Whilst Loes and I are at her house in Yorkshire we arranged to meet up with my brothers.

The day before we met we tried two different locations close to Collingham to find somewhere suitable to take them for a walk,

both failed but for different reasons . . .

Beck Wood Collingham, is a small "Pocket Park" owned and maintained by the Parish Council.

It's only a small area of land but it gives access to the River Wharf and what has been known in the past as a nice place to swim.

The park has been developed on the site of the old Leeds to Harrogate railway line

and this wider section was the site of the  Collingham Bridge railway station.

The railway and the associated bridge were closed in 1964 and the infrastructure removed soon after.

We walked the short distance down to the River Wharf and found ourselves looking at the main road bridge.

The river was slightly high due to recent rain . . . but on closer inspection it didn't look particularly clear or nice !

The opaque brown colour hinted at what a notice in the nearby tree confirmed . . . the river was not in prime condition.

I have heard that the river is regarded as one of the dirtiest in the country due to the amount of effluent that can sometimes enter it.

Today's view only served to reinforce that belief.

The local council was obviously aware too, so I think the notices were as much a public statement as a warning to the public.

It would appear that this local swimming spot was now out-of-bounds, like the river higher up at Ilkely that made the news recently.

We walked around the small woods and soon found ourselves returning to the old station site

along a path next to Collingham Beck . . . that too looked equally brown.

Looking down a near vertical bank, into the old quarry. 

Dougal had already scaled the steep slope down but returned back up with equal enthusiasm once called.

The top track through the woods skirted the farmland, where there was  a small herd of belted Galloways grazing the scrub.

The site was apparently noteable due to its diverse range of plants, caused by the presence of two different underlying rocks.

The top quarry was limestone with alkaline soils and this lower escarpment of Hetchell Crags was based on more acidic Millstone Grit.

Either way, the damp conditions of the mature woodland gave rise to extensive fallen and rotting undergrowth

and within them these beautiful common gilled mushrooms seemed to be thriving.

We join what turns out to be an old Roman Road through the woods.

The autumn colours are developing nicely and just need a bit more sun to bring them to full colour.

What's this . . . a lady out walking her pets . . . but the dogs had never seen pets like this !

They were two ferrets, whom she took for local walk on their leads.

With the unknown nature of my dogs, she preferred to hold them close rather than risk a meeting at ground level.

A wise choice as I don't think Dylan and Dougal knew the dangers either.