A Christmas present to myself was Castle Walks in Yorkshire by Peter Williamson picked up at Brierlow Bar bookshop for almost nothing. So I thought I'd give chapter one a shot. There's a detailed description in the book. A brief one is as follows. Park at Newmillerdam car park. Walk down dam and through woods then across fields passing Chevet Grange, over Chevet Lane and past Briery Court. (There was a man wioth a gun and two gigantic dogs over the other side of my field around here but he didn't shoot me and they didn't eat me.) Over railway bridge then pick up Trans-Pennine Trail into Walton where path emeregs on School Lane. Down this, out onto Oakenshaw Lane, right then a signposted shortcut between houses and across fields puts you on Walton Lane heading into Sandal. (Collectors of trig points will want to skip the shortcut.) Straight on down Castle Road then right down Manygates Lane passing the site of the Battle of Wakefield. Left on main road and follow it as far as the Hepworth Gallery. Here go left down Thornes Lane. (At this point, if you are me, you may be thinking, Rather more of this walk involves pounding urban pavement than is quite to my taste.)
When you get to Thornes Park make a wee detour to visit Wakefield Motte. Then head down the A636 till you get to the bridge over the Calder. Here take a path on the right and follow it to the big Lake in the middle of Pugney's Country Park. Walk almost all the way round this anti-clockwise then take a path on the right and head over fields to the castle. (Here I thkink I left the lakeside path too early. I headed right by a letterbox where there is a sign saying, promisingly enough, 'Path to Sandal Castle'. At which point any relation between where I was finding myself going and what Williamson's book said vanished. Looking on Google Earth later I think Williamson's way is to take another right path a bit further on which looks like it avoids a bit of a detour to find a bridge over Pugney's Drain.) From the castle take a path downhill to Castle Farm. Left here then right and down the A61 to Newmillerdam. The walk had lots of historical curiosities to interest me but rather too much tarmac for my liking.
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