Almscliffe Crag mid week walk 18-12-24
Our last walk before christmas was an 8 mile circuit from Almscliffe village hall over Almscliffe crag then through surrounding countryside-though the forecast was for strong winds and rain, we were lucky in that though we saw rainstorms in the distance none of them came our way- we feasted on christmas rascals for our elevenses and had long range views with intermittent sunshine throughout our walk.
Mince Pie walk 15-12-24
33 walkers enjoyed a ramble around Morley before returning to Jill and Andy’s where around 50 of us enjoyed good food and company. An excellent start to Christmas!
Mid week walk from Ferrensby 11-12-24
An easy 8 mile walk with a variety of animal life to accompany us at various places en route including deer, horses, alpacas and birds-we walked through countryside to Coprove then through Staveley’s nature reserve before heading back to Ferrensby
Christmas Ceilidh 6-12-24
This year’s pre christmas do was a Ceilidh kindly organised by Glynis-the evening went well with a good mix of longstanding and newer members all joining in-their dancing shills were praised by Brenda (caller and leader of the band Dogsbody) -a hot pie and pea supper also went down well and all in all a very enjoyable evening
December long walk: Grassington Moor 8-12-24
Six walkers braved strong winds and rain to walk from Hebden to Grassington Moor through the old lead mining area before descending via Bear House to Grassington village followed by a riverside stroll along the Dales way route then back to Hebden-Martin’s first walk as a leader, a route full of interest with some great views
Mid week walk: Skipwith Common 4-12-24
December medium walk: Delph 1-12-24
Eight walkers travelled to Lancashire in awful weather fearing a wet day. But as we put our boots on, the clouds parted and the sun and blue skies appeared, and stayed with us most of the day. We climbed out of Delph and up the valley to Castleshaw and after a few more ascents eventually dropped down to the canal at Diggle. Lunch was taken canalside with an executive toilet included. We followed the Huddersfield narrow canal to Uppermill then picked up the Delph Donkey. This is a disused railway that once used Donkeys to pull the carriages along, simple really !! An enjoyable walk in decent weather.
Mid week walk: Swinsty, Fewston and John O’Gaunts reservoirs
Night walk on Ilkley Moor 22-11-24
One of the highlights of our walks programme, eleven walkers and 2 well behaved dogs all armed with torches ventured out in the cold and frost to do night walk led by Ian on Ilkley moor-we stopped for coffee outside the White House then again further along at Poet’s Corner where various members entertained us with their chosen poetry. There was a light covering of snow on the ground and a very cold nip in the air- good company and overall an excellent evening out.
November short local walk 17-11-24
23 walked from Morley to Howley Park and back, little bit of drizzle at the end but a good turnout
Mid week walk: Beamsley Beacon 13-11-24
November long walk: Pendle Hill 10-11-24
On a damp and misty day 11 die hard walkers set out from Downham to ascend Pendle HIll-visibility was down to a few yards apart from a brief cameo period on the way up-the summit was rather like Piccadilly circus but the rest of the walk was quiet-a good route , worth a repeat visit in the future with hopefully some better weather
Below are some photos from the recent walkout which show some of the views that we missed on the day:
Mid week walk from Sutton Bank 06-11-24
A mild day with a misty start which gradually cleared as the day went on-some lovely autumnal colours as we walked through a series of valleys (lots of ups and downs!) and woodlands within the vicinity
Mid week walk from Storiths 23-10-24
A lovely walk through land belonging to the Bolton Abbey estate with some really good long range views
October short walk Fairburn Ings 20-10-24
25 walkers and 2 well behaved dogs braved the stormy weather forecast to do a walk from Fairburn Ings nature reserve- in fact the weather wasnt as bad as expected and we even saw a little sunshine towards the end-some unusual scarecrows in Ledsham village and some good views across the lakes within the reserve
Mid week walk from Tadcaster 16-10-24
Despite a bad weather forecast, we managed to dodge the rain throughout this 8 mile walk from Tadcaster which took us through farmland and historic villages ending with a stretch of riverside walking back into the town-muddy and slippy in places with some extra deep puddles
October club long walk from Over Silton 13-10-24
6 members travelled to Over Silton in the North York Moors area to do a 10 mile walk through Woodland, villages and open moorland including a stretch of the Cleveland Way-we met various curious animals along our route, our elevenses stop was at Osmotherley and lunch stop at Square Corner on Osmotherley Moor-on the outskirts of Over Silton we visited an aancient church just outside Over Silton (St Marys)only accessible on foot or perhaps by horse -the weather was mild and almost sunny-all in all it was a great walk
