Bingley ~ Easy Walk

 

Distance Covered: 4 miles Time to Complete Walk 2.5 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

Bingley is a mill town in West Yorkshire and this walk starts in Myrtle Park on the banks of the River Aire. Then head towards St Ives Country Park which is a great place to walk above the town and has a pond, golf course and some nice places to eat. This walk is a great way to spend a nice Sunday afternoon.

General Safety Tips: 

Take care crossing Harden Road to St Ives Country Park as it can get very busy. 

The Bingley Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough follow the A19 onto the M1 southbound. Leave the M1 at the Harrogate junction signposted for Leeds/Bradford airport which is the A658. Just before the village of Poole in Wharfdale, turn right onto the A659 which goes through Otley. Head out of Otley on the Otley Road and the A65. Follow the A657 through Shipley and into Bingley. Parking can be found in the side streets near Myrtle Park or at Bingley Town Hall.

                                        Maps of the Bingley Walk

The Walk

Start the walk from the Bandstand in Myrtle Park.

From the bandstand head to the right of it to a stone wall and a path down to the park lawn.

At the branch in the path take the left branch and walk over the iron bridge.

Once over the bridge follow the narrow path which walks beside some allotments

Arriving at some buildings walk over the bridge over the river and follow a path through a squeeze stile.

Climb to a building and follow a waymarked post.

Follow Beckfoot Lane as it climbs to the busy road above which is Harden Road. Turn left and cross the road when you come to St Ives Estate on your right.

Head into the carpark on your right and then head through the A Frame to leave the carpark.

Follow the signpost directions to the Memorial Wood.

Head towards a picnic table with an amazing view of Bingley below and a wooden sculpture.

Head through a gap in the wall on your right and onto a path.

Follow the path towards a pylon.

At the end of the path head onto the track on your right and turn left and follow the track as it climbs ahead.

Turn left at the junction and follow the path with a golf course on your right.

Soon you come to some buildings, turn right and follow the path ahead until you come to Coppice Pond which is a lovely peaceful pitstop.

From Coppice Pond as the road may be closed turn back and head down to the car park and turn right.

Turn left and follow the road back down to the car park at the entrance.

Turn right and then left onto Harden Road and turn right onto Beckfoot Lane again and retrace your steps back to Myrtle Park.

Bingley

Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census.

Bingley railway station is in the town centre and Leeds Bradford International Airport is 10 miles (16 km) away. The B6265 connects Bingley to Keighley.

Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bingley appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Bingheleia".

Bingley was probably founded by the Saxons, by a ford on the River Aire. This crossing gave access to Harden, Cullingworth and Wilsden on the south side of the river.

The origins of the name are from the Old English personal name Bynna + ingas ("descendants of") + lēah ("clearing in a forest"). This would mean altogether the "wood or clearing of the Bynningas, the people called after Bynna".

Like many towns in the West Riding, Bingley prospered during the Industrial Revolution. The Bingley section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was completed in 1774, linking the town with Skipton, and Bradford via the Bradford Canal. The canal passes through the town centre and ascends the side of the valley via the Bingley Five Rise and Bingley Three Rise Locks. Several woollen and worsted mills were built and people migrated from the surrounding countryside to work in them. Many came from further afield such as Ireland in the wake of the Great Famine. A railway and line goods yard were constructed bringing further trade. The villages of Gilstead and Eldwick became conurbated with Bingley. The Bingley Building Society was also founded in this period.