The Calder Valley & Birkby Bradley Greenways 07/05/12

Trying to make sense of the National Cycle Network is a frustrating business, as it is being created on a piecemeal basis as Sustrans gain funding and access to necessary lands, so today's stretch is part of the grand scheme of National Route 69 (dude), but it's hard to envisage it as part of a coast-to-coast path when so much of it remains in the planning stages. Even factor in the other sections in West Yorkshire and it's almost impossible to work out how it is all going to fit together, hopefully time and progress will prove my interpretations to be wrong, but for today this is just a stretch from Dewsbury to Huddersfield featuring a viaduct that I hadn't previously heard of!

Active May: Day Two

The Calder Valley & Birkby Bradley Greenways - Dewsbury to Huddersfield.  9.8 miles

Sowerby Bridge to Mytholmroyd, plus Bonus Stroll 05/05/12

Ever since my closest friends moved to Mytholmroyd in 2006, I've been entertaining the idea of walking there or back, but that plan has a couple of major drawbacks, most notably the fact that it is a really long way. Morley to Mytholmroyd is 19 miles, by the direct route and 26 by the prettiest, and doing that I'd probably be in no state to socialise if visiting or having to walk off the hangover from the previous night if going home. Walking back to grab the train at Mirfield looks like a possibility, but there are virtually no trains on a Sunday, my favoured travel-home day, and doing that on a Saturday after the work/booze mix of Friday does not appeal all that much. So if that walk does ever get done, it will probably be done in pieces, starting today, kicking off Active May.

Active May: Day One

Sowerby Bridge to Mytholmroyd via the Rochdale Canal path  4.2 miles
 plus Bonus Stroll  2.8 miles

The Spen Valley Ringway 28/04/12

From leaving the end of the Greenway, to getting to the bus stop in Oakenshaw, the day takes a decisive turn for the worse as the passable weather turns to an apocalyptic rainstorm which goes on and off for the remainder of the day. A normal day would have me beating a retreat, but the last 2 miles of today's walk is the part that I'd really be looking forward to, so I wait for the 268 bus and get sodden, and then have to work out where I have to get off the bus as we ride out of Cleckheaton and into Liversedge, diving off by Royds Park and hoping that I'm in the right place.

Active April: Day Four, part 2

The Spen Valley Ringway - Liversedge to Heckmondwike  1.8 miles

The Spen Valley Greenway 28/04/12

If you were given an interest in railways in your early years, there's a good chance that it's something that you never quite got out of your system, regardless of the fact that you stopped trainspotting and attending open days in your teens. You'll still hop on the occasional preserved line, and take note of developments on the national network, as well as displaying levels of interest that would still tag you as a gricer to any observer. That's the case with me at least, and the casual browsing of the internet led me to the discovery of this day's pair of walks through the Spen Valley, aka the Five Towns, aka the land where the names couldn't sound any more Yorkshire.

Active April: Day Four, part 1

The Spen Valley Greenway - Ravensthorpe to Low Moor  7 miles

Leeds Country Way #6: Robin Hood to Bruntcliffe Crossroads 21/04/12

There was supposed to be another trip out to Mallerstang on the 14th, but I woke with such an intense feeling of indifference to the idea of walking that I decided that it was best to not try to go out, it's probably not a good idea to try to walk when you are not feeling it. But hey, don't you think I might have earned a weekend off? And so the Leeds Country Way seems to roar up to its conclusion, but there had been a bit of a wait for this last day, and this is the day where the route description seemed vaguely written and the path felt circuitous just to fulfil the 'Country' part of the equation. Notably, the start point of today was only 3 miles or so from where I live, but I'd go on to walk nearly 13 miles before I got back home again.

Active April: Day Three

Leeds Country Way #6: Robin Hood to Bruntcliffe Crossroads  11 miles

Self at Robin Hood, below the M1 bridge

Leeds Country Way #5: Swillington Bridge to Robin Hood 09/04/12

Easter Monday morning is as grim as you'd like, a steady rain puddling outside and me sat at my window wondering if this is going to be another walking day lost. Disappointed, I eat my packed lunch and revert the day back to non-walking setting, until I notice a distinct easing off in the weather around 11.30 am and decide to make for the trail, as it's not a long day on the slate, and I think I can make my target finish of 4.15pm what with there being a Sunday bus service for the bank holiday.

Active April: Day Two

Leeds Country Way #5: Swillington Bridge to Robin Hood  8.8 miles

Self at Swillington Bridge

Leeds Country Way #4: Barwick in Elmet to Swillington Bridge 07/04/12

So onward, full bore into Active April, with another five days of walking on the schedule, and the early Summer of late-March has already passed, and we're back in the midst of a regular Northern Springtime. Starting with the long weekend of Easter, an opportunity to take down a significant portion of the Leeds Country Way, the first half took no time at all, so the second half ought to be a breeze! However, It's an odd thing to discover that catching the 64 bus from Morley to Barwick, takes longer than it would riding the 51 to Leeds and then boarding the 64 half-way. Such are the vagaries of public transport, I suppose.

Active April: Day One

Leeds Country Way #4: Barwick in Elmet to Swillington Bridge  9.9 miles

Self at Barwick in Elmet, at the Maypole