Cross Gates to New Pudsey 30/04/16

13.9 miles, via Gipton, Gledhow Valley, Meanwood, Weetwood, West Park,
 Hawksworth Wood, Horsforth New Road Side,  Calverley Bridge, Rodley & Farsley.

After my first actually adventurous trips of the year, my plans return to urban walking again, though my original plan, heading to Otley, falls when I find that the Tour de Yorkshire is due to start its stage out there, and so we find ourselves checking the reserve list for alternate ideas, and the realisation that I haven't attempted to walk across Leeds on the East-West axis. Thus a revelatory plan is hatched, travelling out to get three quarters of the City visited in a single trip and mostly staying outside the boundaries of the Victorian-Edwardian city, riding out to Cross Gates for a 10am start and striking north past the Crossgates Centre and St Theresa's church to find the rather too modest Barnbow Memorial on the A6120 island (with the literal gates on it). Start the westward trail on Crossgates Road, where the residential dual carriageway mostly shadows the old bridleway to York Road and Seacroft Hospital, and once we've met the Killingbeck Burger King, site of many student era feedings, the path beyond to the lands between the A64 and the A58 is a journey into the completely unknown. In 20+ years up country, my paths have never taken me into Seacroft or Gipton, and Foundry Lane is the old country road that separates them, even if the eponymous Foundry is long gone beneath the explosion of urban growth that started in the 1950s to become one of the largest council estates in the country. Beyond Wyke Beck, creating the green corridor that still keeps the Seacroft estate distinct from the older city, we lead into Gipton, past the garden full of pub signage, and on to the Church of the Epiphany, one of the few truly brilliant examples of 20th century ecclesiastical architecture, Grade 1 listed! It would be the most notable thing about the district if it wasn't for the boulevards, wide avenues that were part of an ambitious 1930s garden suburb plan that never quite paid off, and there's some interesting lost history to be found among the semis, to make you wonder if the residents of Amberton Road are aware of the proximity of the site of Gipton pit, or that they have the remains of a colliery tramway running through their back gardens.

Roll out to Easterly Road, the A58, descending with a view of the University site on the distant hill, down to the Clock buildings and the Fforde Grene at Harehills corner at the limit of the 19th century city, before moving up Rounday Road to find the way to Gledhow Valley Road and the wooded green cleft that ultimately stymied the growth of the city on this axis 100+ years ago. The road, which we follow, is a relatively late arrival, running through the parklands of Gledhow Hall, and despite the traffic, it's now a tranquil green lung in the heart of the residential city, still showing a few clues to it's parkland origins such as the bathhouse and ornamental lake, and views up to the upscale 1930s growth of Gledhow, and down to the older terraces of Chapel Allerton. Popping out on Harrogate Road has us squarely in the midst of North Leeds, but uncertain where the decisive break between the two halves of the city lies, is it here or further on down Stainbeck Road, where the A61 Scott Hall Road dynamically makes its case. Not too sure which district we are in as Stainbeck Road leads past The True Briton and Carr Manor school, but up Stainbeck Lane there are traces of old farmsteads and old woodlands to be found on the edge of Stonegate Road, reminding us that this suburban landscape is a lot less than a century old. Fun and games among the Parkside Closes leads to Church Lane and the descent into the expensive yard of Holy Trinity Meanwood, last seen on a very cold winter walk in 200s and looking a whole lot more inviting today, a good one for fans of Victorian gothic and for those who'd wonder just how the Beckett family mausoleum is accessible when it has no doors. Lunch here in the warm sun before heading down Memorial Drive to Green Road and down the ginnel to Meanwood Tannery, these days the sort of apartment conversion which always appealed to me before 2007 prices had me having to buy something a bit more modest. Meet the path by Meanwood Beck, and the garden with many stone lions before finding my way to Hollin Drive and the green path up towards Weetwood, and after all the pondering I did before, I conclude that the East - West division of the city clearly falls in the Meanwood valley.

