Walks in Farsley
From easy city strolls to challenging trails, discover the best of Farsley on foot.
Walk: Pudsey Circular
A pleasant walk around the countryside of Pudsey. The Route Start / Finish Point: On-road parking along Smalewell Road, Pudsey, LS28 8HU - Close to the Fox & Grapes pub. Distance: 5 Miles GPX Route Map walkshirepudseyDownload Walk Description From where you’ve parked on Smalewell Road, walk down towards the Fox and Grapes pub. Just before you get to it, turn left down the Public Bridleway and follow it as it snakes around to the left. Keep on the clearer track to the left and follow it through the wood. When you reach a track running left to right, turn right, and then left into the field, just before Tyersal Beck. Follow this clear track across the field, and through the trees, until eventually you are walking along the beck. Soon, you reach another track coming from the left, on the corner of Fulneck Golf Course. Carry on straight across into the trees and moving to the left away from the beck. Follow the edge of the trees, along the clear path on the ground until you reach a line of trees directly in front of you. Find the clearing in the trees, and enter to walk past a mill on the left and then out into open fields. Here, you follow the line of Pudsey Beck on the right for a while, following the path as it veers to the left around one cluster of trees, and then a little while later around another. Follow the path as it comes out onto Roker Lane beside an electricity substation. Turn right here, cross over the road and turn left through the gap in the wall just past the bus stop. Veer to the right and follow the boundary along the line of the trees and following Pudsey Beck on your right. Eventually, the track turns left, but you carry on into the next field to the next boundary. Turn left here just after the line of trees, and you can follow a clear path along the boundaries of several fields to reach Roker Lane again. Turn right, and follow Roker Lane until the sharp right bend when it becomes Southroyd Park. Turn left and walk down the road Fulneck until you reach a junction on the right. Here, carry on past the bins and down the gravel track straight ahead, not the road to the left for the Trekking Centre. At the gates at the end of the road, take the public footpath through the stile on the right and then turn right to follow the clear path across the field to the line of trees. Follow the line of trees to reach the road Greentop. Cross over and carry on through the snicket to Smalewell Road. Turn left and follow the road until you reach where you parked.
Walk: Pioneering women and haunted pubs in hidden Newlay
A short circuit near Kirstall Forge and Kirkstall Abbey. The Route Start Point: Kirkstall Forge Finish Point: Kirkstall Forge Distance: 1.86 miles GPX Route Map dnaire-pioneering-women-in-hidden-newlayDownload Walk Description what3words for start point: ///pulled.really.sock Start at Kirkstall Forge train station (LS5 3NF). The site was once Kirkstall Forge. Metal has been smelted on this site since 1200 by the monks from Kirkstall Abbey. One owner, Betty Beecroft, transformed a largely derelict forge in 1778 in just four years into a thriving business that laid the foundation for production at the site until 2002. Exit through the rear of the station along the path that leads into woodland. Turn left at the T junction and head towards the canal. At the canal turn right and follow the signpost marked Horsforth. The Abbey Inn is said to be haunted. Like many pubs in the area, it was used as a mortuary from the 1600's until the 1950's. From the Abbey Inn walk down the road over the railway bridge and down towards Newlay Bridge. Walk across the bridge and when you come to Rein Road turn right and walk ahead until you see the river on your right. Follow the track along the riverbank. When the track comes out on Leeds and Bradford Road turn right and head down the hill back to Kirkstall Forge.
Water and Industry in Kirkstall Valley Walk
This walk takes you between two fish passes. Before summer 2020 fish hoping to reach the gravel beds in shallower parts of the upland river to lay their eggs were stopped by the weirs at Kirkstall Abbey and Armley Mills. The Route Start Point: Kirkstall Abbey Finish Point: Kirkstall Abbey Distance: 2.1 miles GPX Route Map dnaire-water-and-industry-in-kirkstall-valleyDownload Walk Description what3words for start point: ///advice.silver.beans This walk takes you between two fish passes. Before summer 2020 fish hoping to reach the gravel beds in shallower parts of the upland river to lay their eggs were stopped by the weirs at Kirkstall Abbey and Armley Mills. Many fish need to move within the river to feed, breed and shelter. One of the fish that will have travelled the furthest is the Atlantic salmon. Salmon will have travelled from the Atlantic Ocean around Greenland to lay their eggs in the shallow upland streams they are born in. These fish pass help connect 60km of river habitat. Their construction will allow salmon to return after an absence of over 150 years. Food & Facilities The Kirkstall Bridge Inn serves food & there is a café at Kirkstall Abbey.
Walk: Apperley Bridge through the ages
Our walk starts in the free car park off the A658 at Apperley Bridge at the entrance to Woodhouse Grove School playing fields and to the right on entering. You will be taking the riverside footpath at the rear of the car park. The Route Start Point: Rawdon Meadows Playing Fields Finish Point: Rawdon Meadows Playing Fields Distance: 2.17 miles GPX Route Map dnaire-apperley-bridge-through-the-agesDownload Walk Description what3words for start point: ///full.volume.short Several phases of English history are evident on this walk,. Should you stand on the bridge you will be on a border, A Wapentake to be exact, a subdivision of a Northern county. Over 1,000 years ago this was the border between Skyrack (where you're heading) and Morley (on the far side), two administrative areas within Yorkshire. The old bridge was built in 1602, though there has been one here since the 1000s. The Standsfield Arms opposite is of a similar age, but the George & Dragon originally dates back to the 1500s. Both were built as substantial houses. Sadly, the tree that grew in the middle of the George & Dragon is no more. The bridge today forms an important link from Bradford northwards to Harrogate, Ripon and beyond, but orginally served the township of Idle. It is the "centre" of Apperley Bridge, which consisted of scattered farms, farmhouses and other farm buildings. There's only Elm Tree Farm close to the bridge, as the river floods here.