Strangely for one who wishes to do things in order this was the second leg, having walked Shipley to Skipton first. It was only after that stretch that I decided to walk the whole canal, so had to overcome this mania and just accept the wrongness.
This leg was done in the company of Hilary and Sophie, in my mind the best companions for a walk. We took the train to Leeds, Sophie is getting used to this and behaved herself, and then navigated our way to the start of the canal, or end depending on your point of view. The Leeds basin joins the River Aire, a site of recent unusual floods witnessed by the detritus on the bank and in the trees lining the bank, with a mix of modern and historic buildings surrounding it.
After leaving the basin, we quickly pass the recently built flats lining the canal and go under the disused railway line that used to go into the main goods train station of Leeds, before it was closed and consolidated in the current station. The towpath then takes in some old mills and a bit of modern art.
The open country side seems to arrive quickly giving views of locks and bridges that will become very familiar through out the length of the canal.
However we are not that far out of Leeds as next up is the Armley Mills, once the largest wool mill in Europe, and now home to the Leeds Industrial Museum. One to add to the list of local attractions to come back to. The large weir that provided water management for the mill is visible on the River Aire. Armley Mills was built by Benjamin Gotts and on the left as we leave the Mill behind is Gotts Park, where there is the first golf course I played at the age of 12 (40 years ago) and already on a List on golf courses to be played.
Surprisingly as we pass Kirkstall Abbey there are no great views, onto Bramley Falls, before getting to Rodley, where I note a nature reserve to return to on a later date. The village of Rodley is worth slowing down through, it was a world famous location for the manufacture of Steam Cranes in the 19th century.
The remainder of the walk bends dramatically around Calverley Wood, heading north towards Esholt, famous for its sewage works as well as Emmerdale and then returning south passed Thackley End and onto Shipley. The first evidence of the challenges in building a canal through a hilly landscape. Just as we are about to enter Shipley we experience a rain shower, the edge of which clearly charges towards us along the canal waters glistening in the sunshine behind it. The return home is by train from Shipley Train Station
Route Summary
