Waterfalls Walk

 Wednesday 4th May 2022                  Waterfalls Walk

For today’s adventure 3 of the lads have decided to take a visit to the town of Bingley and explore a local scenic attraction, that of Goit Stock Waterfalls in the so-called hidden valley. This location is just a few miles from the centre of the town, getting there was all planned out by our tour master for the day John. Colin and Dave would be joining him has he awaited their arrival at Bingley Railway Station, at a time of a few minutes before 11am. It was a quick departure from the station in order to catch the 616 bus that would take the lads up through nearby woodland and on to the outskirts of Wilsden.

 

From here they would take the roadside pavement following the B6144 for about a mile or so, which was a steady incline, before branching off down Bents Lane which would take them in the direction of the hidden valley and Bents Mill , a recently modified old cotton mill complex turned into holiday apartments. The countryside views as we descended Bents Lane were somewhat fantastic, even on a dull and showery morning ,didn’t spoil our enjoyment and the peacefulness that exist here in this location.

Upon arriving at Bent’s Mill and with the owners permission we were able to place ourselves at a located picnic table and consumed our lunches, nice setting created in wonderful gardens by the riverside. From this point the next few hundred yards of our journey would prove to be quite challenging to say the least, our sense of balance and sure footedness would be put to the test, along with a helping hand from John we continued our journey.

We were close to the river as it cascaded  downwards through this wooded valley strewn with rock formations from a bygone time, just wonderful to see and here, even though this was a treacherous part of our adventure it was well worth the experience,

eventually we reached relative safety  and a more easy walkway, the next part of our journey took us along a tarmac Lane and eventually to the location of the Malt Shovel Pub situated by the main road and a place where we were able to catch a bus back towards the town of Bingley, by this time the sun had managed to break through the clouds for more than a few moments and was now quite pleasant as we boarded the 616 bus. Some 15 minutes later we were back in Bingley and found ourselves heading for the Ice Cream Parlour situated in the pleasant surroundings of Myrtle Park, here we sat and watched a game of crown green bowling whilst consuming our delightful purchases, yum yum.

With the time approaching 2:45 it was a just a short distance back to the railway station here in Bingley in order to board the 15:08 back to Leeds, bidding farewell to John and thanking him for organising this adventure, Colin and Dave now jumped aboard a rather crowded train. Once back in the city the lads took their respective journeys home.

Upon reflection today’s adventure of almost 5 miles was full of thrills and spills ,literally, treacherous at some points but so much well worth the effort if only for the memories created .

Cheers Lads.

Morley Meeting

 Wednesday 27th April 2022.              Morley Meeting 

A different approach to things were set in place for the Lads adventure today, it would just be a get together in the town of Morley, hometown for a couple of the Lads and a nearby location for the rest of our crew, namely Brian, Steve, Colin, Keith, John, Derek and Dave, a so-called Magnificent Seven. 

A meeting time of Mid day was suggested outside the Cafe Cucina located on the high street here in the Town. Upon entering the cafe the staff soon organised a table large enough to seat us all and then awaited for our various food orders to materialise. Many individual conversations now ensued with some of our group not seeing each other for a lengthy period of time, catching up with each other’s heath situations etc.

After a short while our drinks and food arrived and were consumed with much a gusto while the conversations continued. Various topics were discussed and further adventures planned whilst trying to engage all of our members. Almost 90 minutes were spent in the Cafe Cucina before we eventually left the establishment and take a walk further down the high street in search of an ice cream parlour of some sort, alas non was found so it was farewell to a few of the lads while the rest of us ventured on to Nigellas Cafe and partake in consuming a dish of apple pie with cream . 

With the time now almost 3pm it was time to say goodbye to each other and begin our various journeys home , Brian, Colin and John taking the bus, Derek and Dave returning home by car.

Upon reflection this was a pleasured meeting , doing all of us a considerable amount good feeling towards each other.

Cheers Everyone 

Gargrave to Skipton

 Wednesday 20 April 2022

Gargrave to Skipton canal walk.

Glorious Gargrave

It was a glorious morning the sun was shining brightly as Colin and Brian boarded the 10:18 at Leeds bound for Morecambe on our way to Gargrave. John would board the train at Bingley and we all alighted at Gargrave at a little after 11:02.  

Arriving in the beautiful village of Gargrave we came upon St Andrew’s Church which is opposite The Masons Arms and decided to have a look as it was open. It was beautiful with stain glass windows and rows of pews in neat fashion and well worth the visit. 

Most of this church was re-built in red sandstone in 1852. The tower, constructed in a different stone (allegedly re-used from a local Roman villa), dates from the 1500's. Most red sandstone used in English buildings comes from the West Midlands, Cheshire or the Eden valley. 

We then had a fifteen minute detour until we could actually get onto the canal as both directions were under various stages of construction. 

However, after asking some villagers we were able to get onto the canal in the direction of Skipton and seeing a fighter jet in training was a Fantastic sight to see and hear!

