Woodlesford to Cross Gates 21/04/14

I know that a Bank Holiday cannot be wasted on R'n'R when the weather promises to be good, but I have learned that it is wise to not throw yourself into a major excursion when you have to work the following day, because your legs are not gong to thank you when you need to do the things that keep you in bread, which my colleague who went up Ingleborough found out to her cost. So I need something of less than 7 miles to keep me interested and not exhausted, and the missing miles from the original route of my day from Stanley Ferry to Rothwell looks to fit that particular bill, because why shouldn't I spend my Easter Monday like so many other citizens of Leeds, by taking a walk in Temple Newsam Park?

Woodlesford to Cross Gates via Temple Newsam Park  5.8 miles

The Lost Villages of East Leicestershire 03/08/13

Plans for 2nd August fell away after the intense heat of the previous day, and no walking took place as I awoke with legs reluctant to move all that much, not coming right until the late afternoon, and the the only part of the day's plan was taking my Parents to dinner at the White House, an under-performing restaurant that has since found its way as a branch of Wetherspoon's. So my walking plan has to be pruned slightly to fit it in on Saturday, losing a couple of miles from a loop and re-directing to a new finish point and my target for the day is the rural landscape of East Leicestershire,  the side of the county that I considered home for over 20 years, to seek out some of the villages lost to history in the late Medieval period, swept away by enclosure and the change from arable farming to livestock. One side of the Explorer 233 plate shows at least a dozen of them, and a fascinating account of these by the antiquarian WG Hoskins should be read for a bit of background, before I set out in search of six of them, taking an early start in some much more hospitable weather.

The Lost Villages of East Leicestershire:
 Hamilton, Baggrave, Lowesby, Cold Newton, Quenby & Ingarsby   12 miles

Menston to Harewood via Otley Chevin 19/05/12

Leeds does not want for urban parks, but it does lack a good country park. I've already said that Golden Acre is under-sized and lacks wildness, and the likes of Temple Newsam and Roundhay have scale but seem too well tamed. My hometown, Leicester, has Bradgate Park, a former country estate in the heart of Charnwood Forest's Granite Country, that has hills and rocks and miles of trails amongst the bracken, and is also one of the most popular free outdoor attractions in the whole country, and yet Leeds, a city of many hills, really wants for something similar. So for today, we'll be heading for probably the wildest place in the entirety of Leeds District, Otley Chevin and its Forest Park, as it's a place that can't really be ignored in this young walking career.

Active May: Day Four

Menston to Harewood via Otley Chevin  11.7 miles