By the river

The Upper Coach Road (see yesterday) has a track off it, which leads down to the river and is the access drive to the Bradford Amateur Rowing Club (BARC). I always speculate on the reason for the graceful curve in the track. Was it to avoid the trees? (Were they even there when the track was first made?) Is it designed to follow the boundary of the Milner Field Estate? The Rowing Club was founded in 1867 by Titus Salt Junior, and the land the club-house occupies belonged to him. Whatever the reason, I think it's far more attractive than a straight drive would have been. 

At the bottom you arrive at Hirst Weir, which has gradually broken down from the steep edge it once had when it was associated with the mill on the far bank. Indeed, fairly recently there were diggers there, distributing the rocks even further, partly I think to mitigate flooding on the drive and partly to improve access for fish swimming upstream to spawn. At the moment the water level is as low as I've ever seen it. You could probably safely walk across the river here right now (though I wouldn't recommend it!) 

Looking upstream, the trees are definitely beginning to show a yellowish, autumnal tone. 

The BARC club-house was in the process of getting a new roof, winter-proofing it I guess. (This was a week or so ago and it's probably finished by now.) The building is Victorian, constructed in 1893. The top floor is a bar and function room, leading onto a wide balcony. On the ground floor, there are changing rooms and a gym. The club's extensive fleet of boats and equipment are housed in an adjacent boathouse.  The club uses the 600 metre stretch of the river from the weir up to the aqueduct.