Pictures From My Cycle Tour Of The Eastern Dales Featuring Highlights Of The Bilton To Knaresborough Cycle Track

Welcome to this part of my site featuring pictures taken from my return to cycling in the Yorkshire Dales based on the eastern part of the Dales around Nidderdale, lower Wensleydale and now the recently approved Sustrans route 67 that runs southeast of Harrogate to the lower Wharfedale town of Wetherby. Pictures in the order of 1 to 8 are special features of a link cycle route between Harrogate to Knaresborough. It is a spur of national cycle route 67 developed by the Sustrans in 1987 in memory of Beryl Burton OBE who was 7 times world cycling champion who sadly passed away at the age of 58. It is also a good introduction to cycling the Yorkshire Dales from Harrogate and as this path is mostly traffic free, It is suitable for families with young children. The Route from Knaresborough Joins an excellent cycle route that can be followed from the Midlands to North West Scotland. It is known as the National Byway and is Britain's Heritage Cycle Route consisting of roads that use light traffic and rural lanes, Making a good link route to the Dales. Pictures in the order of 9 to 13 feature the Ancient market town of Knaresborough and it may be worth taking a day or so off the road to explore this town as there is so much to see and do. Knaresborough's main tourist attraction on the south side of the Gorge is the historic Mother Shipton's Cave with its Dropping Well and cascading waterfalls. Other tourist attractions of Knaresborough is the Castle with its 14th Century Courthouse and is now a museum. Taking a walk into its picturesque market square there are some buildings of interest such as the oldest chemist shop in England, The Town Hall and Blind Jacks Public House. The short stretch of the A6055 Boroughbridge road that links the National Byway out of Knaresborough can be very busy at peak times and care must be exercised at all times. You can at the expense of a short detour avoid the most hazardous section between High Bridge and Bond End traffic lights. I hope to try print a map explaining this route in the near future. Pictures in the order of 14 to 23 feature my day tour of the Nidderdale and lower Wensleydale section of the Yorkshire Dales as follows. Pictures 14 and 15 feature the historic site of Brimham Rocks, A well known beauty spot located about 4 miles east of the Market Town of Pateley Bridge and is easily accessible by taking a detour off the Byway at Markington, Following through the villages of Bishop Thornton, Shaw Mills and Burnt Yates. The Rocks themselves consist of Millstone Grit dating from the Upper Carboniferous period of some 200 million years ago and as these rocks are about 227 feet above sea level they are some splendid views looking across the whole Plain Of York. Picture 16 features the historic dales town of Pateley Bridge and is a good rest stop for tired and thirsty travellers. Pateley Bridge was once a Lead Mining town and stone querying was one of the main industries of this area. Other tourist attractions of this town is the Nidderdale Museum and the Nidderdale Agricultural Show, Held annually every year towards the end of September. Picture 17 is looking from the bridlepath towards the south east side of Gouthwaite reservoir and you can get some grand views over Heathfield Moor. Gouthwaite reservoir is owned by the Yorkshire water authority and supplies most of the water to the Dales villages and surrounding areas. It is also a sanctuary for rear bird species and provides home for a rich variety of plants. Pictures in the order of 18 to 21 feature the isolated countryside of Nidderdale and the lovely villages of Ramsgill and Lofthouse, Where the Dale starts to get really wild particularly during the Winter season and this part of my route is a mixture of bridleways and on road. A word of warning about the bridleway sections if planning to attempt this route. They are only really suitable for mountain bikes as there are many rough surfaces and should the worst happen such as a puncture or a fall you should have a full survival kit for these kind of routes. Along with other spares, You need a puncture outfit and spare inatube. Do not even think of attempting the bridletrack routes in very wet or icy weather conditions. Picture 22 is my departure from Nidderdale and after a well earned steep climb lasting about half an hour, The views are very rewarding towards Masham and Kirkby Malzeard Moor. This is one of the highest roads in the Yorkshire Dales reaching about 429 feet above sea level. The last three quarter of an hour ride to Masham is very pleasant and mostly downhill into the rolling hill countryside of Wensleydale. Masham featured in picture 23 is a pleasant little Market town with plenty of cafes and pubs and is also the home of Theakston's Brewery. The route from Masham rejoins The National Byway where you can retrace your steps to The World Heritage Site Of Fountains Abbey and there is a loop to The Historic Cathedral City Of Ripon if time permits before returning back to Knaresborough. Pictures in the order of 24 to 27 are on the same route of The National Byway except they where taken on a Summer Sunday afternoon ride out to Fountains Abbey and Ripon. Picture 24 features the small City Of Ripon located on the River Ure at the foot