Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: snow

Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts

Last Snow Flurry At St Ives Estate

To get the best effects of the snow, I should have come across a day earlier but I wan't sure about the state of the roads as Bradford Council are notorious for not getting their snow clearing gear out in time. The road up to the estate is quite steep as well. As it turned out, there was all sorts of minor crashes on this section of the road so I made the right decision.

The estate was quiet so that enabled me to park near Coppice Pond. All of these shots were taken in that area. Thankfully The Ivy Cottage was open so I finished my visit with one of their cappuccinos. This was the only bit of decent snow we had all winter so I was glad that I had the opportunity to make the most of it.

Cuckoo Next Wood

Enjoying The Snow

Coppice Pond

Cuckoo Next Wood

Coppice Pond

Harden Moor Woods

I just managed to get the last of the recent snowfall in this delightful bit of woodland just over the road from St Ives Country Estate. Not many of the crowds of people who flock to the Estate on a daily basis know of this area, probably due to it being on a main road with only a small parking area.

The woodland is noted for its oak trees, badgers, woodpeckers, bats and cuckoos and sits on a natural fault through which Deep Cliff Hole beck drains. The whole area of woodland and moorland has been extensively quarried for sandstone in its time.

There is a myriad of footpaths all around this area so walks can be as long or as short as you wish. The day was cold and the ground a bit slippy so today was a short walk with photography uppermost in my mind.

Local Moorlands in the snow

One of the things this pandemic has opened my eyes to, is the variety of scenery situated more or less on my doorstep. St Ives Country Park, along with Myrtle Park and the River Aire in Bingley have more or less become my second home and Goit Stock waterfall and woods have also become firm favourites but one area that I have neglected until the last few weeks is the moorland above Thornton and Denholme.

I have visited Ogden Water which sits adjacent to the moors many times, but I have not ventured much further, so the obvious way forward would be to amalgamate both walks. My visit today was curtailed at the stile leading on to the moors and wind farm after I had a conversation with a walker who said the snow had been drifting up to his thighs in places, and the path was very sketchy. With not being familiar with the area, the obvious thing to do was to turn around and retrace my steps back to the car. It was a bitterly cold day anyway, so I was glad to get back to a bit of warmth.

There will be lots more opportunities over the coming months to revisit and explore further.