A picturesque trek as Dearne Valley Walking Group take in the delights of Knaresborough

A total of nine regulars enjoyed a lovely spring day out, taking in a lovely just over eight mile walk, which looped out towards the outskirts of Harrogate and back.

The group of nine set off from the Waterside car park. From here we walked along the riverside, passing the numerous cafes and the famous rowing boats before walking under the much photographed railway viaduct and eventually crossing the main A59 near the entrance to the famous Mother Shipton’s Cave.

From here we took ourselves along the Harrogate Ringway, which is also known as the Beryl Burton Cycleway, which took us slowly up hill past Bilton Hall and on to Bilton Lane.

Our route from here then saw us bear right and gradually descend through marvellous Spring Wood to the banks of the River Nidd which we followed through the Nidd Gorge, which took us almost as far as Scotton Mill.

At this point along our eight mile journey we took a short, steep path on the left, which brought us onto a bridleway to the village of Old Bilton.

As we emerged from this part of the walk on the edge of the village in true Dearne Valley Walking Group style we made the very short diversion to the adjacent pub, the Carpenters Arms.

Here we enjoyed an al fresco lunch time drink. And this was made all the more refreshing on the realisation of how cheap the bar prices were.

After being suitably refreshed we returned to our route, where we followed the road for a short while before joining the route of another cycleway along a former railway line to Starbeck.

We followed this for a short while and then ascended to a former railway overbridge and then walked eastwards, passing Longlands Farm to eventually emerge at a junction with the Knaresborough Round route.

This we followed for the remainder of our walk, passing Harrogate Golf Club and crossing the railway line before we took a left fork which then crossed Gallow Hill to bring us out at Low Bridge. From this part of the trek we walked back along the side of the river back to the car park.

Much of the group then made its way to The World’s End pub for a deserved post-walk drink.

Thanks to all those members of the group who attended the walk and congratulations to Russell Yapp who has passed the 100 miles walked with the group milestone this year and also to Diane Marshall who has now walked more than 900 miles cumulatively with us since she joined.

Today’s attendance has also seen the group pass a milestone, as these last three months have been the group’s most successful ever with a fantastic 243 adult walks having taken place, beating the previous record of 240 from 2017.

Our next walk is Dearne Valley Walking Group’s 400th walk and brings to a close the group’s first ten years of operation before our Walking Festival kicks off the start of our eleventh year.

Anyone who wishes to join the group on any of our walks should contact group member David Kirk on [email protected] or on 07904 010347 in the first instance. More details of our walks are on our www.dvwg.org.uk website.

Our Walking Festival started on Saturday April 13 and will end on Saturday April 20.

Full details on the festival are on our dedicated www.dvwf.org.uk website.