of Wensleydale and like Knaresborough it is a lovely tourist town and one of England's smallest cities. Ripon's main tourist attractions is its beautiful Minster Cathedral Church, Ripon Spa Gardens and The Prison and Police Museum. Pictures 25 and 26 feature The Historic Ruin of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Gardens. Fountains Abbey is the worlds most Heritage site and the nearby Studley Royal Gardens are beautiful with flowers in there full bloom during the late spring to early summer season. It also gets very busy during the high summer season so I would suggest you pay a visit very early and make a whole day of it. Picture 27 features the pretty village of Burton Leonard situated on the route between Bishop Monkton and Knaresborough. I hope in the near future to have some more day rides of this route and when they complete the Bilton to Ripley cycle route, I will be probably going out cycling more often. Picture 30 is a steam railway scene in Starbeck, Not far from the link route to Bilton and has been included because steam was the order of the day on all these old railway paths until the early to mid 1960s when they where out ruled by modern diesel engines. This particular train is The Scarborough Spa Express and used to run every summer until they recently found problems with various sections of the Harrogate to Leeds Line. There is an on road cycle route map of this route in picture 31 that has been compiled using Microsoft auto route and as you can only compile road sections using this software I will describe the following maps that are suitable for this route. If you wish to use the bridletrack sections of this route you need the Ordnance Survey series as follows. For the northern section you will need Northallerton and Ripon 99 Landranger with 1:50 000 scale and for the southern section you will need the Leeds and Bradford 104 Landranger series which covers the Harrogate and Knaresborough sections. If you wish to only do the on road section of this route then Ordnance Survey Road 4 Travel Map titled, Northern England should be suitable for this route. Regular visitors of this page should now know that sections of this cycle route through the dales, now forms the new Sustrans Coast to Coast cycle route titled The Way Of The Roses. It links the Lancashire seaside resort of Morecambe to the East Yorkshire seaside resort of Bridlington and stretches a total of 170 miles. It is hoped around 2011 to link Harrogate and Knaresborough to this route when the completion of the Bilton to Ripley Cycleway goes ahead. Meanwhile if you intend cycling the route from Knaresborough, The National Byway links with this route at Bishop Monkton with access in both directions. Please also visit my other companion site which has information on the western section of the dales by clicking the following link Pictures From Cycle Tour Of The Western Dales . Pictures in the order of 32 to 41 are pictures of the southeast section of Sustrans route 67, Harrogate to the lower Wharfedale town of Wetherby and the new off road cycle route of Wetherby to Bramham. The southeast section of the Sustrans national cycle network out of Harrogate has only been recently been approved prier to opening a permissive path through Harrogate's Great Yorkshire Show Ground and as a result this avoids the Busy A661 Harrogate to Wetherby Road. To give you an idea, Picture 42 is the onroad route of Wetherby to York. This particular route uses a short hazardous and difficult section of the A661 out of Spofforth village with no pavement and also a short section of the Busy B1224 out of Wetherby has to be used if you intend following the York section, so unless you are experienced with this route it is better to stick with the Wetherby Railway path as it is a traffic free cycle path between Spofforth to Wetherby which I will mention briefly. Picture 43 is the recommended Sustrans cycle route between Spofforth and Wetherby and is an entirely traffic free railway cycle path, suitable for family cycling with young children. There is also a short section that continues to Thorpe Arch Trading Estate in which you can from there follow the miner roads to The City Of York. Just one note regarding this section of the route at Thorpe Arch Trading Estate. The Thorpe Arch to York Section of Sustrans route 66 is not yet approved and involves cycling through the estate and approach roads from Walton and Tadcaster may be very busy during peak times and at weekends. Other then this issue mentioned, the route is very pleasant. The area southeast of Harrogate to Wetherby is not really Yorkshire Dales country with such high fells like Whernside or Ingleborough. It is in fact more low lying and gets more flatter once you get east of Wetherby and is referred to being known as The Vale Of York which is rich in agricultural farming. Never the less, it is still pleasant cycling country steeped in history with many beautiful villages. The area between Harrogate to Spofforth on route 67 is known as the low Crimple Valley which is really a small river or more regarded as a Beck that begins its journey from a small Gill situated on Stainburn Moor which lies about 4 miles west of Harrogate and 4 miles east of Fewston Reservoir. As you start your Journey of this cycle route through the Yorkshire Show Ground, there are grand views of the