The walk was tranquil enough with only the sound of the A65 traffic puncturing the tranquility nevertheless, there was a head wind that made the walk extremely difficult. This was offset by the beautiful vistas that were in evidence throughout the walk. We now stopped off at a lock for our lunch which consisted of sandwiches either homemade or from Greggs.  

We were now on the final leg and a sign indicated that Skipton was now only a mile away so the station would thankfully be a bit closer. 

Arriving at the station at 14:30 we would have a seventeen minute wait for the 14:47 back to Leeds via Bingley where John would alight bidding farewell and reminding us of our Morley schedule next Wednesday at 12:00. 

Arriving back in Leeds at 15:25 where Colin and Brian went their respective ways back to Beeston and Morley. 

It was a hard walk today but on reflection at least we’ve done it!

-- 

Colin Hendrick Ward

Zap and we’re off to York

 Wednesday 13th April 2022.               Yonder York

For today’s adventure the lads have suggested a trip to the city of York, Yorkshires capital. They intend to take the so called Zap bus , starting point at Leeds bus station, stand 22 at approximately 10:30. It will be a group of 5 who will descend on this ancient city and explore its virtues, they being Derek, Dave, Colin, Brian and last but not least Our leader John. Quite a few passengers where hopefully expecting to board the 10:30 bus , we did eventually all find room for ourselves sat in luxury leather seats speeding off to York. A journey time of about 50 minutes was expected, this is a limited stop service, so it was settle down and enjoy the ride. The lads commandeered the back of the bus and were engrossed in various conversations as the bus trundled along ,feeling rather chilly with the fresh air on their faces , reason a few of the ventilation windows were open wide , so action was taken to close one of them to create a more pleasing atmosphere. The bus  eventually arrived outside York railway station at about 20 past 11 , this is were the lads along with a few other passengers bid farewell to the driver and thanked him for his services. 

What was the plan of action now Lads, a few suggestions were banded about, but their previous thoughts were to take a riverside walk to the Millennium bridge and back and this is indeed what took place but firstly it was off to the City Walls and experience a few hundred yards of its prime vantage point . Leaving the Wall footpath by means of a steep set of stone steps ,the lads now found themselves at ground level and making their way towards the river  embankment and the walkway that would eventually lead to the  Millennium bridge ,

a point at which the lads took a break from walking and participated in a hastily organised so called picnic? Sandwiches consumed it was now about turn and head back towards the city following the river on which a few small pleasure boats were bobbing around on as the made their way back and forth. Yet again various conversations taking place as we ambled along, up-to now there was a chilly feel to the day , in fact a few spots of rain were felt on our faces, where is the sunny and much more warmer weather that was forecasted, it did eventually arrive but that was at a point when we had to leave the city behind us. In the meantime a decision had been made not to go and explore the newly renovated Clifford Tower ,

instead we made our way to a McDonalds restaurant situated near to the Minster in the heart of the city and participate in consuming apple pies and ice cream, yum yum.

 

The streets in the city centre were quite busy with the hustle and bustle of the many shoppers and tourists during the build up to Easter. Now with the time approaching 2:15 pm it was a short distance back to the bus stop in order to catch the returning Zap bus back to Leeds, once back in this city it was farewell to each other take our respective journeys home.

Another great day out with the Lads 

Even though we didn’t achieve one of our goals!

Cheers Lads

Woodlesford Wondering

 Wednesday 6th April. 2022.             Woodlesford    Wondering 

Today’s adventure for the lads would take them to Woodlesford, a suburb of Leeds, their mission to follow the Aire and Calder Navigation back towards the city centre. Those taking part would be Colin and John making their way to Woodlesford by train, Dave came by means of a bus ride, while Alan took a bike ride. All meeting up at the railway station at Woodlesford, rendezvous time of around 11:15 was suggested and that is indeed what occurred.

 

From this point the lads took the roadway leading them down to the canal consuming pork pies has the walked along, our memories of Eddie supplying us with the same kind of sustenance came flooding back for a brief moment. Our walk continued along the pathway, past the lock situated in this particular lovely stretch of the canal and on into a wooded area before we reached open countryside, off in the distance we could here the noise of traffic as it thundered along the motorway in either direction, soon we past under this construction has we made our way to the outskirts of Leeds

, a little further on and it was time to take a brief rest and consume our delights courtesy of Greggs, a pity there are no seating arrangements on this particular  stretch of the canal, so it was standing room only. All the expenditure had gone into the laying of a rubberised footpath, ideally suited for the cycling fraternity along with the  odd runners and pedestrians. Time now to resume our wondering has we slowly made our way on past the old Thwaits Water Mill complex and the beginning of the various industrial sites constructed in this area of Leeds.

 

Up to now the weather conditions had been fine with even the odd glimpse of sunshine, but alas we were caught out by a 6 minutes shower of rain during the final home straights of this almost 5 mile amble, with the time almost reaching 2pm we left the canal side and headed for Hunslet Road a location at which point we would be able to catch buses to our respective homeward destinations, bidding farewell to each other as we parted.

This had been a memorable experience for lot’s of different reasons.

Cheers Lads.