Leg 6 - Methely to Swithen's Farm - 7th July

Up until this point, we were roughly on track for one walk a month. I had jokingly said at the start that we'd give ourselves a year to do all 12 legs, and having done three by mid-February, I thought we'd be done by the summer holidays. Today, however, saw us get to the halfway point with less than half the year to go. We should fit it all in, but with a run of weekends away and holidays coming up, there may be more autumn and winter walks than we had anticipated.

Today was easily the hottest day of the year so far, and given that both of us melt horribly in the heat, we decided to make an early (8am on a Sunday!) start to get the most of the cool temperatures. I'm pleased that we did, as when we stopped at the end, I think I would have collapsed if someone had told me to go and walk another 5 miles. Fortunately, we'd both brought plenty of liquid and after a thick layer of factor 50 sunscreen all round, we set off in the beautiful sunshine.

The main image in my head from today is big fields of plants and flowers. After leaving Methley, which is suprisingly pretty in places, we picked up a track between massive fields of (something...need to research here!) which was interspersed with sharp red poppies. Matt is red-green colour blind and so needed some prompting to take pictures as they didn't appear to "pop" to him as they did to me. Hopefully the pictures will come out looking great! We walked slowly here, enjoying the views.

The route then twists and turns along some roads and some pretty cottages before bringing you out on the edge of Moss Carr Wood. Again, on the left were massive fields with lovely open views and on the right were the woods, a tangled mass of trees, brambles and flowers. Sadly, you can't get in there as we were ready for a drink.

We at this point got into a long discussion about sex education in schools, completely forgetting that we had no idea where we were and the next instruction to follow. It was only when we came across a farm, with a view down to the path of a bridge over the M62 that we figured we'd missed something as the instructions usually tell you about buildings you pass. We really realised this when we walked past the llama enclosure and the animals came out to see what we were doing. I love llamas, from their gawky legs to their comedy toupees and Jake sat and giggled at them during a photoshoot.

We sat for drinks and snacks (Jake inhaled a banana and then proceeded to smear the excess all over my shirt...maybe I need spares for me as well as Jake!) in the shade of a tree outside the farm house and with the sun gently warming the air, life was pretty perfect. We backtracked and eventually worked out that a "path junction" actually meant a right turn between rocks along the side of a field, a time when the instructions could do with being a little clearer! Eventually, we worked out where we needed to be (a bit of compass work and "this looks like a narrow field to me, how about you?" guess work!) and crossed a field and down a path with nettles on one side and thorn bushes on the other. After trying to manouevre slowly and carefully and failing miserably, I figured my best shot was to go quickly, avoid the nettles and give Jake his pacifier when he started to cry. He only came out with a small scratch on his face so we feel it was worth it.

The rest of the walk was along metalled roads, past Royds School (the first place that I've recognised from my days working across South Leeds!) and on to Swithern's Farm, which has the longest approach road known to man. However, when we got there, we found a farm shop with a play park and a horse show, and given that we were less than half a mile from the intended end point, and the sun starting to really beat down, we decided to call it a day there so we could have ice cream and coffee and buy some fantastic sausages for a barbecue (pork and black pudding in some, caramelised onion and cracked black peppers in other). This also means we can eat pie there before starting the second half of the walk

Total distance = 4.5 miles (not including getting lost!)

Total time = 2 hours 30 mins

Cumulative distance = 30.5 miles

Cumulative time = 15 hours 45 mins

Leg 5 - Garforth to Methley - 16th June

So this was the walk that was a long time in coming. Having written the last post with the expectation of doing the walk the next day, it was almost 3 months before we managed to combine both of us being in Leeds and some nice walking weather to get out.

For this route, we looked at the end point according to the LCW which drops you off at a fuel depot in the middle of nowhere. As we had decided to be clever and leave a car at the end point, we decided to add a bit of leg 6 so we could leave the car somewhere safe. This was well and good until we found that the nearest town to park was Methley, a mile or so into the next leg, so this part, already 5.5 miles long, has become the longest walk we had done so far.

Having finished with a depressing walk through Garforth at the end of leg 4, we quickly left the town behind, coming off the main road and under a rail pass

 into possibly the most beautiful part of the walk so far (pictures will be added posthumously to this blog!). The path is an old disused railway line that passes through tall banks of bluebells. Off to the sides are intriguing paths and loops through the trees and at various points the ground falls away for views down into little valleys and across fields.

The path eventually comes to a crossroads and you can tell the popularity of that stretch by the number of runners, cyclists and dog walkers who went past us in both directions. We turned right and the scenery continued to impress as the path curled round a small wooded area with high hedges making you feel truly out of the city.

We then came to a working farm, with the usual feeling of awe at the enormous building and excitement that comes from seeing it all in action, but these feelings were soon blown away by my dream house. It's a true English cottage, complete with climbing wisteria, a covered archway and beautifully manicured lawns. The pictures will do it more justice, but the thought of sitting in the big stone kitchen with light streaming through the latticed window made me want to make an offer right there. One can only dream.

The path then becomes a little tricky to follow, but goes between a series of fields and hedges tall than me, giving the whole walk an adventurous air. At this point, we started discussing a star rating system for the walks, with this one getting the full 5 stars. It will be hard to do this properly until we've seen all 12 legs, but we wanted to highlight just how good this part of the walk was.

We stopped for a coffee and a melted chocolate bar at the Mount Pleasant Picnic Site, a quiet field with views out over Leeds and some lovely tall grass for Jake to play in. I would happily walk this section repeatedly, especially with the weather as good as it was.

From there, the instructions and the route began to decline. We spent a little while getting lost near a main road and eventually resorted to Google Maps to work out how we could make the two parts of the walk meet up. We eventually found out where the route should have brought us out, and were very glad that we'd taken the long route. It was completely impassable with brambles and nettles almost at face height!

We followed the road down in Little Preston and followed the metalled road for over half a mile which feels like a long time when you're used to walking on footpaths. We followed Old Coach Road through some pretty overhanging trees and picked up the River Aire just after Swillington Bridge. It's a strange feeling to cross the river at that point, knowing that we won't cross back over for another 6 legs when the river is much smaller and windier.

I was looking forward to walking alongside the river but the path is quite far from the water and fairly open meaning that you lose the feeling of a river walk and made it feel more like a canal. When we reached the fuel depot, I realised that I could have left the car quite happily, but also sort of glad that we didn't. In retrospect, it would have been a good idea as it was a long slog into Methley.

We walked near the canal from the depot but got confused by the map and signage and ended coming off about half a mile too early into the back of Methley on Station Road. At this point it was getting hot, Jake was falling asleep and we had about three quarters of a mile walk along a boring road back to the car. I think a combination of the heat, an extra mile through uninspiring streets and Jake's extra weight made for a disappointing end to what had started off as my favourite part of the LCW.

Total distance = 6.5 miles

Total time = 3 hours 30 mins

Cumulative distance = 26 miles

Cumulative time = 13 hours 15 mins