4. The West Yorkshire Way (1994)

Length : 170 miles

Started : July 1993

Finished : 10 April 1994

Companions : None

Guide : The West Yorkshire Way - Nicholas Parrott (Sigma Leisure 1993)

Writing this entry will assist in re-evaluating this one which I have tended to regard as the Gordon Brown of my walks, the uncharismatic successor that followed immediately after the Settle-Carlisle Way.

Scenically it is not up to the same standard and as it was mainly done in autumn and winter the weather wasn't that good and indeed forced two abandonments. It was also walked roughly contemporaneously with my relationship with an eccentric but still deceitful girl which didn't end well (except in so much as it left me free to meet my wife) so it's also had that shadow to contend with ever since.

I started this one within weeks of finishing the Settle-Carlisle Way so there's no catch up story involved. I think I picked this one because the guide was hot off the press and because like its predecessor the stages generally started and ended at stations although usually on different lines which made arrangements more complicated. It is the longest LMDP I've completed at the time of writing so there was a good challenge element involved as well.

It started easily enough on a sunny afternoon with a 6.5 mile walk from Steeton to Ilkley briefly intersecting with the SCW when it crossed the canal before climbing over Ilkley Moor. The last mile or so on the Moor comprised the last bit of familiar territory for over 100 miles as the eastern part of the county was completely unknown to me as far as walking was concerned.

Stage Two meant picking up another LMDP, The Ebor Way which now shared the route for a considerable distance. It followed the eastern edge of the Moor before dropping down into civilisation at Menston then climbing to the Chevin a gritstone ridge above dense woodland. After an excellent tea stop at the information centre just off route it was disappointing to finish in Bramhope nominally a village but really an affluent suburb of Leeds and a distinctly unfriendly place to wait for a bus on a rainy day.

Stage Three was a demanding 15 miles to Wetherby where the route dropped into farming country. The highlight was passing through the Harewood Estate with the quaintly named hamlet of Stank in its midst. The afternoon was mainly spent alongside the river Wharfe before arriving at Wetherby an attractive enough town but there was a shock in store when I sat down for the sole of one of my boots was hanging off (disappointing after barely eighteen months' wear).

Stage Four commenced with new boots but another shock awaited; I'd left the guidebook at home. After some cursing I bought an OS map from a newsagent and there seemed only one obvious route as far as Boston Spa which I knew was en route from reading ahead. I decided to go for it then caught the bus back to Leeds where I'd packed. Back home the book confirmed I'd walked the correct route which was some consolation for having the walk curtailed.

Stage Five was therefore a shortened walk from Boston Spa where the Ebor Way departed, through the parklands of Bramham Park and the private Parlington Estate with its once contested footpath the Flyline to arrive at the more industrial landscape at East Garforth. Stage Six was a ten mile walk to Knottingley through a flat landscape dominated by the Ferrybridge Power Station at the eastern edge of the county.

Stage Seven was a difficult 15 miles to the heart of what was once Arthur Scargill's empire at South Elmsall. Some of it was actually in North Yorkshire and at one point, Womersley Park, the book mentioned a discreet sign which was so discreet I never found it and floundered for half an hour in the brambles looking for a footbridge. South Elmsall was hardly the most rewarding of destinations at the end of a tiring day.

Stage Eight, walked on a dismal November day was a 14.5 mile slog to Darton through old coal mining country. To be fair the bit around Brierley overlooking Barnsley was reasonably pleasant but I was glad to reach Darton from where I expected the scenery to improve. It did but despite the fine weather for Stage Nine to Denby Dale I have never finished a walk in filthier condition than on that day such was the mud on that route. I was embarrassed to get on the train.

It was round about this time that I passed an interview for a new job so had to use up some leave in my old one. Therefore Stage Ten was on a weekday. Unfortunately this meant high parking fees in Huddersfield. I was unwilling to pay the full day rate so I cut the walk short at Jackson Bridge to get back within 4 hours. Stage Eleven completed the walk to Holme on a sunday.

Stage Twelve was a drama. The forecast was for blizzards to hit the north at mid-day. This was risky because the route to Marsden though only 8 miles climbed high. On the other hand the last 4 were downhill on an unloseable track so I decided to go for it. It had already started snowing as I boarded the bus to Holme and the driver tried to dissuade me from setting out but as the wind was at my back I pressed on to Digley Reservoir looking fabulous in the snow. At its far end with the climb to come, doubt assailed me looking up at the menacing dark cloud above. I decided to abandon and walk back down the reservoir track to Holme Bridge. This was barely two miles but it meant walking face into the blizzard. That was absolutely horrendous and I began to fear I wouldn't make it to my leaving-do next day. I struggled into the village much chastened and the storm ended abruptly as if to mock me.

I completed the walk without incident a week later. I had two days leave at my new job to take before the end of March so I used one of them for the next, very familiar stage to Todmorden. I took the train into Manchester then one into Marsden. It was an awful wet day and I was in a black mood due to the girl mentioned earlier and I decided to end it short at The White House and complete at the weekend.

That Sunday there was a forecast of gale force winds and my mother suggested I didn't go but I set off. After less than a mile of trying to stand up in a hurricane I ate humble pie and slunk back home. Fortunately, the following week the Civic Trust were doing a walk around Todmorden in the afternoon so I was able to join the two walks up. The last mile or so was along an old friend, the Rochdale Canal Towpath.

The penultimate stage was a tough 15.5 miles to Haworth. I had an ugly altercation early on with a young girl whose dog was snarling at me and who took exception to me picking up a stone to ward it off. Thereafter it was much more pleasant with a two mile stretch along the Calderdale Way evoking pleasant memories. I was quite tired by the time I reached Oxenhope so decided to call it a day there and add the walk on to Haworth to the start of the final section which would still be only 11 miles.

The final stage back to Steeton had one last sting in the tail. The path to Haworth was closed because a footbridge was down. I decided to ignore the signs and go for it. It involved some gymnastics to get across the river and over a fence but I managed it and the rest of the walk was uneventful.

Hmm, I'd still have to say it wasn't one of my favourites.