Ramble 2
Burley – Cow & Calf – Burley (Circular)
Approximate total distance: 6 miles
Walking time: allow 3 hours, depending on your pace
Maps
The accompanying BCC sketch map gives a general indication of the walk – just click on this small image to display a larger, printable version.
Ordnance Survey maps Explorer 27 (Lower Wharfedale – Washburn Valley, 2½" to 1 mile) for good detail of paths, and Landranger 104 (Leeds, Bradford – Harrogate Area, 1¼" to 1 mile) for general landmarks etc., are recommended in addition.
We hope this walk will encourage you to explore the extensive network of footpaths around our village.
A SUGGESTED LOCAL RAMBLE – by Colin Newton
Start point: Burley railway station car park
Walk down Station Approach and turn right into Station Rd. Turn left into Southfield Rd. On reaching Hall Drive, take the right hand road. Continue past two junctions and turn left up a snicket just past 24 Hall Drive. From the top of the snicket, continue up through Greenhow Park to, and along, a further snicket between numbers 25 and 27. At the end of the snicket, pass through a wicket gate and then turn left to cross the railway via gates on either side of the line. TAKE CARE: IF YOU CAN SEE OR HEAR A TRAIN IN EITHER DIRECTION, WAIT UNTIL IT HAS PASSED BEFORE CROSSING. Don't take a chance! Keep children and dogs under control. Close both gates after you to keep animals off the line.
Go up hill following the clear path past Catton Wood on your right. The route is a bridle path and can be churned up by hooves in wet weather. Pause at the ash tree where the gradient flattens for the first time and look back at Burley and down the Wharfe valley to Arthington viaduct.
At the top of the hill, pass through a metal five–bar footpath gate and carry on in the same direction to a 7–bar gate into the next field. This section can be very muddy in winter: boots are strongly recommended! Pass through the gate and continue. Or, for a change, there is a stone stile just the other side of some fencing on your left. This right of way route can be used instead to join the same path a short distance farther on.
Walk on with a small stream on the left and a fence, sometimes electrified, on the right. Pass through a six–bar metal field gate to reach an unmetalled lane. Go straight on along the lane towards a wooden 6-bar gate. There is a stile at the left-hand side of this gate that should be crossed. Head towards some buildings now to be seen across the meadow in front of you. The path is well used and reasonably clear on the ground.
Head towards the right hand corner of the field, where a stile can be seen. Cross this, and proceed to another stile that leads into a farm lane. Turn left into the lane. At this point, there are good views: on the left to the high ridge of Burley Moor and to the right across the valley to Denton Hall. This imposing building was erected in 1778 to designs by John Carr, the celebrated York architect; the parkland being landscaped at the same time. Two previous houses on or near the present site were apparently destroyed by fire. In the earliest of the three houses to occupy the site, Prince Rupert lodged on his way to York, just before the battle of Marston Moor in 1644. The famous local Fairfax family was long associated with the Denton Estate.
Continue on through a gate at the left–hand side of a cattle grid. Now pass Clevedon House, Licensed Victuallers School, on the left and Ben Rhydding Drive on the right. Walk round the corner ahead and go up the hill: Wharfedale Grange Farm is on the right.
Just before the lane turns left, you will see a cattle grid on the right hand side, leading to another lane which, in turn, goes in front of the school dormitory buildings. There is a gate on the right hand side of this, which is the direction to be taken. However, please note that the right of way is through the big gate on the left side of the cattle grid and alongside the lane in front of the dormitory buildings.
(A short distance along the lane, to the right just past the dormitories, is a well used meadow path leading to Ben Rhydding: try that route another day!)
The walk continues up the lane ahead. At a junction of paths, keep straight on to Gib Field Farm, the sign for which can be seen on the left at the start of the short lane leading to the farm.
Pass the farm buildings and go through the footpath gate to the left of a 5–bar wooden field gate. This path leads out on to Ben Rhydding Golf Course, and is subject to rapid overgrowth, requiring frequent clearing by members of the Ramblers' Association.
Making sure that no golf balls are likely to come your way(!), keep on in the same direction, aiming for a bunker ahead of you, with some trees to the right. The path goes between the bunker and the trees. The panorama is excellent at this point: particularly the view towards the Cow & Calf rocks. Even if you haven't been this way before, you may feel that you know the area, as a number of scenes for the television programme "Heartbeat" have been filmed on this golf course.
