Your ride today....

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Mrs 26 lead me to Clevelode to see the River. Then I took her to Pixham Ferry for another view upstream. We took Jennet Tree Lane homeward having a bit of fun with half wheeling. I decided to head out over the common for a change and took the road for Long Green. After Longdon I diverted by Queenhill to take the standard Brotheridge Green route back. More cyclists than cars today. 42 smiles

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

it's a shame for it to come to an end now. Just doesn't feel right going out for 6 to 7 hour bike rides though.

You'll be fine. Just pick a very lanesy route, stay away from towns, and you will hardly see soul, especially during the week.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

Bike selected; CGR (as I was heading onto 're-cycled' railways)
Weather; sunny, cool, dry, breezy
Photographs from today (unless captioned otherwise)

I had decided, I was going to have a ride up to, & along 'The Lines'.... originally built as the Leeds, Castleford and Pontefract Junction Railway
It essentially runs from Castleford, over the River Aire, under Barnsdale Road (where Ledston Station was), Allerton-Bywater, Kippax, & onto Garforth (I joined it at Allerton-Bywater)

http://www.lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk/Castleford Garforth.htm

The ride down was on the road, down Castleford Road, under the M62 (at jct 31), past the architecturally glorious 'Voysey Row' (1) & 'Rising Sun', at Whitwood Common
http://www.voysey.gotik-romanik.de/Whitwood Thumbnails/Thumbnails.html

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/241087 (part of the Row can be seen in the background)
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1312621 (as it is now, part of the Rising Sun)
https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101313209-the-rising-sun-public-house-altofts-and-whitwood-ward
https://britishlistedbuildings.co.u...errace-altofts-and-whitwood-ward#.XpxR80BFzIU
https://britishlistedbuildings.co.u...l-hall-altofts-and-whitwood-ward#.XpxR_kBFzIU

Carrying on past 'Diggerland' (2), up to Whitwood roundabout, where the Mining College used to be (now gone, & the area built, with a new 'plastic' College a mile or so east, by the ASDA at Glasshoughton)
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1048167
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1048161

Down through HighTown, into Castleford, crossing the Leeds-Selby line on Albion Street
Past the new Bus Station, & downtowards the River, where the Romans forded the Aire, marked by some very nice tile-friezes
('Cas' was Lagentvim, to the Romans)
Past a heavily boarded up Castle Motorcycles!! (Honda main-dealer), & the Forum(3), which simply was a couple of benches where the old men met to 'put the World to rights') - there's a modern bench there now
The vitreous tiles are on the old (closed) Bridge Hotel
View attachment 516297


Over 'Hartleys Bridge' (of 1808) & onward to Barnsdale Road (4), to follow the route of the Romans (on their way to Tadcaster (Calcaria)
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/930951
https://britishlistedbuildings.co.u...d-central-and-glasshoughton-ward#.XpxWfEBFzIU

A brief pause, at the site of Ledston Station for photographs (to be added elsewhere), in a 'Then & Now')
A left onto Park Lane at the cross-roads (with the right, heading onto Newton Lane, towards Fairburn, the RSPB visitor centre, & the 'old' A1)
Not far on here, to the back of the 'Millenium Village' I reached the turning onto 'The Lines'
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/259633

View attachment 516300

This is one of the sections that run along an embankment, with housing to the south-west (left) & fields to the north-east (previously colliery land)
Bowers Halt is the first notable section, as it had a wooden rudimentary station, with a junction that led to 2 collieries (Lowther & Allerton Main)
Veering off to the left, in this pic
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3283247
View attachment 516302



Carrying on straight ahead, there's an old occupation bridge abutment, with the deck removed
Next is Brigshaw Lane, partially filled in, with the path now passing through a concrete box, with some very good 'street-art' on it (5), with Brigshaw High School, just to the east

View attachment 516305

Berry Lane Bridge is next, the site of Kippax Station
http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=2003109_64020938&DISPLAY=FULL

It was where the car-park is
View attachment 516307

Circa 1960, if I recall, from a book I have about this line
View attachment 516321

Leaving Kippax behind, we enter the most picturesque stretch of the line, in a cutting, as we head towards the A63 , built as the Leeds - Selby TurnPike (6)

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4831483
View attachment 516313
Looking towards where I am, in the above image; https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2785941

I left the line on NineLands Lane, & headed south, rejoining the A63, turning east to climb 'Garforth Cliff', passing the 'caravan park' (once the site of an isolation hospital..... how poignant at the present time)
Past - what was, and always will be to a lot of people- 'Savills Garden Centre' (that had a 10" gauge railway around it)

Still on the A63, the next site is Peckfield Bar (7), turning south, back towards Castleford, past the site of Ledston Luck Colliery, where the magnificent winding house still exists - if a bit battered/unloved

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/65357
https://britishlistedbuildings.co.u...ith-garden-wall-and-gate-ledston#.XpxhLUBFzIU
View attachment 516317

Number 2 Winder (in far better condtion)
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/661279
https://britishlistedbuildings.co.u...at-ledston-luck-colliery-ledston#.XpxhmUBFzIU
View attachment 516318


Once at the bottom of Mary Pannall (8), it was merely a retracing of the tracks back into Castleford, but with a return home from the town centre, via a different route (alongside the River Calder) to Altofts

I hope that some of you enjoyed these words & photographs
Maybe the links/comments below may be of interest too?



