WETHERBY CIRCULAR by Tania Dickinson This walk in lower Wharfedale includes a disused railway line at the beginning and riverside at the end, with parkland, fields, woodland and villages in between. Distance 8.2 miles/13.3 km. Difficulty Easy (mostly level; some slight undulations and potentially muddy paths). Map You will need to have with you and be prepared to use OS Explorer 289 or OS Landranger 104 and 105. Bus Connexions Buses number 412 from Piccadilly or York railway station to Wetherby bus station stop B. Return from stop A. Creature comforts Public toilets in The Shambles, Wetherby; cafes and public houses in Wetherby; public house at Sicklinghall. Gatepost finial at entrance to Stockeld Park
Route description After alighting from the bus (1), cross the main road (A661). Turn left and walk north along the road, passing St Joseph s church. After about fifty metres turn right into Caxton Road (2), crossing over Crossley Street, to continue up Quarry Hill Lane, and then straight on as it becomes a bridleway. Just before the bridleway goes over a bridge over a disused railway line (3), turn left down an unsigned path to the railway line (the Harland Way, now part of National Cycle Way routes 66 and 67) and bear left on to it (that is, effectively maintaining your line of travel) to head northwest for about 1.5 miles (2.5 km). You will pass through a long cutting and under two more bridges, before the landscape opens up to view. At a footpath crossing (signed) turn left (4); meeting a field, go through the gate, and cross diagonally to a stile. Proceed through Stockeld Grange Farm to the A661 road (5). The entrance to Stockeld Park Cross the road with care, enter Stockeld Park and continue along the driveway, passing the house on your left (officially the public bridleway goes straight across grass between the angles of the driveway, but it is unsigned, as at April 2016, and not obviously used). At its south-west end, the driveway becomes a lane into the village of Sicklinghall, where you turn right into Main Street (6). A small greensward beside the village pond, with benches, makes a good picnic-lunch stop. Continue uphill, past The Scotts Arms public house.
Just before St Peter s church, turn left on to Geecroft Lane (7), a bridleway which takes you first down, then up, before passing through a hedge-line and turning sharp left along field edges, until it meets Longlands Lane (8). Here turn right, and then, at the entrance to Sicklinghall House, turn left onto another bridleway (the Ebor Way to Wetherby). Follow it downhill (a narrow path, overgrown in high summer); you pass into Lime Kiln wood and then up round its edges, to emerge near the summit of a low hill (good views all round). Turn left, go along the field edge (9), and then shortly turn right across and down the arable field to emerge onto Trip Lane, where you turn left (10). From here there are two possibilities. Either follow the Ebor Way route all along Trip Lane into Linton, turning left at the main road (11a); or about half way along the lane on the right take a slight, but more interesting, detour by diverting down a footpath (11b). At the bottom, turn left onto a driveway fronting large houses; cross straight over where it meets the road to Linton Bridge, and continue on a minor lane to skirt round the east edge of the village, turning right on to the main road (11c).
Linton village Once you are on the main road through Linton (quite busy!), follow it with care for nearly 1 km, using the pavement/grass verges, first on the right side and then on the left side. When you reach some grey ornate gates (Art Nouveau style) on the left-hand side, cross the road once again to a green footpath sign on the other side (in the hedge) and take the footpath (12), which goes downhill through a golf course (ring the bell when crossing fairways!). Pass under a railway bridge and continue through the golf course and into a public park (St George s Field), where a footbridge crosses the River Wharfe. On the other side of the bridge (13), turn left to walk round the bend of the river to the Sports Centre carpark (if there are no sports taking place, you can walk straight across the pitches). Turn left to join the A661, crossing over the river by the road bridge, and so back to Wetherby bus station, which is just up on the left.