Bingley St Ives circular - out

It's a while since I went up to Bingley St Ives estate, a country park criss-crossed with paths and bridleways, but I fancied a good ramble and there is an easy circuit to follow. From the car park, I walked up what must be a very old track called Blind Lane. You can see at one time it appears to have been paved. The estate holds a large equestrian centre. There are stables, and horses in the fields, so it was no surprise to be passed by three riders. 

Occasionally, as I climbed the incline, the views opened up over the Harden valley. In the foreground are some of the test beds belonging to the Sports Turf Research Institute, where they trial various grass mixes to supply to sports bodies all over the world. Even they are having a problem with the drought, with everything as dry as straw. In the middle distance, a glimpse of the old St Ives Mansion, once a fine house and now derelict and awaiting development.

In fact there are derelict buildings all over the place, like the barn below, a testament to what was once apparently an important estate. Some parts still thrive - the stables, a golf course, a children's adventure playground - whilst other areas have been left to grow wild. No bad thing I suppose, as it is a lovely estate for walks. 

Autumn seems to be coming early. The hedgerows are full of blackberries and lush purple sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn. 

Progressing ever higher towards the top of the estate, I came across this twisted tree. I have no idea why it might have developed like that... but it seemed to be just waiting for my granddaughter to climb it! I'll have to take her up there. 

At the highest point, there's a kissing gate in the boundary wall that leads onto Altar Lane, an unmade road that leads from Bingley up onto Harden Moor.  This area has a long history, from the Bronze Age, through the Brigantes (who used a gritstone altar overlooking the valley, that gives the lane its name), the Romans, skirmishes in the English Civil Wars in the 1600s, the Jacobite army in 1745 and then military training during WWII (which left some unexploded ordnance in the area). Read its history HERE.

It's a kind of tradition for me on this walk that I pass through the kissing gate and spend a few minutes just gazing out over the Aire valley. It's looking rather too yellow at the moment! Then I go back into the estate for the downhill leg of the circuit.