October club medium walk: Starbotton Moor 6-10-24
10 little Rascals and 2 well behaved dogs travelled to Kettlewell in Upper Wharfedale to do an 8 mile walk starting by following the Dales Way riverside path to Starbotton-we then made our ascent (initially quite steep but with great views) to Starbottom moor where we then walked along a 2 mile horseshoe shaped path before heading around the conner to our gradual descent path back to Kettlewell-despite the iffy forecast the walk was rain free and we had some decent views throughout
Ros’sTea shop Walk 28-9-24
A delightful walk from Newfield Hall to Malham with just 2 declared tea shop stops combined with journeys by train and bus -for Ros’s full walk report please see the walk reports page (under the walks tab)
Mid Week walk from Wistow 25-9-24
A walk full of interesting features through the villages of Wistow and Cawood with a riverside section (river Ouse)and through surrounding farmland- only 3 managed to get lost and only for a short period -no curious potato inspector incidents this week but we did spot a couple of metal detectorists during our lunch stop
Leeds Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre Tour 16-9-24
This extraordinary tour was kindly arranged by Mark Woolley: Thirteen MWC members joined Leeds RSPB members for a tour around the Leeds recycling and energy recovery facility. They’re doing a great job there taking all your black bin waste, incinerating it, and turning it into electricity for the national grid and hot water to heat social housing and public buildings in Leeds city centre. It was a most interesting tour and a height challenge for some – the building tour was over 100 feet up!
Mid week walk from Aberford 18-9-24
A warm sunny day- 7 walkers did a pleasant 9 mile walk through farmland and some woodland along the Leeds Country Way in part- events furing our lunch stop on the edge of a potato field were memorable: a car drove into the field and its occupant started picking potatoes then looking at them in detail..we watched with curiosity… the farmer then arrived at speed on his tractor suspecting a potato thief -it turned out that the suspect was a potato inspector from McCains who had turned up unannounced!
Burton Leonard September short walk15-9-24
The sleepy village of Burton Leonard wondered what on earth had hit it on Sunday morning when 21 MWC members travelled there to start September’s club short walk led by Glynis-the forecast was for showers but thankfully we managed to dodge them apart from a few minutes at the end of the walk-we went along country tracks within the Mountgarret estate to Copgrove where we had a lunch stop in the church yard-then on through a series if fields and a little woodland back to Burton Leonard-2 cute resident dogs watched on as we passed by their dwellings
Margery Hill and Cutgate September long walk8-9-24
Only 5 of us and 2 dogs managed a 10 mile yomp over boggy moorland above Langsett. We were almost permanently in cloud so it was humid but thankfully didn’t rain. Having traversed some surprisingly deep bogs, we stopped for lunch at the Margery Hill trig point where about 4 million midges joined us for lunch. Even with coats over our heads we didn’t last 10 minutes before having to move on. All part of the Adventure!
Mid week walk Ilkley Moor 11-9-24
How we managed to dodge the rain showers on this walk is a miracle-we had good long distance views and could see them all around but we remained in the sunshine throughout the 7.5 mile route on Ilkley and Burley Moors
Mid week walk Wetherby 4-9-24
A pleasant 7.5 mile route starting from Wetherby and going along the disused railway line for a little while, then on to Stockeld Park, Sicklinghall and Linton-mainly good paths but on one section covered with undergrowth Annie took a tumble and had to be rushed to the nearest pub. Later that day an x ray showed a fractured finger which has been treated with neighbour strapping-we all wish Annie a very speedy recovery.
September medium walk Grantley 1-9-24
11 walkers left Grantley on a fairly dull morning, but Pat thought she was in Barbados wearing some tiny sandals. Within minutes her feet were wet as we went through soggy overgrown vegetation. We crossed several dodgy stiles before reaching Skel gill. After wandering around Skelding and Dallow moors, we had lunch whilst watching a nearby woman taking selfies for over half hour. Our next challenge after Dallow Hall was crossing fields of feisty cattle and electric fencing. Only one female walker and one canine managed to get electrocuted. Some rain in the last mile didn’t dampen our spirits, as we’d had a good laugh, generally at each others expense.
