A Circular Walk on the Leeds Country Way from Woodlesford

Still training for the Oxfam Trailtrekker, myself and my brother went and trudged part of the Leeds Country Way from the middle of Woodlesford.

We started off heading towards the canal where I'd walked previously on one of my worst Leeds Country Way experiences. We walked down the canal again passed the boat moorings and meandered down to Mickletown.

We left the canal here and where previously we'd taken a right, we went left and followed the road down to Methley.

Once into Methley we went straight over the first mini roundabout and right at the T Junction. Not long later we went under a railway bridge and turned left walking alongside the village cricket pitch which is all very English countryside and is picturesque.

Now heading again for the countryside we took a right after the cricket pitch and walked passed the pub on our left. Always tempting but 8am is not time for a pint. There's a path to the left here that takes the path across fields here.

The hiking trail was pretty obvious and comes out at a main road. After a few hundred yards there is a kind of skewed cross roads. We took the road that went straight on (ie not left or right). This weaves down a country road until a gate to the right took us alongside a woodland. We hugged this woodland for a while until it disappeared. Soon later there is a disguised (well not really that disguised just that we missed it) entrance to a path which is a coup,e of boulders representing a makeshift style.

Again this hiking trail is obvious and leads you towards the A642 which you have to cross and go down the road passing Royds language school. This roads kicks back to the right however it is the track to the left we took heading towards Swithens Farm and farm shop.

We stuck on this track until we reached Swithens Farm and we walked straight through the farm, still on the Leeds Country Way. Whilst we didn't go into the shop it was more like a farm supermarket than a farm shop - it was huge.

Just through the farm itself you come to the farm car park. You head through the car park and on the left hand side the LCW path is signed away down the hill. After hugging the hedgerow down the hill you cross a style to your right which leads you through a horse paddock and into the village of Carlton.

Emerging on the main road we went left and passed the Unicorn pub on our right and followed the road round to Shayfield Lane on the right.

At the end of Shayfield Lane the road turns into a field but the path across the field is fairly well trodden and is easy to follow. This takes you all the way to Robin Hood and an obvious disused railway track.

The hiking trail took us along this railway track which was fairly pleasant and it took us all the way to Rothwell. Here we emerged at a church and went along the left hand side of the church and carried straight on to the T Junction where we went left.

At Haigh Road, which is the main road we went right then immediately left which took us straight through Mannheim car auctions. We emerged on Leeds Road. Crossing Leeds Road we went slightly left and took the path that ran along the back of the houses. This comes out on the road that runs down to Rothwell Country Park and the canal.

A mile and a halves meander down the canal and we arrived back at the bridge. From here it was a few hundred yards back to the starting point in Woodlesford.

This was partly the same route that I found unpleasant previously however this day was great and we managed to find a circular route which is even better, the route took us just over 4 hours and was 13.44 miles long - there's a map of the route below.

View Larger Map

Wainwright Bagging Around Grasmere and Great Langdale

We were staying in The Daffodil Hotel in Grasmere in the Lake District so we looked for a walk that was reasonably close to Grasmere and wasn't too much of a trug so that we could be back at a reasonable time to take advantage and wallow in the spa.

We decided to do some of the Wainwrights out of Great Langdale as there looked to be a decent walk that took in 5 Wainwrights within a pretty short yomp. We kicked off from The New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and headed straight up the road and through the gate.

 

From here we headed left, instead of straight on over the bridge, and through the break in the wall. We walked up the hiking trail in the valley with the stream on our right. 

Before long we crossed over the bridge now with the stream on our left hand side. Stopping briefly to take in the waterfall we carried on up the valley until we arrived at Stickle Tarn. 

 

 

 

 

View into Great Langdale

From here it was a short-ish hop, skip and a jump to the summit of the first Wainwright, Pavey Ark. From the top of Pavey Ark there are some really awesome views down Great Langdale to Lake Windermere. 

  

View from Pavey Ark down Great Langdale to Lake Windermere

  

The next Wainwright was Thunacar Knott Which was surprisingly only a matter of around 250 metres from the summit of Pavey Ark. Sadly the views from Thunacar Knott were pretty much none existent as the clouds fired over the plateau that sits between the five tops of Pavey Ark, Thunacar Knott, Pike of Stickle, Harrison Stickle and Loft Crag. Again it was only a few hundred metres jaunt over to the base of Harrison Stickle from Thunacar Knott. The climb was pretty straightforward to the top of Harrison Stickle. We didn't stop up here long as the wind was howling at this point. But we did get pretty incredible views across the plateau and over to the Pike of Stickle which emerges out of nowhere. 

 

 

View from Harrison Stickle to Pike of Stickle and Loft Crag

From the top of Harrison Stickle it doesn't look so far away but this is slightly deceptive. As you descend a chasm appears that you've naturally got to descend before climbing up the far side. You've got to attack the Pike of Stickle from the far side and whichever way you have a shot at it it's a scramble, there is no real easy way. It isn’t that much of a last push though and the views are awesome from up here!

 

View from Pike of Stickle to Harrison Stickle and Loft Crag

So that was 4 boxed off, just Loft Crag and we'd done the Wainwrights we'd set out to do. This is pretty much on the hiking trail home and is only a marginal ascent. Again the views down Great Langdale and through to Lake Windermere are pretty awesome. You can also see the Great Langdale campsite from here where they've got some kind of posh camping options for those that are averse to tenting it.

 

Great Langdale

 

Knowing that we had to descend via the valley to the village of Great Langdale we kind of set off walking along the wrong route intending to descend adjacent to the stream in Dungeon Gill. This was never going to be possible as it’s sheer from this side of the valley however from the map it looks doable on the other side of the valley albeit on a minor path.

On the descent as we were getting close to the bottom we came around a corner to get the full impact of Dungeon Gill Force which is hugely impressive. Stopping to take some photos of the waterfall and talk to the sheep we carried on to the stream at the bottom where we joined the hiking trail we'd started on earlier in the day. Back through the gap in the wall and a short walk down into Great Langdale to finish the walk off. Then back to the Daffodil Hotel in Grasmere for a pint and a dip in the pool very pleasant, a great walk.

Dungeon Force Waterfall