Having been enticed by our lakeside walk last week, we pulled out our "West Yorkshire Walks" book and picked a local one to do on the 13th as a pre-valentines day activity. We have done a lot of walks in North Yorkshire now and as we live in what is West Yorkshire we thought it would be correct to walk here too. (the Wetherby boundary moved to be in West Yorks in the 1970s from North Yorks on a vote by residents who wanted the cheaper council rates of Leeds). I have mentioned before the Bingley Arms pub, http://www.bingleyarms.co.uk/history.php it dates back to about 900AD. As it was on part of the loop walk we decided to start off there and return to have a slap-up lunch and a pint. We parked the mini and headed off up the hill.
Just around the corner is an old church, All Hallows, dating from 1000AD with Saxon bits and an interesting central aisle having one set of short round arches and one set of high pointed arches due to different building techniques over history.
There is a whole web site just on the Romanesque features of this place which I won't bore you with here but it is a comfy and interesting building with lots of history all spelt out on a little board at the back. There is also a mindblowingly good tapestry and stitchwork triptych done by the local ladies of the village to celebrate the 2nd millennium and an equaly impressive stitched royal crest dating to Henry the VIII.
Out of the church we followed the map badly and took a few wrong turns but eventually regained the recommended track by wading across this stream following the example set by a couple of horses (with riders).
Just up the hill from there we came across strange hills and ditches which were most puzzling,,, the map said it was Pompocali but gave no other clues.
What we have since discovered is that no one really knows what the site is, Iron Age fort, Roman mill grit quarry spoil, ceremonial earthworks from an unknown time in pre-history.....some theories but not a clue to be found.... Wonderful to find something that still remains a mystery don't you think?
up a hill, past an old mill now in ruin and through a disused railway tunnel which boasts beautiful cut and angled stone and brickwork blended together to forming the internal ceiling of the arch. The countryside all around here is green and lovely with sheep, horses and geese grazing in fields and acres of planted barley and wheat crops just now sprouting up through ploughed fields. 
As you can see the day was not all that warm and this shot shows Gail on the final leg of our walk, suitably attired but well ready for lunch.
It is possible that we will do more of these local walks before winter ends and the trees and hedges become all thick with green and so will obscure the view from the paths. Also it is really nice to walk in isolation without seeing heaps of people, makes it feel a bit more of an adventure.