Mid week walk Warren Percy 22-8-24
Led by Glynis, a pleasant 8 mile walk starting from Appleton Roebuck with stops for elevenses and then later lunch at the cricket ground where we were able to watch the cricket match in progress there. We had to divert from the planned route firstly due to livestock then later due to an overgrown pubic footpath (which, rather sadly seem to be an increasing problem these days) but still a great walk
August short club walk Great Ouseburn 18-8-24
Starting out from Great Ouseburn we walked to Little Ouseburn where we had an early coffee stop in the church grounds. We then walked on through the village onto farm land, then through a wood and further farm land where we had a close encounter with a narrow hemmed in section of footpath where the nettles had grown several feet high in the summer weather…. there was talk of a new club trophy for the walk with the worst nettles, in which case this would be a strong contender!
Our lunch stop was in Marton Cum Grafton where the posh church loo helped to somewhat make up for the previous section-then on past a trig point and water tower to Lower Dunsforth then back to Great Ouseburn where a cricket tournament was in full swing. Some went on the check out the Olive Tree village pub before heading home.
Mid week walk from Rothwell 14-8-24
A pleasant 8 mile easy walk in Rhubarb triangle territory led by Ian, who only managed to lose 7 of 13 walkers for a short time in the woods at Oulton!
Tea shop walk Saltaire 11-8-24
26 happy smiling faces gathered at Morrisons car park for this walk. Maybe the great weather had something to do with that, glorious sunshine and blue skies.
The trip to Salts Mill is only 30 minutes. All park up, present and correct, we set off west along the Leeds Liverpool canal. We gave a safety warning about bikes (let them pass on the canal side of the path, and if anyone is going in the water, it will be them!). As it happened the banks were quiet, which made for a good walk with lots of conversation.
After 1 and 1/2 miles we crossed the river Aire and headed back by the wooded banks of the river to Roberts Park for lunch, where a cricket match was taking place. Most chose to eat their packed lunches in the shade of the trees, others went in the Half Moon cafe.
Now, the 5 minute warning to restart the walk was interesting. The mere mention that toilets were available led to a relay event of toilet visits only bettered by the GB Olympic squad! We finally got going again along the river bank heading further east.
Through the cricket club and out onto by the road, we walked through bits of Shipley before we picked up the canal path again to head back. There was some stunning views of Salts Mill and neighbouring buildings from the waters edge.
That ended a lovely 4 and 1/2 mile walk. While some walkers returned to their cars to go home, others chose to take a walk around town, or make another cafe stop. Don’t mention toilets!
August long walk Lindley Wood 11-8-24
An 11 mile walk with excellent views first of Swinsty reservoir followed by Lindley Wood reservoir led by Ros on a hot sunny day
Mid week walk Dallowgill 7-8-24
A ten mile walk along part of the mosaic trail and across moorland in this beautiful little known part of the county
August medium walk from Kirkby Malham 4-8-24
light cloud and thankfully slightly cooler than recent days, we had some excellent long range views across Malhamdale and beyond to Pendle Hill and the 3 peaks area-we ascended to Weet’s top then across moorland then down to the river Aire for a riverside walk back to Kirkby Malham
Mid week walk from Masham 31-7-24
A hot sunny day with a scenic walk from Masham-thankfully in the heat no steep hills to climb
Mid week Walk from Bishops Wood 24-7-24
July Club Short Walk 21-7-24
17 people undertook an enjoyable 6.5 mile walk to Leeds, mostly away from roads. Walkers joined and as we went along. The weather was cloudy and cool but dry. We entered Leeds via the Monk Bridge Viaduct Garden which was an unexpected delight. Lunch was taken at Leeds Station, the ongoing Gay Pride made the city centre crowded and chaotic but great fun. A few chose to walk back and the rest went in search of buses for the journey home.
This was something different and great fun.
July Adventure weekend in Swinscoe , Derbyshire
July linear mid week walk 17-7-24
For something different we took the bus to Westgate Hill and then did a linear 9 mile cross-country walk back to Morley. 8 of us turned out on a warm, sunny day we used a lot of the Leeds Country Way to walk down to Cockersdale, up to Drighlington and then to Gildersome with an essential stop at Goodalls for ice-cream. The recent damp weather had made for mud and rampant undergrowth, machetes were needed on some sections!
