This extensive but gentle walk incorporated country lanes and the abandoned railway line that passes through Wetherby.

About half of today's outing was road walking, on a route we found about from a pub leaflet at our starting point, The Scotts Arms in Sicklinghall.

An early start and with a leaflet in hand, we headed out on a circular walk, hoping they'd be still serving lunch when we got back.

This is Yorkshire in early May so we'll start with a random photo of Harewood House to set the scene.

After the Mob Walk up Sale and Ling Fell last Sunday I headed over to Yorkshire for a few days with Loes.

I didn't stay here as she has her own house not far away !

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Our one noteable walk during my visit this time, was just north of Harewood, which is just north of Leeds . . . welcome to Wetherby.

Loes had picked up a walk leaflet from the pub on our last visit.

It promised a relatively level walk, much if which was on minor roads or on footpaths, great for today.

First we headed off through the village of Sicklinghall where there are many well-tendered gardens such as this.

The flowering Cherry at the Village Hall was a real picture, even though the cooler weather was starting to cause the blossom to fall.

A classic village duck pond, though the ducks were out of the picture.

We headed north west out of the village, the road getting narrower and narrower, until we came to a gate.

This was the back entrance to Sicklinghall Woods and the Stockeld Park Estate.

Not as grand as Harewood but fortunately for us there's a public footpath through the grounds and the gate was only for cars.

Early May and the bluebells in the wood were ahead of those in my garden in Loweswater.

The bridleway cut the corner across the grass according to the map, but we followed the roadway.

This gave us a brief glimpse of Stockeld Park House in passing.

Loes says hello to the horses at Home Farm.

They have fly-screen hoods on which made them look a little surreal.

Conversely, the geese on Stockeld Grange said hello to us . . . in no uncertain terms !

Having crossed the Harrogate main road we reached another trackway that ran parallel to it.

Part of the old Leeds to Harrogate railway passed this way, but the track is long gone and it is now a footpath and long distance cycle route.

Don't look straight ahead, look right for the next part of our walk.

We enter a cutting as the old track passes a small suburb of Wetherby known as Hill Top, well that makes sense at least.

The old track splits with one old track going ahead through town and off towards Tadcaster.

Our chosen track curves round on the other old rail line, heading more towards Leeds.

It gets wider, crosses under a recently reinforced (well a few years ago now) road bridge . . .

Time to leave the old track and head off to the adjacent village of Linton . . . I think this is the way.

If you think Wetherby was posh, Linton is even posher.

No need for political "leveling up" in this part of the world, they seem to be managing fine without it.

Just a garden ornament . . . not a sign to advertise the sale of ice creams.

Linton Village Hall is gearing up for the Coronation of Charles and Camilla.

Decorative, tasty, filling . . . what more could you want.

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This was a brief visit to Harewood and soon it was time to return home and for Loes to join me for a few days before we journey to Wales.

The weather's nice so we travel back to Cumbria via the Yorkshire Dales.

We stopped off at Jervaulx Abbey near Masham in Wensleydale.	This is one of the largest privately owned historic abbey sites in the UK.

The Catholic Monastic Class were important landowners and built many fine churches and Abbeys in Britain,

but it all came to an end when Henry VIII decided to wrestle power back for himself during the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s.

Most Abbeys and Monastic establishments like this were destroyed and the communities around them changed for ever.

The Abbot, Adam Sedbar who was heavily involved in the "Pilgrimage of Grace" a popular revolt in 1536 to try and persuade Henry

not to break with the Catholic Church, was not successful and the Abbot was executed for treason (they didn't mess about in those days).

Henry gave the lands to the supporters of his Royal Court and so a new social elite was born.

Many of the buildings here were destroyed . . . but significant parts here still remain.

This was the entrance from the Monks accommodation into the Abbey.	The grand fireplace that kept the community fed.

The Chapter House where the clergy would sit and discuss religious matters but also the more mundane aspects of life

such as organising the estate and taking care of the day-to-day detail of providing for the local community.

The Abbey, being privately owned, was later landscaped into an extended garden.

This has in fact protected much of the structure and given it a homely, natural look.

The entrance and exit, where we find the famous Embalming Stone where the bodies of dead monks would have been washed before burial.

It would have originally stood in the Monk's Infirmary close by.

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The cafe at the Abbey was closed so we headed off to nearby Middleham for lunch.

Middleham is close to Masham, home of the Theaksons Black Sheep Brewery that we passed before visiting Jervaulx Abbey.

The Village is famous for its old castle and as a centre for race horse training.

It also has some lovely old buildings . . . well worth a walk around.

The old Middleham Castle and presumably the base of the old Village Cross.

We take a stroll up the hill out of the village . . . here we look back at the castle from the Low Moor Road.

Sadly I've just missed a photo of am RAF Hercules Aircraft flying low over the castle, which would have been a real juxtaposition of technologies.

The Low Moor has some classic horse gallops, where the race horses are trained and exercised.

It also has a magnificent display of Dandelion Flowers on the roadside verges.

Walking back after viewing the gallops.

The Richard II Pub, quiet mid afternoon.	The sun clock tells us we need to be on our way.

The time shows as two o'clock but they haven't adjusted it for British Summer Time !

Another slight diversion as time is not that critical . . . Appleby Town.

The main street heading up to the monument and Lady Ann's Castle.

Down by the river, which becomes the centre of attraction during the Appleby Horse Fair

Even today there's a gypsy horse being washed in the river . . . the busy time in the town is the second week in June by the way.

Suitably refreshed by the stop, we continue back to Loweswater, but no swim for us today.