The undulating path continues across the course giving consistently good but changing views of the Cow & Calf rocks. Walk with a stone wall to the left for a short distance and then through a wooden footpath gate to be seen in the stone perimeter wall ahead. Once through this gate, continue on for a short distance before turning left up a steep winding path, with a stone wall on the left, to join the moor road at the top. The Cow & Calf Hotel is on the left.
Taking care, cross the road and turn right. A short distance down hill, turn left into the carpark. You may wish to take advantage of the refreshment hut here which is open all week for most of the year and at weekends during the winter months. It is worth looking at the information boards at the edge of the carpark before moving on.
When ready, walk up the flagged path that leads towards the rocks, then turn up the single paved section which will soon be visible on the left. At present a notice at the top of this section explains that Bradford Council is re-seeding badly eroded sections of the footpath and asks for co-operation of the public in using the "open" paths. The flagging has been provided for this purpose: people using the flagged paths will allow the seeded areas to become established. Bradford Council is to be congratulated on their conservation efforts in this area.
Soon the top is reached: take the first left–hand track at a junction of four paths: the route parallel to the moor ridge. At this point, the track is clear and wide. Where the track bears left, take the narrow path on the right and head diagonally upwards towards the ridge with the "hanging" stones that can be seen ahead.
On reaching the ridge, keep straight on back towards Burley. This is an ancient route, mentioned by local historian the late Eric Cowling in his book Rombalds Way. In this book, Mr Cowling cites evidence of the track being used as part of a trade route between Ireland and Europe at the end of the last Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago. There is certainly plenty of evidence of early man on these moors in the form of burial sites, stone circles and settlement remains. At that time the valley was heavily forested and the ridge was the easiest route to follow.
The view from the ridge is superb: the whole of lower Wharfedale can be seen, almost in the form of a vast relief map. As the corner of the ridge is turned, the view across to Menston, Aireborough and through to Leeds becomes visible. The noticeable high point in that direction is Rawdon Billing, which is topped by trees. The landmark of Crag Top Farm can be clearly seen high on the edge of Burley Moor, and at one point along the ridge, evidence of past extensive quarrying can be seen down on the left.
Soon the path has stone walling on the left. Continue past the walled section and look for a gully that is a short distance further on. Pass the gully and turn left down the track which will be seen a short distance further on. Follow the meandering path downhill with Coldstone Beck on the right through attractive moorland scenery.
At the bottom of the glen, there is a level section of ground just before a gate is reached. This is where, in the last century, Job Senior "The Hermit of the Moor" had his shack. One story is that Job had been crossed in love, and as a result he took to living a reclusive life on the edge of the moor in a shack that he built himself. Apparently he had a good singing voice and did quite well out of entertaining visitors who gave him alms. He became something of a celebrity in the district, and trips were organised for people to visit him. The Hermit pub at Burley Woodhead was named after him.
Go through the moor entrance gate, and head for a track that goes through some bracken and gorse covered scrubland to be seen straight ahead. This path avoids using the moor road on the left. The path comes out onto a road near a castellated bridge that crosses Coldstone Beck. Taking care, cross the road near the cottages to be seen opposite. Turn left along the road, then right down Stead Lane. Ilkley Moor Garden Centre is on the right and the building on the left is the (Girl) Guide Outdoor Centre.
At the beginning of the second field, look for a stile in the field wall to the right. Pass through this and continue straight down the edge of the field. Go over the next stile and continue straight down to a further stile. Turn right after this more difficult to negotiate stile. The track is quite clear here with a stone wall beyond some reeds on the right. Head towards some large farm buildings: lately part of a cattle-breeding station, now closed. Note the view across to Otley Chevin and Rawdon Billing.
Go through a kissing gate; walk straight on and over a stile, turning right into a lane. Onto the metalled access road and passing the former "Bull Farm"; turn left into a narrow lane (wide path) between fields. At the bottom, turn right into a wooded lane past the now empty but still imposing buildings of Scalebor Park Hospital, and past the sports field in front of them. Cross Rushy Beck at the bridge before turning left into Moor Lane. Take care crossing: few drivers, whether Burley residents or visitors, seem to realise that this is part of the 30mph village zone.
Continue down Moor Lane until the station is again reached and enter from the south side via the footbridge, or go under the roadbridge and turn right up Station Approach to complete the circuit.