Ascend to Weetwood Lane, landing opposite the Bardon Hill lodge, and enter this land of smart Victorian out-of-town houses along the cobbled ginnel that leads up to the Oxley Hall driveway, where the University halls of residence continue to expand, and I can recall friends having their wedding reception here (on one of those best/worst days ever), alarming to realise that it was 17 years ago this summer. Pass on through the many sports fields, arriving on the A660 Otley Road opposite the school which got wholly replaced and descend the main road a short distance, spotting the bicycle carrying cars heading out to the TdY start as they head for Otley before making the turn into Spen Road and West Park. Here's a land of faded suburbia, somehow lacking the appeal of Gledhow and Roundhay, but the many detached houses along West Park Drive are surely still worth a mint, it's something to ponder as the long tail of winter lashes again, and a hailstorm greets my arrival on Spen Lane, bringing gloom as I head onto Butcher Hill, the old road to Horsforth, where the council houses get a sudden and surprising view up the Aire Valley. Past Abbey Grange academy, and over the Harrogate line before descending into Hawksworth clough, and picking out the high path through the woods, just below the edge of the Hawksworth estate and among the many quarries that littered this corner, and despite this, it still feels like you have walked into an ancient woodland. Good know that so many hidden woods still endure around Leeds, and passing through this one has the day turning nice again, with sunshine greeting us as we emerge onto the A65 New Road Side, and despite my general distast for plodding along the trunk roads, I've got a small fascination to sort out, so on we go above the Victorian villas of Newlay and among the farmsteads that have been consumed by the city. The landscape mystery that needs solving is that continued puzzle of the true nature of Horsforth, for one it is clearly a distinctive entity from Leeds, having developed in its own way before suburbia arrived and being constructed in stone rather than brick, but the real oddity is the shift in its apparent centre. We have already ascertained that Town Street was its main road, but the arrival of the turnpike shifted its commercial centre to New Road Side, to the point that it would convince the casual observer (ie Me) that the middle of town had always been here.

The other things to not about this quarter (aside from the sadly disused cinema) is the passage from the landscape of Fat Franco's, where I once endured the worst restaurant service I have ever experienced, and the continued business of The Fleece, where a group of us once went to drink and took several years off the average age of the clientele. Meet Calverley Lane at the top of the town, and once over the Ring Road, we actually get some rural walking on the old lane down to Calverley Bridge, but the Rural idyll might be passing here as the Horsforth Vale residential development is growing on the former industrial park, and it's not to my taste at all, I might add. Move down to pass over the Aire Valley line, and the site of Calverley & Rodley station, hard to trace to the west of the road bridge, though the MR station house and goods shed still stand, as did the station hotel until very recently, and then Calverley Bridge crosses the Aire, and it's so shockingly narrow it's a surprise that it could have ever been useful in the 20th century. Rise up to the Leeds & Liverpool canal path, among the cluster of houses around the Railway Inn, and press on down the towpath under the Ring Road to Rodley Bridge (swing) and taking Canal Street up to the Rodley Barge and the A657. Note the Owl Inn on Bagley Lane too, and tag Rodley for a future pub crawl, before pressing on uphill along the lane that is surprisingly quaint and industrial at the same time, terminating by the Springfield Mill Complex and swinging west to meet the bottom of Farsley Town Street, next to the War memorial and the Fleece, the oldest enduring Tetley pub in these isles. Sunny Bank Mill dominates the local skyline and still acts as a business and cultural hub in Farsley, and the whole of Town Street / Old Road up to St John's church is an absolute joy, littered with multi-storey weaver's cottages and other bits of fun Victoriana, a hidden gem that I didn't know about at all. Detour into more 20th century residences when we meet Richmond Road, mostly to wander down Cote Lane to see its business park and to check off Pudsey Civic Hall from the list, where everyone has visited at least one beer festival, model railway exhibition or somesuch. Closing steps take us over Bradford Road and down Woodlands Avenue to gain our final destination of New Pudsey station, all done at 3.10pm and thoroughly pleased with myself after seeing so many different faces of the city of Leeds along the way, probably the best experience of urban walking that I have enjoyed so far!

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2157.1 miles
2016 Total: 142.7 miles
Up Country Total: 1960.4 miles
Solo Total: 1927 miles

The Barnbow Memorial, Crossgates Road.

Church of the Epiphany, Gipton.

Clock Buildings, Roundhay Road.

Gledhow Valley Road, at the bottom, looking up.

Gledhow Valley Road, at the top, looking down.

Holy Trinity, Meanwood, with the Beckett family mausoleum.

Meanwood Beck, modest in scale, but significant in how it splits the city in two.

Oxley Hall, scene of fun times and terrible mistakes.

West Park Drive, where I used to aspire to live (!).

Hawksworth Wood, still feeling ancient!

Horsforth New Road Side, looking like the middle of town to me!

Calverley & Rodley station house (former).

Rodley Barge, Rodley (naturally).

Old Road and St John's church, Farsley.

Pudsey Civic Hall, always good for a beer festival!

Next Up: Niggling ailments pile up and a heavy chest put an end to May Day walking plans,
so a pause to rest and recharge before we attempt social more city walking?