July medium walk from Welburn 7-24
Another day of light prolonged showers, none the less a great walk with lots of interesting features and views including Castle Howard and Kirkham Abbey-we also earned our brownie points near the end by finding and then reuniting a mobile phone and wallet with its owner (which involved turning back and retracing our steps for a short while)
Penistone Country Park mid week walk 10-7-24
10 keen walkers and 2 dogs set off from Penistone Country Park near Haworth. Heading to Harbour Lodge, the rain started and set the pattern for the day. The terrain was rough and wet as we headed up to Top Withens (supposed to be the inspiration for Wuthering Heights). The rain held off whilst we had a coffee stop, but Cathy and Heathcliffe were not around. After visiting Delf Hill trig point , another rough and wet so called path took us down to Ponden Hall and reservoir. Still raining, we followed the Pennine Way to the Bronte Falls, where, thankfully the rain stopped. From here just a steady plod back to the cars, with wet feet and gear.
Fountains Abbey medium walk 7-7-24
Spofforth mid week walk 3-7-24
14 walkers did a pleasant 7.5 mile circular walk from Spofforth with a picnic lunch stop at Kirby Overblow -the weather was mild and dry and we had some good long range views along the way-we had a celebratory drink in the beer garden of the Castle Inn on our return to Spofforth.
Wharram Percy walk 20-6-24
Six walkers travelled to the Yorkshire Wolds area to do an 8.5 mile mid week walk led by Glynis-the weather was quite warm, we walked along a series of balcony paths with fabulous long range views, the grand finale of the walk being the medieval ruins of Warren Percy.
Ladybower walk 9-6-24
Our thanks to Ian for standing in and leading a walk in the Ladybower area at short notice:
We started at Cutthroat Bridge and headed up onto Derwent Edge to Wheel Stones and Salt Cellar Rocks . Then we dropped down to Ladybower Reservoir and followed the reservoir to Ashopton. Finally we went through Ladybower Wood back to Cutthroat Bridge. Weather was a bit cold and wet on tops but brightened up when we dropped down into valley.
Rye Loaf Hill walk 2-6-24
Great Whernside club walk 19-5-24
It was one of those walks on one of those weather days when it felt good to be alive and up in the Dales… a strenous climb with amazing views from the start-dont forget your sunscreen with walks on days like this!
Mid week walk Norwood Edge 15-5-24
We were trying out a route to form part of August’s long club walk in the Norwood area- a walk with varied scenery and terrain, a good mixture of open countryside with good views and several woodland areas, the last of which proved to be a bit of a challenge-all good fun and another enjoyable das walking
Ros’s grand day out 12-5-24
Eight walkers took a train then bus from Leeds to Malham then did a linear walk calling at no less than 2 teashops (3 if you count the one at Leeds station!) -highlights included Hanlith Hall, Scalegill Mill, Gordale scar, Malham Cove and Air Head Springs (the source of the river Aire)-all in all a very grand day out in the sunshine-for a full walk report please use the walk reports tab to find this (just below walks in the drop down menu)
May Long walk 12/5/24 Boulsworth Hill
A good tough walk from Wycoller country park with its ruined Hall circa 1550 and a modern day sculpture entitled the Atom.Then on the ascent of Boulsworth Hill we took in the rocky outcrops of Great and Little Saucer stones and the trig point of Lad Law. Fabulous long distance views to Pendle Hill and the Yorkshire three peaks.
Mid week walk 8/5/24 Sharlston
May medium walk 5/5/24 Baildon Moor
18 walkers did an 8.9 mile walk on Baildon Moor in summery weather-some excellent long range views, wild garlic bluebell woods, an array of other wild flowers and animals, stepping stone beck crossings and overall a really good bank holiday weekend day out
Mid week walk 2-5-24 Ingbirchworth
Mid week walk 24-4-24 Great Ouseburn
We walked out the planned route for the August club short walk from Great Ouseburn, passing though Little Ouseburn before walking through a bluebell wood. Our lunch stop was in Marton cum Grafton after which we headed back to our start point via Upper Dunsforth village.
