A walk in the countryside: Leg 7 - Swithen's Farm to East Ardsley

A combination of another month or so of misaligned weekends and holidays and my wife going back home with Jake for 10 days meant that Matt and I decided to make a real push today on the walk, managing to walk 10 miles and completing two legs in one day. Whilst we might not walk again till September, we're now back on track at one walk a month (on average!).

Leg 7 was distinctly uninspiring. There comes a point after the third walk through farms near the motorway that the rolling hills and scenery of the first few legs seems like a different country. We started off at Swithen's Farm bright and early with the intention of making a pub for lunch as a reward for 10 miles worth of walking. We instantly ran into problems as we had moved onto the third sheet of the walk, but had finished just before the end of the second. Taking a guess as to which footpath to follow, we ended up in the wrong end of Carlton, and were only saved by Matt's phone and some logical reasoning about where leg 7 was meant to start.

The route quickly leaves the village, but the author of this leg tended to use 10 words when one would suffice and those 10 words weren't always the most accurate. Admittedly, the route is sometimes indistinct, cutting across agricultural fields and will and sometimes just being little more than a game trail alongside a hedge.

Fortunately, the weather was warm, we were in no particular rush and there's a certain amount of pride at having decoding some poor directions and realising that you're on the right track again. We came out the farm land near Robin Hood and crossed under the M1 and into more farmland. The route is here is not clear, possibly due to the growth in the fields but also the instructions give little or no help. Fortunately, the smart phone with the Leeds OS map came to our rescue and after a few false starts, we were back on track. After crossing the M62 (via a disgusting tunnel), the instructions showed their age when where there should have been a pleasant stroll along Dolphin Beck, there was a now a new shiny housing estate. I guess it must be nice to have views out over the hills, but the lack of trees and the cookie cutter nature of the houses made me feel a little creeped out and we were pleased to get back on the Way by the Nook Pub.

The route then curves away into fields and we stopped for coffee in one of the few places with a decent view. The last part of the leg takes you through what felt like the corn fields from Gladiator (cue a small photo shoot) before spitting you out into East Ardsley. We took a photo here to demarcate the end of one leg and the start of another, and realised that this would have been a great series to have done after each leg. Next time round perhaps.