Hurst Green and Stonyhurst

Today we did a family walk for my birthday – I’d picked this walk as the children love The Hobbit and all things Tolkien.  The thinking was it would make it more interesting than just going out for lunch.  We would do the walk and then finish at The Three Fishes for lunch around 2pm.  It was a good thing I had downloaded 3 walks of various lengths as you can’t control the weather. We set off just after 9 to get to Hurst Green for about 10 to 10.30 ish and it was foggy and raining.  Luckily we had all the gear, the children were well wrapped up and Albert was well layered up when we poked him in the back-pack for Jo to carry him round. 

The rain wasn’t for letting up as we set off.  We turned down the main road towards Clitheroe the directions said turn up a track to Fair Field but we passed the first drive and the second before we finally turned up a track towards some farm buildings

 – we still hadn’t found the track to Fair Field but we knew we were heading in the right direction.  It was very muddy.  At the top we popped out on the right path which was lucky so we picked up the way forward.  We headed of down the lane and there it was

 – JR Tolkien’s school in all its majestic glory.  What an imposing and beautiful building – absolutely stunning architecture. As we walked down towards it we passed the walking tree.

 How daunting must this building seem to a small boy coming down the driveway to this place for the first time? 

Today though the weather was too bad for us to linger – rain was gradually turning to snow and Albert was crying non-stop and wouldn’t keep his mittens on.  So off we went past this beautiful place and up the lane to bear left

 and then left again up a farm track to a muddy way through a farmyard.  Here we had to back track a little as we missed the path through a field.  It was ‘proper snow’ we were battling now.

The path took down a really slippery sliding muddy path to a footbridge over Dean Brook. George came a cropper as his feet slid from under him – I don’t know how he managed it but he balanced on his elbows and kept his trousers dry.  Mabel and I skirted around the undergrowth where it was boggy but less slippy.  I don’t know how Jo managed it with Albert on his back as you have to stay really upright otherwise you feel like you’re going to topple Albert out over your head.  It was pretty muddy the other side of the bridge too and it was a steep climb.  Bernard seems to instinctively know when to go slow and not pull on his lead which is a good thing. From here we skirted around a wood and through a stile onto a broad farm track. 

Albert had finally stopped crying and fallen asleep. All along here Aggie took Bernard’s lead and it was now a straight walk on good tracks (it was now hailing) George pointed out we were going down Shire Lane to a pretty dell and back up to the village where we were parked.

George and I had brought our cameras but the weather meant we didn’t really want to stop and choose a perfect picture. We had all worked up an appetite and were cold and ready for something to eat.  A walk to do again in better conditions.

Leeming Reservoir

Sunday and the weather is no better today than it was yesterday.  I was just looking for a short walk to take a few photos with my camera rather than with my phone camera so I bobbed up to Leeming Reservoir for a quick walk around to see what I could photograph.  The light wasn’t particularly good but never the less I managed to get a couple of photos I was quite pleased with. 

  Hope to get better and make better use of the settings this summer (one of my new year good intentions). 

Didn’t see anyone on the way round and the paths were really muddy – by the time I got back to the car my fingers were getting pretty cold.  Still you always feel better for having been out for a walk in the fresh air. 

Back home and more research on photography I think now.

Blackpots & Rivock Plantation

Another cloudy Saturday, today the light has been gloomy and I felt it was going to come dark early so I decided to do one of my favourite short walks.  It’s not far to drive up to Holden gate and because I have done this walk quite a few times now I didn’t need the directions.  The windmill was turning and the sky was grey and hazy.  No sun was going to break through this afternoon.

As I walked on and headed towards Rough Holden Farm I could see the way was going to be pretty muddy.  Farmyards are notorious for mud. 

As I made my way through the sheep that were in the yard watched me suspiciously – they can be quite forbidding animals when they all turn and watch you as you walk by.  I continued along below a stone pump house and along through the wet fields of moss and bulrushes. Heading for a derelict building, I turned through the stile down the dip and out the other side. 

  From here I crossed the field down to a stream with a stone slab bridge and up the opposite side. 

Several fields and stiles later I came out in front of Blackpots and onto the farm track (Jerry lane). 

Turning right along this lane took me to the start of Rivock Edge plantation.  From here it’s a clear path through the trees – always unusual light here.

