Stanley Ferry to Rothwell 28/03/14

Back to the North Country and it's hard to believe that I'm on the final corner already, only 15 miles left to go until I reach 1,000, a target that seemed so improbably large when conceived in June 2012, but now within reach without me really having had to strive for it all that hard, and it could have been gotten down within 2 years if I had really put the hammer down, and would be attainable today if I so wished. The finale needs to be attempted in some place sociable though, and not on glum Friday afternoon where no one could possibly acknowledge it, whilst everyone I know is still at work. So let's get my third and final West Yorkshire railway walk out of the way, and it seems right that a heavily overcast sky should come down to cover the day when I finally set out to take a look at West Yorkshire's coal mining heritage.

Stanley Ferry to Rothwell, via the Nagger Lines and the E&WYUR line  10.3 miles

Stanley Ferry Aqueducts

Ride the buses out to Stanley Ferry where the A&C canal passes over the River Calder, jumping off onto Ferry Lane at a little after 10am, and despite having measured my day out carefully, I decide to immediately improvise nearly an extra mile onto my day by taking a full circuit of the wharf before I set off northwards. Mostly so I can have reason to walk over the Calder by Ferry Lane Bridge and the canal by Birkwood Road Bridge, but also so I can see the crazy height that the river has risen to as it flows beneath the Stanley Ferry Aqueduct, a good 2 metres higher after this mild winter than it was during the 'wet' summer of 2012, and taking the footpath over the trash screen makes you feel extremely trepidatious as the water surges only a couple of feet below you with the waterborne debris collecting at a pace. Happier once I'm on the ground again, looking over the marina, and getting back over the cut via Ramsdens Bridge to see what evidence of the coal wharf remains on the north bank, none whatsoever as it happens, as the branch of Fayre & Square (trying its best to ape an industrial styling) has occupied all of the former site, and that's an apt visual metaphor for the disappearance of Britain's heavy industry, for what was once an active coal wharf is now a boating marina and restaurant. Finally to the trail north, taking the footpath that follows the Nagger Lines, immediately obvious as Ferry Lane rises to cross its embankment, and it's an industrial railway that seems largely forgotten by history as the internet provides very little information about it, even the encyclopedic Lost Railways of West Yorkshire fails to provide insight. All that can be gleaned is that is operated over 3ft 4in narrow gauge tracks and ran from a pair of collieries at Lofthouse Gate to the wharf at Stanley ferry between 1840 and 1930, so it's mildly amazing that so much of the alignment has endured for so long, with Wakefield Council converting most of it too footpath use in the 1980s, and the Trans-Pennine Trail even occupies a portion of it between the canal and Aberford Road as it rises away from the low fields surrounding the Calder.

The Nagger Lines, Stanley

Across the A642, the trackbed parallels Lime Pit Lane, at the bottom corner of Stanley, and off to the west is the Stanley Marsh nature reserve, and we all know that any urban nature reserve is the home to a former colliery, and so it is the case here, with a green enclave occupying the site of Stanley Victoria colliery, locally known as the Deep Drop pit and active from 1838 to 1879, closed after a catastrophic explosion which killed 21 people. Before the path departs away from Stanley's council houses, I am ridiculously happy to find that the rails of the Nagger Lines are still in situ in the road surface where a level crossing ran, a remarkable survival after 80+ years of abandonment, and I can only assume being located away from the major urban centres has aided their endurance in these days of gas, electrics and telecommunications only needing the slightest of reasons to dig up the roads. Continue on, with the path between open fields to the west and 1980s developments to the east, starting to feel the rise away from the river and greeting the various dog walkers out on this path, no one else is out adventuring on a gloomy Friday, and at Rook's Nest road there is much evidence of a missing underbridge before carrying on with houses on both sides of the trackbed. This would be a hard path to sell the casual walker as being a former railway as it has the feel of a standard urban green space between the fences, and even I start to doubt it was a railway once the gradient starts to kick in, feeling far too steep to have ever had locomotives ever running on it, maybe it was more of an incline on this section, or a rope-worked tramway? I wish I had some way of finding out. Soon enough meet up the crossing of the Methley Joint Line, and the recreation ground claims the name of Naggers Park, on a sign that I didn't see first time this way, but still have no idea where that name originated from. The last available stretch of walkable path dives into an unpaved cutting, for some proper wild walking before ascending up to the infilled bridge on Canal Lane, and the lines originally carried on to the north and west but I'm not too sure where too exactly, so this industrial relic is left behind as I head west in search of another one, beyond the A61.

