Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: river aire

It had seemed like an eternity since I had last been out with Sal. Our circumstances dictated that we had to stay apart and our only contact had been through the internet and the odd phone call. As some of the lockdown restrictions had eased, we decided to bite the bullit and see each other whilst still abiding by the social distancing guide line.

Sal rode her bike along The Leeds-Liverpool Canal towpath and we met in Saltaire. I bought us a couple of takeaway coffees and a pasty each and we went in to Roberts park to scoff them and have a natter. It was fabulous to see her again but felt so strange to be having to keep 2 metres apart. We caught up with all our news and gossip and then had a short walk through the park and on as far as the weir on the River Aire.

By then it was rather miserable and raining quite heavily so we reluctantly agreed to go our seperate ways and also agreed to meet up again and maybe have a walk in either Myrtle Park or even go up to St Ives which we both had missed.

A morning of mixed emotions with both happiness and sadness. One thing is for sure though, it was ace to see her again.

Robert's Park Cafe

Salts Cricket Club Pavilion

Wild flower meadow

River Aire Weir

The Tern Terror

Leeds Liverpool Canal

Saltaire

Salts Mill

Leeds Liverpool Canal

Refreshment Barge

Saltaire United Reformed Church

Saltaire Railway Station

Salts Village

Vack Alleyway Salts Village

Salts Village

Bins, Salts Village

Salts Village

Salts Mill

My first blog of the new decade. It is just some photos I took on one of the few nice days we have had this year. On the whole January has been a pretty miserable month with plenty of grey blanket cloud which has been interspersed with periods of wet weather. I'm not a blue sky photographer by any means but a bit more variety in the weather would been nice. There's no sign of any snow coming our way in the foreseeable future either so it looks like we are stuck with it.

With the break in the weather, I decided to head to the excellent Town Head Farm Shop and Cafe at Airton near Malham for some breakfast and a coffee. I arrived fairly early so had a pick of the tables but by the time I left about an hour later, the place was full. I had intended to drive over the tops to Wharfedale but with the weather being so nice, I left my car in the cafe car park and headed off back through the village to meet up with The River Aire and Pennine Way. My walk wasn't a long one, I just followed the path behind Airton Mill, through an area of wetlands and then crossed the infant River Aire, returning along The Pennine Way.

I reckon I was only gone an hour or so but it was still good to get out in the fresh air with the camera. With a bit of planning, I reckon you could go all the way to Malham on The Pennine Way and then return via a series of paths on the other side of the valley with only a minimal amount of road walking. Maybe I'll return later in the year.

It's not a long blog as I tend to lose a bit of motivation at this time of year but hopefully, with the caravan season beginning in March, I will regain my va-va-voom and be a bit more productive.