Bygone Bingley

For the third time in a week we were in the same area of Bingley above the 5 Rise Locks. This time we were going up and following a ‘new’ walk by friends Wilsden Walker and Toby Walker.

This is an addition to a booklet that they have been updating through the summer in the hope of publishing it locally and raising funds for charity.

Crossing from the Prince of Wales Park and taking the lower path below Gilstead Crags, with glimpses of the view you get from the top across the Aire Valley taking in our village, we also got glimpses of the lovely Yorkshire heather in bloom at the moment, just below the crags.

This path down to Gilstead was the only unfamiliar part of this walk which combines several familiar routes.

We passed Milner Field which is a detour and one we have done several times. A fascinating place where Sir Titus Salt’s son built a magnificent home over looking Salts Mill - Saltaire. (Salt himself never owned a property)
Titus Salt Jr entertained royalty here (Prince of Wales - future  Edward VII and Princess Alexandra.) It became considered an unlucky place for various reasons and was eventually demolished as no one wanted to buy it. All you can really see now are parts of the mosaic floor from the magnificent conservatory. More here  if you are interested.

We crossed the river (Aire) and the canal (Leeds/ Liverpool) to walk through Hirst Woods before returning to Bingley along the canal where there were some lovely reflections. Extra.

Many of the shots in my extra would have been a good blip but I had to go with this one as it’s the first moving Dragonfly I’ve ever shot. It’s far from perfect but I’m really pleased with it. It was huge and whizzing about between the three rise and the five rise locks. Unfortunately the canal background here looks very murky, they are busy clearing weed which has built up as the canal has been in use less than usual this spring/summer.

It was about here that it registered that the 5 Rise cafe isn’t normally open on a Monday and after 5 miles I was really ready for a coffee. Luckily they are opening during the summer holidays so we celebrated this discovery with a sausage sandwich as well as a coffee!
A lovely day to be out though just a hint of Autumn in the cooler  air.

Thanks S and A for a great walk. Think I might have got a bit confused in Hirst Woods had I not known them well but otherwise no problems.


Those more knowledgeable than I (Kath) will tell me what this is I hope!