Lofthouse Colliery Memorial

Head over Potovens Lane, realising that we are still close to my path from 2 weeks ago, to find the way out of Lofthouse Gate / Outwood, past the railway modelling shop and onto Lingwell Nook Lane, an old lane which was once obliterated by Lofthouse Colliery and is now re-establishing itself now that the colliery has gone, replaced by a nature reserve. The remnants are easy to spot, with the landscaped remains of the spoil heap sitting beyond the golf course and the forest of birch trees growing over the main body of the workings, as they seem to be the tree of choice for growth on disturbed lands. The whole site is extremely well appointed for explanatory notice boards, providing information on what industry took places on this site only a generation ago, and a heritage trail for those so inclined (eg. me, when I don't have a route to tramp), and I'm glad that the dog walkers are out to use these paths, and hope the local kids are out here at weekends too. I'm not going to delve far into this burgeoning forest though, instead taking the path above the playing fields and beside the Leeds - Doncaster Line (waving to the folks on the passing local service), walking up to the Colliery memorial, to commemorate the workers who laboured below the ground between 1877 and 1981 (producing 18,000 tons of coal a week at its peak), and to memorialise the 7 miners killed in the horrifying flooding accident in 1973 (which actually occurred some 3 miles distant from this spot, to give some hint at the extent of the mine workings). It's a sobering monument to an industry which is now starting to slip from the living memory, one which dominated this area for a century, and this park will hopefully ensure that it is never completely forgotten. Move on along the perimeter of the reserve, as my path goes in search of another railway, the East & West Yorkshire Union Railway, the industrial line built to serve the collieries between the railheads at Stourton and Outwood, and still largely extent above the M62, but much more fragmentary below it, so a snakey route is taken, returning to Lingwell Nook Lane to drop down to find the abutments of the bridge which once crossed it on its way down to Lofthouse North Junction, but the embankment north isn't walkable, so a detour is needed to meet Castle Head Lane alongside the M1, to pass around it, as it still offers a decent landscape profile among the fields.

E&WYUR A61 Bridge, Lofthouse

The road leads me all the way to Lofthouse itself, not to be confused with the entirely separate Lofthouse Gate, by way of a particularly abandoned farmstead and also fields of rhubarb, the first ones I've knowingly encountered in West Yorkshire's Rhubarb Triangle, just to prove that, yes that is a thing. Roll up to the A61 again, cursing the location of the M62 / M1 junction, which feels like it's adding an extra couple of miles to my day, and pass over the motorway, to find my way onto Long Thorpe Lane, which is a frustrating distance away, and I'll have taken time to admire Christ Church and the old Co-operative Society store before I get there. Before the railway walking can resume though, I've got to make my way between the school known as the Rodillion Academy (which sounds like the founder of the Time Lords to me) and the council estate with Ramsgate as its central street (ideal for cheap ferries to Ostend and the continent!), before finally rolling up on the Rothwell Greenway after a ridiculously long diversion, lamenting that this railway was not significant enough to warrant its own enduring passage beneath the M62. Head out along the infilled cutting behind the houses, looking like an outdoorsman among the dog walkers, with only the slightest of paths cut into the turf, so it's a good point to ponder the E&WYUR and the collieries it served. Originally conceived as a grander scheme (like most railways) it opened as a minor industrial railway in 1891 with its main route from Lofthouse to Stourton and two significant branches, to serve the collieries of the Charleworth estates, providing spurs to as many as eight of them, as well as to other industrial sites in the vicinity, operating to as late as 1966, and having hosted one of the least successful passenger services ever, lasting nine months in 1904. It's another remarkable survival, and praise is due to all those who kept it in public use with the foundation of the Greenway, which features some notable sculptures, made from high pressure gas cylinders, it seems, alongside the path as it descends to pass beneath the A61 bridge, and for the first time in my walk I know I'm at the the level of the original track.


E&WYUR Footbridge, Rothwell

Beyond, the path is familiar, having come this way on the Leeds Country Way, and it looks much the same a two years ago, with the same moist skies, heavy coverage of Birch trees (which I seem to love so much) and suburban growth of Robin Hood sneaking up to the edge of the embankment. No rutting teenagers, though but plenty of dog walkers to greet as I observe the branch stretching off to the west, towards Royds Green pit, the Newmarket collieries and ultimately the Methley Joint Lines and the A&C coal staithes, and also wonder how one spoil heap has managed to remain untouched by the line, not grassed over at all and with industrial metalwork still rising from within it. No obvious remnant of the spur to Robin Hood collieries remain, though a pretty good guess can be made, and it's a nicely shaded walk along the embankment up to meet Leadwell Lane, the A654, where one large abutment of the bridge remains at the roadside. No sight of Robin Hood station, long lost beneath suburban growth, but the trackbed remains clear as the hard surface negotiates its way alongside a dirt track that has been gouged up horribly by far too many heavy farm vehicles without anyone attempting to reconsolidate it, so that's unexpected fun when I'm forced to cross over it. Pass the southern corner of the triangular junction which led to Beeston Colliery, and the littering by the path here is frankly awful, one of the worst I've seen on my ambles, and in such an odd place too, don't the locals need bins here? Pass the west corner of the junction and think that the Charlesworth Inclined Plane at the end of the Beeston Colliery branch might be worthy of a future quest, before the trackbed slips into a long cutting through the farmland that has endured as greenbelt between Robin Hood and Rothwell, not offering much by way of views but id does have a nice wrought iron footbridge in situ, another surprising survival, clearly far enough away from view to not need demolishing. Actually, it's pretty close to Rothwell, as can be seen as the landscape opens out to show the recreation ground to the nearby council houses to the north, and the surprisingly deep cut of Haigh Beck to the south, whilst a good view beyond the empire of poly-tunnels can be seen Swithens Farm, home of one of Leeds district's better viewpoints.

