Pictures From My Cycle Tour Of The Eastern Dales Featuring Highlights Of The Bilton To Knaresborough Cycle Track

Welcome to this part of my site featuring pictures taken from my return to cycling in the Yorkshire Dales based on the eastern part of the Dales around Nidderdale and lower Wensleydale. Pictures in the order of 1 to 8 are special features of a link cycle route between Harrogate to Knaresborough. It is a spur of national cycle route 67 developed by the Sustrans in 1987 in memory of Beryl Burton OBE who was 7 times world cycling champion who sadly passed away at the age of 58. It is also a good introduction to cycling the Yorkshire Dales from Harrogate and as this path is mostly traffic free, It is suitable for families with young children. The Route from Knaresborough Joins an excellent cycle route that can be followed from the Midlands to North West Scotland. It is known as the National Byway and is Britain's Heritage Cycle Route consisting of lightly trafficked roads and rural lanes, Making a good link route to the Dales. Pictures in the order of 9 to 13 feature the Ancient market town of Knaresborough and it may be worth taking a day or so off the road to explore this town as there is so much to see and do. Knaresborough's main tourist attraction on the south side of the Gorge is the historic Mother Shipton's Cave with its Dropping Well and cascading waterfalls. Other tourist attractions of Knaresborough is the Castle with its 14th Century Courthouse and is now a museum. Taking a walk into its picturesque market square there are some buildings of interest such as the oldest chemist shop in England, The Town Hall and Blind Jacks Public House. The short stretch of the A6055 Boroughbridge road that links the National Byway out of Knaresborough can be very busy at peak times and care must be exercised at all times. You can at the expense of a short detour avoid the most hazardous section between High Bridge and Bond End traffic lights. I hope to try print a map explaining this route in the near future. Pictures in the order of 14 to 23 feature my day tour of the Nidderdale and lower Wensleydale section of the Yorkshire Dales as follows. Pictures 14 and 15 feature the historic site of Brimham Rocks, A well known beauty spot located about 4 miles east of the Market Town of Pateley Bridge and is easily accessible by taking a detour off the Byway at Markington, Following through the villages of Bishop Thornton, Shaw Mills and Burnt Yates. The Rocks themselves consist of Millstone Grit dating from the Upper Carboniferous period of some 200 million years ago and as these rocks are about 227 feet above sea level they are some splendid views looking across the whole Plain Of York. Picture 16 features the historic dales town of Pateley Bridge and is a good rest stop for tired and thirsty travellers. Pateley Bridge was once a Lead Mining town and stone querying was one of the main industries of this area. Other tourist attractions of this town is the Nidderdale Museum and the Nidderdale Agricultural Show, Held annually every year towards the end of September. Picture 17 is looking from the bridlepath towards the south east side of Gouthwaite reservoir and you can get some grand views over Heathfield Moor. Gouthwaite reservoir is owned by the Yorkshire water authority and supplies most of the water to the Dales villages and surrounding areas. It is also a sanctuary for rear bird species and provides home for a rich variety of plants. Pictures in the order of 18 to 21 feature the isolated countryside of Nidderdale and the lovely villages of Ramsgill and Lofthouse, Where the Dale starts to get really wild particularly during the Winter season and this part of my route is a mixture of bridleways and on road. A word of warning about the bridleway sections if planning to attempt this route. They are only really suitable for mountain bikes as there are many rough surfaces and should the worst happen such as a puncture or a fall you should have a full survival kit for these kind of routes. Along with other spares, You need a puncture outfit and spare inatube. Do not even think of attempting the bridletrack routes in very wet or icy weather conditions. Picture 22 is my departure from Nidderdale and after a well earned steep climb lasting about half an hour, The views are very rewarding towards Masham and Kirkby Malzeard Moor. This is one of the highest roads in the Yorkshire Dales reaching about 429 feet above sea level. The last three quarter of an hour ride to Masham is very pleasant and mostly downhill into the rolling hill countryside of Wensleydale. Masham featured in picture 23 is a pleasant little Market town with plenty of cafes and pubs and is also the home of Theakston's Brewery. The route from Masham rejoins The National Byway where you can retrace your steps to The World Heritage Site Of Fountains Abbey and there is a loop to The Historic Cathedral City Of Ripon if time permits before returning back to Knaresborough. Pictures in the order of 24 to 27 are on the same route of The National Byway except they where taken on a Summer Sunday afternoon ride out to Fountains Abbey and Ripon. Picture 24 features the small City Of Ripon located on the River Ure at the foot of Wensleydale and like Knaresborough it is a lovely tourist town and one of England's smallest cities. Ripon's main tourist attractions is its beautiful Minster Cathedral Church, Ripon Spa Gardens and The Prison and Police Museum. Pictures 25 and 26 feature The Historic Ruin of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Gardens. Fountains Abbey is the worlds most Heritage site and the nearby Studley Royal Gardens are beautiful with flowers in there full bloom during the late spring to early summer season. It also gets very busy during the high summer season so I would suggest you pay a visit very early and make a whole day of it. Picture 27 features the pretty village of Burton Leonard situated on the route between Bishop Monkton and Knaresborough. I hope in the near future to have some more day rides of this route and when they complete the Bilton to Ripley cycle route, I will be probably going out cycling more often. Picture 30 is a steam railway scene in Starbeck, Not far from the link route to Bilton and has been included because steam was the order of the day on all these old railway paths until the early to mid 1960s when they where out ruled by modern diesel engines. This particular train is The Scarborough Spa Express and runs every summer, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from May Bank Holiday to the end of August. Best time to catch sight of this train is at about 10 AM from the top of Knaresborough Castle and you can also board this train only with a reserved ticket from Knaresborough station. An on road cycle route map of this route in picture 31 has been compiled using Microsoft auto route and as you can only compile road sections using this software I will describe the following maps that are suitable for this route. If you wish to use the bridletrack sections of this route you need the Ordnance Survey series as follows. For the northern section you will need Northallerton and Ripon 99 Landranger with 1:50 000 scale and for the southern section you will need the Leeds and Bradford 104 Landranger series which covers the Harrogate and Knaresborough sections. If you wish to only do the on road section of this route then Ordnance Survey Road 4 Travel Map titled, Northern England should be suitable for this route.