Ireland Bridge

I took a walk recently that started from Ireland Bridge in Bingley, and it struck me that I'd never really photographed this area before, so here it is. The bridge itself is a Grade II* listed structure and a significant crossing point over the River Aire. It takes the road from Bingley through the villages of Harden, Wilsden and Cullingworth and eventually to Haworth and over the moors to Hebden Bridge, so I often drive over it on my way to see the family. There has been a bridge here since medieval times and the current structure was built in 1686. It was widened and altered in 1775 and was again strengthened in 2010 to take modern traffic. It is, as you can see, relatively narrow and forms something of a bottle neck at peak times.

The bridge has a pub at either end (both really nice pubs). At the Bingley end is the Old White Horse, an ancient coaching inn in the oldest part of Bingley, opposite the parish church. (See HERE).  At the other end is the Brown Cow Inn (see below). It is said that the bridge was at one time called Bingley Bridge and the name got changed because Irish textile workers in the local mills crossed it to drink in the Brown Cow, which became known as 'the Irish pub'. I don't know if that's true.

There is an interesting mixture of old and new housing, with quite a few modern apartments having been built in recent years, where there used to be mills. Unfortunately proximity to the river does mean the properties sometimes flood. The Brown Cow, sitting quite low down, has been badly hit several times.

Folly!

It all started so well, with a pleasant amble down Beckfoot Lane to the packhorse bridge (HERE)
and on to the next little stone bridge over Harden Beck. There's an old mill here, originally driven - I assume - by water power from the beck. I don't know when it closed down but the buildings have been converted into several residential units.



Once over the narrow bridge, my walk took me across Shipley golf course (oddly named, since it is actually on the edge of Bingley). The right of way is marked by large white stones, but you have to be very careful not to get in the way of golfers and flying golf balls. Not being a golfer myself, I find it quite hard to tell which direction they are aiming in. So I walked quite fast across this bit!

Beyond the golf course, the view opens up along the Harden Valley, bounded on one side by the Bingley St Ives estate and on the other by Cottingley Woods. It's all very green and lush. I actually love this gentle little valley, quite peaceful nowadays. There are some old buildings, now very nice houses, nestled in hay and wildflower meadows.

Harden Grange Farm, which you can see in the distance below, is now a riding school and livery yard.

I took the path up into Ruin Bank Wood, climbing steeply up the valley side. I was hoping to find the old ruined folly hidden in the woods.

The woods are mostly larch trees, grown for timber. As I walked up to the main track it all became very muddy and difficult to negotiate, churned up by forestry vehicles.They must have huge thick tyres that had gouged out deep ruts. I came to a junction in the track and went straight on - wrong, as I then came to the other side of the wood. I retraced my steps and turned right, along the muddy track. It was hard going and not at all pretty. I find the straight trunks of pine trees rather forbidding compared to mixed woodlands like Hirst Woods.

Further on there was more evidence of forestry activities, with huge stacks of messy timber. Not the neat log piles you'd expect, these were smaller branches and looked more like waste. You'd think at least they could use it for chippings for mulch. Perhaps they do, eventually.

I never did find the folly! I obviously took a wrong turn somewhere. The track came out into Cottingley housing estate and, to be honest, it was a relief to be on firmer ground. I had then to search for the footpath down to the main road. It turned out to be steep and rocky and more like a river bed, though luckily not muddy here.

I was actually quite glad to get down to roads that I knew and eventually back to my car, on Beckfoot Lane. Not one of the nicest walks I've done...  Rather a folly, in fact. Ha!

Up the Junction

I rarely actually walk across Junction Bridge on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, more often simply walking past along the towpath. When I walked down from Dock Lane and had to cross the bridge, it struck me how much more you can see from the bridge, although it's not really that high a structure.

The top photo is looking east, away from Shipley, with the old Junction Mills and Dockfield Mills on the left and newish apartments, Amber Wharf, where a canal dock used to be years ago.  I found some interesting old maps of the area on a blog HERE.

The black and white photo is Junction Bridge itself. The one below is looking south, where a stump - all that remains of the Bradford Branch Canal - forms a pool in front of the flats.

