Yorkshire Walks

After the harvest, round bales of straw in the fields by the A1 at Bramham

National Parks

Route No. 593 - Saturday 9 September 2015
Bramham village, Bramham Park, Bramham Road,
Thorner Road circuit - 10km
Bramham Park, Leeds . . .

Map: OS Explorer 289 Leeds

My Route Map from OS Mapping Service, and this walk is described in detail with Ordnance Survey map and Satellite photo map from the Bramham Parish Council's web site - click here for the details

The route uses public rights of way and some permissive paths around the perimeter of Bramham Park

The war memorial in the little square at the foot of Town Hill and the end of Bowcliffe Road This morning we met a group of friends for our regular monthly walk, this time in Bramham village just off the A1. We met by the war memorial in the little square at the foot of Town Hill and the end of Bowcliffe Road, map ref. SE 425 429. The old Bay Horse Inn faces onto the square. It closed in 1968 and is a private house now but there is still the large embossed figure of the Bay Horse on the wall of the house. We set off walking south along Bowcliffe Road and then Paradise Way to the bridge over the A1. We continued following the route set out on the Bramham Parish Council web site. The weather was not good and we were subject to frequent heavy showers and then we took shelter under the trees. In the early afternoon things began to brighten and by the time we had completed the walk and driven to Geoff's home in Wetherby it was bright and sunny. Just right for one of Geoff's legendary barbeques. A fine end to a good day out with our friends despite the weather.
The old Bay Horse Inn closed in 1968, now a private house	Setting off along Bowcliffe Road towards the A1 bridge
Approaching Milnthorpe Lane alongside the A1	Bridge over the A1 from Milnthorpe Lane
Following the lane leading to Bramham Park	The lane towards Bramham Park, then left to Wellhill Farm
This is a very nostalgic place for me. In the 1950's my grandma & grandad used to live at East Lodge Cottage, one of the gate houses to Bramham Park. My grandad was a gardener at the house called Bramham Biggin and my grandma worked part time as a cleaner at Bowcliffe Hall. I'm in my 70's now but when I was a boy from being about 9 to 13, I used to help out with my cousin at Wellhill Farm in the summer holidays when we stayed with our grand parents. Mr. Craddock was the farmer then and I remember that one summer he gave me and my cousin half a crown each for our efforts. It seemed like a huge amount of money then. The first couple of summers the barley was cut using a binder that left the crop tied in sheaves that we helped to stack into stooks to let the wind blow through the grain to dry it. Then it was loaded onto trailers to go into the farm yard to await the day when the threshing machine would visit. The next summer a combined harvester was used to do all these operations in one pass leaving straw on the ground in rows and sacks of grain taken by trailer into the farm store. Happy times all those summers ago!
Path by-passing Wellhill Farm	Track leading into Bramham Park
Following the tracks through Bramham Park	Following the tracks through Bramham Park
Temple by the track as we passed through Bramham Park	Sheltering under the trees from a heavy shower . . .
. . . Sheltering under more trees from another heavy shower	Turning at map ref. SE 405 407 towards Mangrill Lane
Stile on to Mangrill Lane	Joining Thorner Road at the junction with Mangrill Lane
Turning off Thorner Road a few metres from the junction	Path across the field parallel to Thorner Road
Gate to re-join Thorner Road	After a few metres along Thorner Road turning off into the fields
Following the path around the field edge . . .	. . . and through the hedge into Lake Plantation
Following the path through Lake Plantation	Following the path through Lake Plantation
Following the path through Lake Plantation
Path along the end of Wothersome Lake	Path along the end of Wothersome Lake
Sheltering once more at the edge of Lake Plantation	Crossing the fields towards Hope Hall Cottages
Crossing the fields towards Hope Hall Cottages
Thorner Road junction near Hope Hall Cottages	Crossing Thorner Road to enter North Lodge Plantation
Path through North Lodge Plantation	Approaching North Lodge at the end of the plantation
Path along the field edge next to Thorner Road	Crossing the stile to re-join Thorner Road
Thorner Road bridge across the A1	Crossing Milnthorpe Lane to the footpath into Bramham
Footpath from Milnthorpe Lane down into Bramham	Footpath from Milnthorpe Lane still going down to Bramham
Back at the war memorial square in Bramham at the end of our walk