, along with St John's church in the centre of a square to give the area an architectural unity that isn't seen much in West Yorkshire. The North terrace is all offices these days, whilst the Square is still residential and I'd venture one of the most desirable corners of this town, and I'm sure that if this was somewhere other than Wakefield it would be much better known and regarded, as it is, it's a location to appeal to me as I get me my historical transportation to a century that isn't the 19th, and I'll be cheered that the sun comes out for my visit. Tour the square and move on down Wentworth Street, where some substantial buildings remain bafflingly out of use, rolling down to Bond Street and Bell Street, the heart of the municipal district, past the Registry of Deeds, Wakefield College and the Old County Hall, and onwards down to the finish line on Mulberry Way, passing Wakefield One, the home of the district council, a recent building that might actually called attractive. Huge development is going up on the old site of the Wakefield goods yard, and it seems that Westgate station has migrated north, away from Westgate itself and next to the multi storey car park, making it the third iteration on the site, and looking like a 21st century take on 1980s styling to me. Still that's the end of the day, longer than I was anticipating, all done at 2.35pm with plenty of time for a photographic poke around the new and old sites, before enjoying the benefits of ending at a mainline station and being able to ride a proper express train on my way home.
Next on the Slate: A big church lingers on the horizon.
1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1357.1 miles (2014 total: 443.9 miles)
(Up Country Total: 12615 miles)
(Solo Total: 1130.1 miles)
(Declared Total: 118.9 miles)
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