Mid week walk 17-4-24 from Upper Denby
April long walk 14-4-24 Along the Cleveland Way from Swainby
14 walkers did a 10 mile walk from Swainby joining the Cleveland Way to ascend Round Hill-we then headed northwards before turning east towards Bilsdale, descending into Scugdale and then Snotterdale where we re-joined the Cleveland way southwards in the valley back towards Swainby-some good long range views and it was a pleasure to walk with members both old and new
April’s club medium walk York 7-4-24
14 walkers started out from York Racecourse for a local walk there including some riverside walking-we did have to divert as, after recent heavy rainfall the path was underwater in places-we went through Naburn and Bishopthorpe passing the Palace there, and along the solar system way
Mid week walk from Snaith 3-4-24
We walked out Mauve and Ruby’s short walk which will be on the Sunday programme later in the season-an interesting little known area with better weather than the forecast for this day
Mid week walk North York Moors 20-3-24
7 walkers braved the mizzly weather to walk from Upper Silton through woodland then acroos Oakdale Beck to joing the Cleveland Way past Square corner and back through Nether and Upper Silton-a good walk with potentially good long range views in better weather… all the more reason for a repeat visit perhaps later in the year
March Short walk Eccup 17-3-24
A great turnout for our March short walk led by Phil and Cyn-muddy underfoot but mild the weather improved as the day went on-a very civilised lunch stop at Golden acre park and it was lovely to see spring lambs along the route-pub stop at the end in return for using their car park for the walk
Mid week walk Swinsty & Lindley Wood reservoirs 13-3-24
March long walk Marden and Metham Moor 10-3-24
Unfortunately the weather was bad for Glynis’s March long walk on Meltham Moor and in view of this the walk was cut short-but 3 weeks earlier when 3 of us walked it out we had better weather and views so photos from the walk out are included to show some views that might have been had given better visibility-it was a lovely walk and Glynis plans to repeat this walk later in the year
March long walk Low Bradfield 3-3-24
Mid week walk from Pool-in -Wharfedale 28-2-24
Evening walk on Ilkley Moor 23-2-24
!2 walkers and 2 dogs enjoyed our club evening walk led by Ian on Ilkley Moor with a refreshment stop at Poets Bench together with some poems
Mid week walk Bramham Park 21-2-24
6 walkers braved the rain to do a 7 mile walk from Bramham going through the grounds of Bramham Park-spring flowers and blossom along the way, rather wet underfoot in places but relative mud free as we were mainly on tracks in Bramham Park
February short walk Methley 18-2-24
21 walkers set off on a 6 mile walk made somewhat difficult by muddy conditions with standing water, but the weather was good and a coffee shop stop made up for the conditions underfoot
February long walk from Pateley Bridge 11-2-24
Mid week walk 8-2-24
5 walkers braved the weather forecast to do a local mid week walk from Oakwell Hall winter wonderland…it started snowing in the morning and persisted all day
February medium walk from Ilkley 4-2-24
Not the best of weather days in that it was blustery with light but horizontal rain,but despite the weather 12 walkers and 2 dogs set off from Ilkley walking through MIddleton Woods and up onto Middleton Moor before descending to Langbar then Addingham where we picked up the Dales Way footpath following the River Wharfe back to Ilkley
Mid week walk Spofforth 31-1-24
Setting off from Spofforth Castle we walked on a relatively mud free track to Kirkby Overblow where we stopped for elevenses. Onward then towards Sicklinghall where we bumped into 3 familiar faces doing a shorter walk in the opposite direction -after a lunch stop at Sicklinghall churchyard we before returned to Spofforth -8 miles and fortunately we managed to finish before the weather deteriorated later in the day.
Mid week walk North Leeds 24-1-24
ON the tail end of yet another storm we did an easy 7 mile circuit in the countryside of North Leeds including parts of the Leeds Country way and a walk through Golden Acre Park-as we used the New Inn car park to park for our walk it would have been rude not to go in for a drink at the end
January short Walk 21-1-24 Wentworth
January Teashop walk 14-1-24 Wetherby
January Long Walk 14-1-24 Grassington
13 walkers set off along the Dales Way long distance footpath northwards from Grassington to Conistone Dib-we then turned upwards towards Grassington Moor where the views across Wharfedale and beyond were good-after a lunch stop in the old lead mining area we followed a track then fields back around towards Grassington-the ground was frozen so thankfully a relatively mud free walk…only one wrong turning and only one lost then later found glove
January medium walk 7-1-24 Ardsley
