It’s been exactly three weeks since Lisa and I walked our first section of the Leeds Country Way (LCW) and I’ve been chomping at the bit to get another under our belt. Last week the weather was rubbish and the week before Lisa was feeling the effects of a night out with the girls. Luckily, Sunday the 24th May was one of the best days of the year so far and we were both hangover free so we decided to set out once again. As before we decided to leave a car at both ends of the section. This part was to take us from where we left off last time at Thornbury to a point on the A65 near Rawdon.
We set off from the start point and made our way into a playing field just off the main road. Our directions said we had to walk along a path on the side of the field and then around the playing fields belonging to the Thornbury Barracks, the home of a Reserve Parachute Regiment. So no messing about there then we reckoned. Unfortunately the path was completely overgrown and we ended up following some people with dogs on the edge of the fields until we reached a point where we could turn left or right. The dog walkers were obviously locals and pointed us in the right direction so we set off across some open fields towards Calverley Golf Club.
I have Golf issues and wouldn’t usually be seen dead on a Golf Course but nevertheless we had to walk straight through the middle of the course. Lisa got a bit stressed that we were crossing so many fairways but we reached the other side with no damage done. I even thanked some Golfers for waiting until we passed before they continued to try and get the little ball in the little hole. I really don’t see the attraction. So once clear of the sportsmen Golfers we found ourselves on a rough track heading downhill.
Once we’d descended into the valley at the bottom of the track we swung a sharp right and then followed a beck along for about a mile or so. Halfway along we half took a wrong turn at a fork in the path and bumped into a guy sat in a clearing with his dog. He shouted out to us about how good the weather was and we had to walk past him to get back on course. He seemed proud of his pooch but asked me to take off my cap as it spooked him. I did and the pooch seemed happy enough. We waved goodbye to the guy whereupon I went arse over apex on a patch of mud flattening my sunglasses in the process. Doh. No serious harm done, just a bit of dented pride and a muddy knee.
We again followed the course of the beck and eventually reached an old mill near to Carr Road, the A657. We crossed the road a went back down into the valley, again following the beck. At this point I received a text from my youngest daughter saying that my travelling eldest daughter had spent the night sleeping in a bus shelter on the outskirts of Sydney. Not a lot I could do with me walking past all sorts of flotsam and jetsam floating in the beck and she’s upside down thousands of miles away. Sigh. (she’s OK by the way). Anyway, we soon emerged from the valley and after crossing the Leeds and Liverpool canal we found ourselves at Apperley Bridge, which is a bridge over the River Aire. It’s the name of a village too and is on the boundary between Leeds and Bradford. The LCW is supposed to stay wholly within the Leeds boundary so I suppose that’s what we did. I have no idea exactly where the boundary is.
Once over the bridge we took a right turn and walked through a gap between playing fields at Woodhouse Grove School. A whole lot swankier than the school I attended, lucky kids I reckoned. Once we’d cleared the playing fields we followed the course of the River Aire for a mile or so, crossing under railway bridges, climbing over fallen trees and passing through styles and gates on the way. This section was quite flat but eventually we had to climb uphill through a part of Cragg Woods onto Woodlands Road. Funnily enough this was the scene of an accident where my Mum had succumbed to the evils of a rising bollard. It had taken the bottom off her car and gave her some bumps and bruises for good measure. There’s a legal case pending but the other side aren’t responding to solicitor’s letters. Bad form. The buggers have even put up a new sign warning people after my Mum’s accident. Guilty as charge in my book.
We left the killer bollard and walked uphill towards Rawdon and decided to sit down and eat our butties. We were within a quarter of a mile of our finish but we were hungry so who cares. Once we were fed and watered we completed the walk and arrived back at Lisa’s car. This part of the walk seemed a little easier than the first we’d done and we think it’s either down to:
- Increased fitness on our part (highly unlikely really)
- A more prepared approach to the walk
- Slightly easier terrain
I think I could have easily managed to walk another section straight away and we may just do that the next time we do another part. Next Sunday probably since the weather is looking AOK.
There are some more images from this section at my flickr site.