The photo below is looking west towards Shipley. You can just see the modernist clock tower in the town centre, in the distance. There are more boats along this stretch, Gallows Bridge permanent moorings, with the boatyard on the left.

Hebden Bridge(s)

The original, narrow packhorse bridge spanning Hebden Water, dating back to the 1500s, still stands in Hebden Bridge town centre. Packhorses used to have to make the arduous journey to and from the weaving village of Heptonstall high on the hill top, taking cloth to the market in Halifax.

A little further up Hebden Water is a newer road bridge, with attractive views up and down stream.

After our dry spring, the water is very low and it all looks quite innocuous. The town sits at the junction of Hebden Water with the River Calder, its watery geography further complicated by the Rochdale Canal that runs through town alongside the Calder. When it rains the rivers rise quickly, fed by run off from the high moorland all around. There have been several devastating floods, notably in 2015. Locals anxiously watch the rising of the water up the curved steps by the old bridge (see my second photo)  as they give a quick indication of how bad things are getting! 

Roaming along the river

I don't often explore the Aire river bank beyond Hirst Woods towards Bingley. The path is narrower and it's neither as picturesque nor as easy to access and navigate as my more local stretch but sometimes it's good to make the effort. I was rewarded with the sight of a mother goosander and her four chicks, sunbathing on rocks. I haven't spotted many tiny ducklings and suddenly they all seem to be more visible and growing fast.

I managed to pass under the railway bridge without being spooked by the noise of a train overhead.

Back in the familiar local patch, it has all become noticeably leafier and more verdant in the last week or two and the bluebells here, among the first to reveal themselves, have all long since faded. I wonder how long it will be before the rowers get back on the river? It's quiet without the gentle splashing of their oars up and down this stretch.

A bimble around Beckfoot

Getting bored with the most familiar local routes, I decided to strike out a little further afield one day and had a walk around Beckfoot, near Bingley. It's quite possibly the most picturesque spot in the area, nestled in the valley of Harden Beck. There is a ford across the stream, a relic of the days when this track was a packhorse route from Bingley down the Aire valley. The packhorse bridge dates back to 1723, constructed to replace an earlier wooden bridge. It is a listed structure and I found the following account:
The Parish Constable's Account for
January 7, 1723 records the payment of £10 to Benja. Craven and
Josa Scott, masons " for building a Stone Bridge ovr Howden Beck at
Beckfoot. In consideracon whereof ye said Benja. Craven and Joshua
Scott doe hereby promise joyfully and severally to uphold and keep
the sd Bridge in good and sufficient repair during the terme of seavenyears from the day hereof, as witness our hands the day and year above sd".

I do hope they did joyfully maintain it!  (Though I do wonder if it's simply a misreading of the ancient writing in the legal documents. Surely it should be 'jointly and severally'?)

The stream can get quite high and dangerous after rain and the ford isn't to be recommended. I've seen cars stranded there. There are some old cottages and farm buildings with links to the Knights Templar alongside the bridge.

It is, as I say, an attractive spot and my new-found capability with the panorama setting on my phone gives an interesting (though oddly disproportionate) view: 

Dob Park bridge

The main objective of my walk in the Washburn valley was to visit this Grade II listed, 17th century packhorse bridge across the river. The single span bridge with a high round arch is made of gritstone and paved with stone setts. It was built to enable horses with panniers to cross the river, even when the river was in flood. It carried the routeway from Dob Park Mill. Beside the bridge are the remains of a paved ford, part of a medieval monastic trade route and used by farmers and traders in Nidderdale to get their carts to the market in Otley. It's an attractive spot, though the river was quite full after recent rain and it was tricky to get a good vantage point from which to take photos.

On my way back to the car, I saw a red kite soaring over the fields. They were reintroduced in 1999 to the nearby Harewood House estate as part of a conservation initiative. They have since spread out across a wide area, a very successful reintroduction for what was once an endangered species. Although you often see the birds nowadays, it's still a lovely sight. They are quite distinctive, with their characteristic forked tail. I was quite pleased with this photo, as I don't have a very long lens.