 Eventually leaving the plantation through a gate.  I could hear the shooting from on top of the moor as I headed back down past the TV mast and back onto Silsden to Morton road. 

Turning right was a short walk back to where I’d parked up.  As I got to my car the light was falling fast and it was only quarter to four.  Daylight was leaving early today. A good 4 miles to blow the cobwebs away.

Yorkshire Photo Walk Around Penistone Hill

I was very excited to do this walk this morning – especially as it was so close to home.  We met up on moorside car park opposite the Harbour Lodge access road.  There were 6 of us and our tutor Tom Marsh. It was really cold and blustery we were going to learn how to create a moody landscape, that was the idea anyway.  As we set off the sky was pretty obliging with clouds skudding across the sky.  However by the time we were an hour into the walk the clouds had rolled away and blue skies prevailed – not ideal for a moody landscape but at least we were learning the theory of light, contrast texture movement. 

After attempting several tasks over different areas of Penistone we all felt we had learnt something of how to compose a picture.  

By the time I got back to the car my fingers were frozen and it started to hail/rain.  It had been a really good morning though and I would definitely go on another of these walks in the future. I had also managed to walk 4 miles in the process. Bonus.

Austby & Calvary

Well after this mornings amble around Penistone Hill on my Photo walk I figured everywhere was going to be pretty windy and muddy.  It had been really windy this morning.  I also wasn’t sure if it was going to stay fine or not.  So today I decided to go over to Ilkley and do the short walk up to the garden at Calvary.  I parked in the car park at Ilkley Lido – from here going left to where there was a short path alongside the River Aire.  The river was full and fast flowing today which meant it was going to be a really boggy walk.  I went up past the large house and into the woods heading to Austby.  Yep it was really muddy.  

In fact I found a stick to help me stay upright as where the path went downwards it was really slippy too.  

Going through the woods I emerged into a field and headed upwards to a small gate at the top to take me onto a small road from here I turned right along a track to eventually come onto a pathway.  Along here on the left is a gate which used to have a wooden sign saying Calvary, the sign has sadly gone. This is the entrance to Calvary. Going through the gate  reveals a series of carved stone Italian sculptures forming the stations of the cross. Well worth the short diversion off the path. 

  Having walked around I went back onto the main path and a few yards later took a gateway down through some woods and emerging onto a track to turn right past some cottages and Myddleton Lodge. Joining  Hardings Lane at the T junction, then heading onto an access road past a house called  (The Hollies) on the right, I thn went over a stile into the field. Across the field heading to the left of the large tree at the bottom end of the field and the stile in the fence into Middleton Woods. This took ages to walk through as it was very slippy and all the steps down to the bottom were green with moss and I was really glad I still had the stick with me.

At the end this short walk had taken quite a while to negotiate due to all the mud under foot but it had been good all the same 3 to 3 ½ miles I think.

Funny Hat and Wig Walk

Happy New Year.  This morning it has kept showering and then fairing up – come half eleven it was fine so I decided to join the Bradford Council New Year’s Day guided walk.  This started from Bingley Arts Centre.  When I got there I was surprised how many people had funny hats on so I quickly put my hat on to feel part of the group.  From here we headed off onto the canal to Dowley Gap 

we then turned off up through Hirst wood and I fell into conversation with a lady who had recently moved here from Kent and was exploring the paths and tracks around and about.  She was good company. 

Eventually we came out up at the top of hillside and here we stopped for a well earned break – I was glad I’d packed a sandwich and a drink.  After a good 20/30 minute break we set off again. 

  However we hadn’t been walking more than a few minutes when it started to rain, looking at the sky this was set in for the afternoon – Jeff Broderick who was leading said that in view of the bad weather we’d walk along the bottom of Gilstead Craggs instead of going up onto the top. 

  The path led us out onto the main road down into Bingley where we crossed over and went into the Prince of Wales Park.  I’d kept wanting to walk through here so it was nice to finally get the chance to explore this park.  This is one of the first public parks and is rade II listed created in 1865 by the people of Bingley.  In March 2013 the Friends of the Prince of Wales group formed to rejuvenate the place and it is lovely.

From the park we dropped down to the Five rise Locks and on a pleasant day we would have all gone for coffee in the café there but today we were all absolutely wet through and so from here we all said goodbye and headed back to the Art Centre to pick up our cars and get off home to get warm and dry.  Even so it had been an excellent walk on new paths – just shy of 6 miles.