Holy Trinity, Rothwell

The hard surface deviates away from the obvious path of the railway, apparently following the route to Rose Pit, now obliterated, which almost goes without saying, and the remaining rough ground must have been railway yards and the site of Rothwell railway station, this is where an interpretive board would be useful, but the only on present is one on the history of Rothwell Manor (also lost to history). Moving over Wood Lane, we get good views of Rothwell parish church, Holy Trinity, a building that manages to be both modest and unassuming dependent on the angle of sight, and with the trackbed having disappeared beneath housing again, I have to take the path alongside the considerable graveyard before joining Churchfields Lane, where a real historical mixed bag of houses has developed, and I can't imagine some of these 1930s semis were too desirable when a colliery railway used to run behind the back gardens. A short stretch along Abraham Hill takes us back to the trackbed, where the alignment feel like a sneak route through the suburban gardens, and it undulates so much that there must have been some landscaping applied over the last 50 years or so. The path ends at the Haigh Road - Styebank Lane Junction, where I almost stumble carelessly into the path of a WPC, embarrassingly, and follow the pavement up to Leeds Road, the A639, with the E&WYUR line residing somewhere behind the ivy hedge and under the car park of the local auction house complex. Over the dual carriageway to meet the housing estates of John O' Gaunts, and there's bit walking synchronicity that came out of nowhere, two different links to the First Duke of Lancaster 100 miles apart (he was apparently a regular at the Rothwell Hunting grounds to the north of the town back in the 14th Century), and I must say that their greeting sign is something to behold. A nicely textured construction in metal, featuring nods to the mining heritage, with little bespoke steam locomotives on the pillars, and if any of these go missing in the future, my flat might be a good place to start looking for them (!). Head up First Avenue, because someone wanted to give this council estate a Manhattan sort of feel, and beyond the more recent houses the remains of the trackbed of today's railway can be seen stretching off to the east, steeply descending through the fields towards the junction at Stourton.


Railyard, Rothwell Colliery

Bullough Lane leads down hill to the site of the former Rothwell Colliery, locally known as Fanny Pit (no giggling at the back!) and these days the home of Rothwell Country Park, going for much the same result as at Lofthouse, but despite being open since only 2009, it seems that all the interpretive boards have been stolen, as their absence is pretty glaring. A shame, obviously, as it's another site with few visible remnants and its status and Leeds' largest and oldest colliery needs to be advertised, first mined in 171 with the shafts sunk here in 1867 under the auspices of the Charlesworths and active until 1983 having produced 75 million tonnes of coal over its lifetime. The pithead is now hidden away amongst trees, with only a short stretch of original tarmac near it, and the western half of the site is mostly desolate, though it does offer a view towards Leeds through the hazy gloom, and the most notably survival is the inlaid rail of the colliery's narrow gauge railway, still in their concrete base and heavily mossed over. The eastern half offers a more interesting parkland, though I will not be venturing over the top of the spoil heap, certain that I'll need a nicer sort of day to appreciate the views, and instead take the low path that leads all the way around it, which seem to have been built up using the ground up remains of the colliery builds judging by the brick-red colouring of the path. Another good spot for solitude among the birch trees, with only two other dog walkers out, and travelling alongside the Leeds - Castleford railway line, I ponder that this must be a good spot for a bit of railway photography and just as I find the ideal spot, a pair of Freightliner class 66s race by returning to their depot at Stourton, which satisfies that itch for the day. My path has taken me away from the planned route over the Aire and the Canal, so Temple Newsam and Whitkirk church will have feature at a later date, and I hit the route back along the eastern edge of the colliery site, to find the non-PROW path that seems to have been deliberately cut through a new housing development to rejoin the council estate on Seventh Avenue, and whilst it may lack Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Gardens, it's probably a much more desirable location than it was 40 years ago. Sunshine briefly breaks through on the day as I return to the side of Leeds Road, for the nearest convenient bus stop (and is that my first trip with two bus rides and no trains?), and that's a 1.55pm finish for my tour through our coal mining heritage.

Next on the Slate: The 1,000th mile goes down, and in lieu of a dramatic and dynamic finish, I'm going to the pub (though my target should be achieved at a Leeds location that I have somehow never visited in all of my 20+ years up country!).


1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 995.3 miles
     (2014 total: 82.1 miles)