Along the canal

A crisp, frosty morning had me out for a walk, and I chose to follow the less scenic route on the canal bank, through Shipley, rather than my usual walk towards Dowley Gap. I bumped into some friends in Saltaire and stopped for a chat. That was nice. Then I came across an elderly lady who had fallen into the canal by the mill. That wasn't nice! She had been helped out by a man, who was emptying her wellies back into the canal. I stopped to see if I could assist but there were already people with her, so I walked on. She'd be at risk of hypothermia as the water must have been freezing, so I hope she got home safely to warm up and dry off. She said she lived nearby. It was a little greasy with frost on the towpath, so maybe she slipped.

Further on, I noticed a new 'wellbeing' garden area that has been created by students on an educational scheme. It's not in a particularly lovely spot but it has made a tatty area rather nicer. It's always good to have a few benches where people can sit and watch the world go by.

Further on still and I came to the old bridge at the junction with the former Bradford branch canal. Again, not an especially beautiful area now, but it's interesting and there were two swans with their wings raised, which added a little grace.

The bridge here has a lovely sweeping line, always good for a mono picture.

The swan is one of a pair who nest in this area. They raised at least two cygnets this past year and the younger ones, now adult-sized, were gliding around a little further down the canal. I'm not sure why they sometimes swim with their wings arched, but it looks so attractive when they do.

Finally I spotted this otterly gorgeous stuffed toy on the Canal and River Trust stall. Isn't it cute? Otters have been seen locally, thanks to remedial work done along the canal and river banks, and the gradual improvement in water quality along the River Aire.

Linton Falls

Just upstream from where it curls around Linton churchyard, the River Wharfe thunders over Linton falls. I've posted photos from here before. It is a popular spot, a short and pleasant walk from Grassington village centre. In winter it can be a fairly bleak, dark, colourless scene but the roar of the water adds drama, so that it is worth visiting in any season.

There are two weirs. You can just see the upper weir in the background of the photo above. The weirs built up a head of water to power Linton Mill, originally a medieval corn mill and, from 1788, a worsted and cotton mill, which was sited alongside the lower weir. The mill went out of business in the 1950s and was demolished in the 1980s, after which housing was built on the site (see third photo).

The upper weir is harnessed for hydro-electricity. The original hydro plant opened in 1909 to power the nearby village of Grassington. In 1948, when the National Grid took over, it became redundant and closed. The plant was reopened in 2012, using the original building and fitted with two screw turbines.

Below the weirs, the river is constricted by limestone outcrops and, particularly after rain, it sweeps down in a dramatic cascade. The bridge across the river is known as the Tin Bridge and was originally constructed so that mill workers could get to work from the village. The current wooden footbridge was built in 1989.

Stainforth Force - and the thin blue line

The Hoffman Kiln (see yesterday) is near Stainforth, a village beside the River Ribble. Here the river tumbles over an impressive waterfall known as Stainforth Force. In the autumn you may be lucky enough to see salmon leaping upstream over the falls. On the day we visited, the water was coming down fast enough to deter any salmon. It's not called the Force for nothing. The only species you would have spotted was 'the greater tripod-wrangling club photographer' of which there were several in evidence!

There was so much water that slow-mo photos looked a little too confused, though that didn't stop me trying...

I was intrigued by 'the thin blue line'. Someone had strung a rope swing above the falls. One can only conclude that the water reverts to a mere trickle on some days. You'd have had to harbour a death wish to swing out on the day we were there!

Nevern

Wales: Nevern, a few miles from Cardigan and over the border into Pembrokeshire, is a pretty village nestled around the river of the same name. The area has been occupied at least since neolithic times, about 4000 years ago. We followed the footpath up the hill to where, in the 1100s, a Norman castle stood, one of the earliest stone castles in Wales. It was destroyed in 1195. The site has been extensively excavated and there is little to see (or photograph) there now except for the mound (motte) where the keep stood and the flat courtyard area that was the bailey. It was fascinating though, and a lovely walk through bluebell woods to get there. 

There was plenty of interest to photograph around the church, where this old mounting block still stands, handily placed to allow you to dismount from your horse (or carriage perhaps) as you arrived at church. 

Behind the church there is an old clapper bridge over a stream.