Lads outings

Wednesday  16 October 2020 Saltaire.Milner Field 1869 - 1950 Colin and Brian met at Leeds City Staion on Platform 5 for the Skipton train to Saltaire arriving at around 10:45 rendezvousing with John and Allan for a circular walk of around five miles to Milner Field.  After leaving tha station Allan and John struck up a conversation with a local seventy-one year old who had lived in Saltaire all his life and loved the place so much he decided to stay.  We then set off for Milner Field which was about a mile or so from the station passing through Saltaire Park and passing Titus Salt school on the way.  Milner Field was a large mansion set within its own parkland grounds on the northern slope of the Aire valley one mile to the north west of the mill and model village of Sal.taire  in West Yorkshire, England.  The house was commissioned by Titus Salt Jnr, the youngest son of the famous Victorian wool baron and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt, and built in 1869 to...

 7th. October 2020. Today with fine weather forecast, the lads have planned to take a canal side walk of about 3plus miles They will start off at Horbury Bridge and follow the canal as it makes its way on towards Wakefield. They will be a group of five which will include John Colin Brian Derek and Dave. They have planned to meet up at around 11:15 . Some making their way by a train and bus Journey , others by way of a car ride. Just before 11:25 their adventure began has they trudged along the tow path, yesterday’s rain was evident in some places but not enough to cause much of a problem. Only a handful of other walkers were encountered on this very pleasant journey, just being outside in the fresh air was more than enough for the lads has they chatted about this and that, it was catch up time. Some interesting sites were observed has the lads walked along , one in particular was a group of swans swimming along like a flotilla of ships, so pleasant to admire. Further along the cana...

 Friday 25 September 2020 Beeston and Middleton Stroll.  John and Colin rendezvoused around 11:00 at Beeston Primary where John spent his formative school years before going to a brand new school on Gipsy Lane called Parkside that we would shortly be passing after meeting up with Brian at 11:20 at Beeston Park opposite The Tommy Wass public house.  Brian was already there so we continued up Gipsy Lane and past mine and John’s old school that John went to in 1957 and me in 1960.  We tried to go go down the PROW (Public Right of Way) but it had been temporarily closed due to expanding the school’s capacity.  We then took a detour across the South Leeds Colf Course that closed down last year and was eventually bought by Leeds City Council which had first opened its doors in 1933.  We entered the woods through the railings and worked our way up to the tram track and scaling a few steps we were in the Rose Garden which my Father in Law  looked after for man...

 Blog! Wednesday  30 September 2020 Eddie’s Memorial Walk.  John and Colin rendezvoused around 10:45 for the X84 to ilkley via Otley. We would be alighting at Golden Acre Park at around 11:15 in time to meet up with those who were coming.  Ian Piercy, Robert Silburn and Terry Orange arrived followed by Marilyn, Lynne and Allan.  First stop was the Café for a hot drink as the weahther was fairly cool but the rain had fortunately stayed away.  We then strolled to Eddie’s favourite haunt which was the hide. We noticed the absence of any wildlife. The birds had decided that they were no longer being catered for, no feeders were hanging and it seemed a stark reminder of the unprecedented times that were now experiencing.  We spent a few moments reminiscing about the good times that we all had with Eddie’s company.  We returned to the car park just as the rain stated to get heavy. Everyone returning to their cars and John and I waiting for the X84 to re...

 Blog! Scarborough trip 17 September 2020.  John and I departed Leeds on the 09:00 Edinburgh train to pick up the 10:00 from York which was on platform 2 waiting for us. The doors soon opened and we ensconced ourselves at  a table seat with very few people to worry about. The train departed on time and with the sun shining brightly we were soon in Scarborough with obligatory stops at Malton and Seamer. The train arriving at 10:47 but whilst the bus was still at the bus stop it was full and we had to wait for the 11:20 departing and taking a more coastal route before rejoining the main Scarborough-Whitby road arriving in Cloughton a little before 11:45.  Taking the Station Lane we wended our way until we reached the hill where we were directed on our last visit to cut through the countryside but before we could reach the required road the lads panicked and took us through a variety of fields to know avail.  However, Colin endeavoured to get us to the road to the ...

 Thursday 10th  September 2020. Today 5 of the Lads have embarked on a journey to  local beauty spot on the outskirts of Wakefield. A short distance from home for some , whilst others had a much further distance  to travel. They made their way there by means of bus , train and car. An approximate time of 11:30 was suggested for them all to rendezvous outside the Beulay Cafe situated on the road bridge at Newmiller Dam. From this point they intended to take about a 2 mile walk around one side of the Dam and then branch off into the marvellous woodlands that surrounds this location. Indeed this is what occurred, Colin and John arriving first courtesy of the 59 bus heading for Barnsley, shortly followed Dave then Brian and finally Derek. Lunch would be taken at this meeting point so a prearranged time of 1:30 was finally decided upon before they set off on their journey. It was a pleasant day ideal for such a stroll along side the lake, plenty of others enjoying this be...

  SKIPTON CASTLE WOODS 3 September 2020 Colin and Brian met up for the  10:26  to Skipton on a pleasant  Thursday morning  meeting up with John who boarded the train at Bingley arriving in Skipton  at around 11:10 .  We left the station and made our way towards the town centre and crossing over the road we made our way to the turning near Busy Lizzie and onto the canal. Brian wasn’t too sure this was the same route he had taken but after a few minutes we arrived at the point where he had joined the canal a week earlier.  At this point the weather was intermittent swinging from bright sunshine to extremely overcast and at one point started spitting but it didn’t last very long.  Nevertheless, it remained fairly dry and soon we were entering Skipton Castle Woods and after several minutes studying the map and the number of routes available we took john’s preferred route which saw us steadily climbing a large number of steps to an elevated positi...