1. All 3 are still visited by architecture students, on field-trips

2. Wouldn't you just love to have sat in on the meeting with insurers/H&S, when the idea was mooted for these venues

3. Latin, for a public meeting place, I believe?

4. This is a continuation of Barnsdale Road, as it leaves the 'Great North Road' (A1) at Barnsdale Bar, to the north of Doncaster
Whilst the Roman route is lost in Pontefract/Castleford, it all meets up again & heads in a straight line northwards

5. This will appear in the 'Street Art' thread, with a link here; https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/street-art.221565/post-5962323

6. As evidenced by a milepost, opposite the junction with NineLands Lane (bottom of 'Garforth Cliff' & by the Crusader pub)
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/t...her-interesting-geographs.215788/post-5962331

7. Where the A63/Leeds - Selby TurnPike, intersects with Barnsdale Road (that I left at Allerton-Bywater)

8. Woodland adjacent to Barnsdale Road, is linked to all sorts of stories about the eponymous woman
http://www.castleford.org/history/cas017.html
https://allerton-bywater-online.webs.com/marypanel.htm

In some ways we can thank Dr Beeching ? But then ? Just to think in time to come there might be the old HS2 rail link to cycle, now there is a thought !

 

[smokeysmoo]

A relatively short but quite hilly MOOCH for me today

 

[13 rider]

Does`nt a good deed make you feel good.

Yes . At first I hesitated to offer help as they were dressed as typical 'yoofs' so I judged them on their appearance but they came over as a couple of great lads . Lesson learnt don't judge people by appearance

 

[Levo-Lon]

Had a lovely hr this morning, hardly a soul about..
I did about 12 miles,would have been more but a farmer double barb wired a fence so that was that.

Breezy but a super day here.

 

[EltonFrog]

What a lovely day today. The Fragrant MrsP and I went out today, it was a bit cooler than last weekend and a little bit of wind, but dry so I got the road bike out.

No set plan but we ended going through Wallingford, Ewelme, Dorchester on Thames, Sutton Courtney, Didcot then home. Loads of cyclists out today including one knob wearing a Movistar jersey who passed to close clearing his nose. Twunt.

stopped about half way for a sandwich and a drink. Not a lot of traffic and no incidents of any note.

33.40 miles
900 for the year so far

 

[tribanjules]

Struggled to get going after having done a night shift but glad I did. Breezy cool but bright 50km south from bournville, tanworth, alcester, barnt green, lickey hills

 

[AndreaJ]

Back to sunshine today after a dull day yesterday, a route starting towards Northwood, across to Waterloo, Abbeygreen, Edstaston, Creamore past one of the local plant nurseries where I noticed that the owner has set up a stall outside the gate selling the plants so a detour might be called for on my next shopping trip, on to Horton, Loppington, Brown Heath, English Frankton, Colemere, Lyneal, Welshampton, Bettisfield, Northwood and back home. Lots of family groups out on bikes again and lots of them dressed for the middle of winter! One horse rider and a few dog walkers as well.

22.9 miles @15.6 mph

 

[Mike_P]

Two bike rides today – first this morning the Ebike on a 4.26 mile round shopping trip to M&S avoiding cycle tracks and keeping to the roads so the climb of Ripon Road was somewhat quicker than on the Defy yesterday. Had used the last Shepherds Pie in the freezer yesterday so two Cumberland and another Shepherds picked up and for once I had to pay a bit for them as my latest TopCashback gift voucher ran out of funds.
Then this afternoon with the bib shorts making a welcome return broke the avoiding of the A59 westbound on the Defy and carried on west on it for 8 miles assisted by the tailwind passing Knabs Ridge wind farm on its north side.

It was relatively quiet with only a few HGVs and the main downhill section saw the speed touch 39.1 mph.

Turned north-west along Meagill Lane and then broke my CV19 avoiding bridleways stance by following one north through the former HMS Forest Moor communication base that linked communications between navy vessels in the North and Irish Seas before satellite communication. As I had expected no one else was using it. Back east along Menwith Hill Road was noticeable for the headwind and visibility was good with Nidderdale stretching away to the north west

As the route turned more to the north east the strength of the cross wind resulted in a quick drop of speed and the need to turn the handlebars towards the wind slightly to avoid being blown to the side of the road. I turned off dropping down the valley side slightly to the south for a slightly more sheltered route away from the ridge That taken was not fully intended, but a lane I had intended to go down had a number of walkers on it. The lane I stayed on was not in the best nick with the occasional pot hole and one junction was completely covered in loose gravel so progress was a bit on the slow side. Regained normal route down to Hampsthwaite, the decent was interesting with spells of cross, head and no wind which again meant dropping speed a bit again. Climbing away from the village on Hollins Lane I had another cyclist ahead to track and consequently despite the wind managed my third best time.
17.53 miles @ 12.6mph avg, 1240ft climbed

 

[cyberknight]

Just over 40 miles to Curborough. killer headwind on the way back really

knocked the average down as i was only mamanging 13 on the flat at one point !

 

[EltonFrog]

@tribanjules that helmet is a much for a bike ride innit?

 

[Andy in Germany]

@tribanjules that helmet is a much for a bike ride innit?

Depends, if I was cycling along the West coast Mainline I'd probably wear a helmet like that too.

At the risk of thread drift @tribanjules: what is your job? I'm nosey...

 

[iancity]

An enjoyable bimble around bits of Northumberland

 

[tribanjules]

Depends, if I was cycling along the West coast Mainline I'd probably wear a helmet like that too.

At the risk of thread drift @tribanjules: what is your job? I'm nosey...

Hseq manager Amey Rail, this was an OLE job I visited