picturesque Crimple viaduct which still carries the Harrogate to Leeds Railway and you will see the viaduct that used to carry the Harrogate to Wetherby Railway which became a victim of closure in 1964. Like the proposed Harrogate to Ripley cycleway, this particular line could have also been made into a cycleway which would have made a grand traffic free cycle route between Harrogate to Thorpe Arch but instead farmers and landowners jumped in first and purchased part of the land long before such a cycle route could be considered which is a real sad state of affairs. The villages of Follifoot and Spofforth mentioned in the picture text are certainly worth exploring while venturing out on this route and both villages are very well served with pubs and small stores for refreshing your energy. Picture 38 is a view of the lower Wharfedale town of Wetherby and has for century's been a staging post on the A1 Great North Road. It is also situated between London and Edinburgh. This particular riverside view of Wetherby Bridge used to be the main A1 route through the town until it was bypassed during the 1950s. Wetherby is well served with plenty of pubs and restaurants and if you are into Fish And Chips, The Wetherby Whaler situated at the southern end of the town does the best quality Fish and Chips in the entire Yorkshire Reign. I will first give you the bad news, if you intend following the route up the dale towards the Market Towns of Otley and Ilkley. The A659 that runs parallel to the south bank of the Wharfe between Collingham and Otley is a very busy and fast commuter road carrying very heavy traffic virtually all hours of the day and all cyclists must at all costs avoid it. It also has some very narrow sections and the most hazardous sections are the A61 Harewood junction which forms part of the Leeds to Harrogate road. The A658 at Pool Bank which forms part of the Harrogate to Bradford road is completely a no go road for cyclists. I will in the later future hope to feature a route that is possible from Wetherby to the Dales if you intend to avoid Harrogate, But this still involves some busy short sections of A Road. There is some good news for cyclists intending to visit the nearby villages of Boston Spa and Bramham that lie about 4 miles south of Wetherby. Due to the resent upgrade of the A1 dual carriageway into Motorway standard on the stretch that lies between Wetherby to Ferrybridge, They have took the courtesy to construct a traffic free path that runs in parallel with the old Great North Road and the new Motorway section. Picture 39 describes this trail which I like to name as the Wetherby to Bramham cycle trail and is well signposted. Bramham is also a very pleasant village with a local store and 2 Pubs. Like nearby Wetherby, It used to be part of the busy Great North Road and the nearby Bramham Park is a country house named after the village. It is also a private residence allowing visitors by appointment in party groups. Bramham Park is also the setting for the Annual Summer horse trail and the Leeds Music Festival. Pictures in the order of 44 to 46 feature the proposed Knaresborough Strand of The coast to coast Morecambe to Bridlington cycle route, The Way Of The Roses. This is another section of the route that is not yet strictly Sustrans approved and hopefully when the Bilton to Ripley cycle is complete it is hoped that this section will be worked upon next. The route out of Knaresborough needs the most care which I will briefly describe. The B6164 Wetherby Road that lies between Knaresborough to St James's Retail Park is very busy but there is good news and bad news regarding this section of the route. If you have followed the river bank road that runs between the Mothershipton Bridge and the B6164 Wetherby road, There is at least a section of cycle path until you get to the junction of the A658 Knaresborough bypass and the B6164. This is a very hazardous roundabout with no cycle or pedestrian crossing and the most riskiest of the entire route. The B6164 Knaresborough to Wetherby road is reasonably quite after peak traffic times although some sections have some nasty hairpin bends, Particularly as you approach Little Ribston so great care is still needed. This road can also be very busy on some occasions such as when roadwork's are in progress on the nearby A1, It becomes an A1 diversion road. About 1 mile southeast of Little Ribston village you turn left onto a miner road and it is at this point that you begin to realise the rolling Nidd valley disappears into the flat Plain Of York. Despite the flat countryside this route takes you through the lovely villages of Tockwith, Long Marston and Askham Richard. The area around Long Marston is Known as Marston Moor where the 1644 Battle took place during the first English Civil War of 1642-1646. The route into York city centre follows mostly on cycle paths and miner roads and with common sense it posses less of a hazard then the Knaresborough section of this route. The City Of York is one of the most cycle friendly cities in the Country and has very good rail and other cycle links to the City making it a handy touring base. It is also worth spending a day or two exploring this beautiful City before venturing up to the Dales. To see more information about York please check out the following link Pictures From My Visits Of York.