More images

More (2)

Wetherby and the River Wharfe

Recommended by

Our view

"Around a handsome country market town and along a stretch of the mature River Wharfe."

Walk directions

Walk to the far end of the car park, to follow a path at the foot of low cliffs beside the River Wharfe. You pass in quick succession beneath the shallow spans of three modern bridges, carrying the A168 and A1(M) roads across the Wharfe. Emerging beyond, walk the length of a narrow pasture, passing through a kissing gate at the far end by the water treatment works.

Turn left beside the perimeter fence to the plant entrance and go left again along a metalled drive. After 300yds (274m), meeting a junction of tracks at the top of a rise, turn off right along a field track. Carry on along the top of a wooded bank that falls to the River Wharfe, emerging onto the bend of another drive at Flint Mill Grange. Go left and walk out to the main road.

View all directions

Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Field paths and good tracks, a little road-walking

Landscape - Arable land, mostly on the flat

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead along roads and by racecourse

Parking - Wilderness car park, on right immediately over bridge when approaching Wetherby from the south

Toilets en route - Wetherby

About the walk

Wetherby, at the northeast corner of the county, is not your typical West Yorkshire town. Most of the houses are built of pale stone, topped with redtiled roofs – a type of architecture more usually found in North Yorkshire. With its riverside developments and air of prosperity, the Wetherby of... today is a favoured place to live. The flat, arable landscape, too, is very different from Pennine Yorkshire. Here, on the fringes of the Vale of York, the soil is rich and dark and productive, and the fields divided up by fences and hedgerows rather than dry-stone walls. The town has a long history. A brief glance at an Ordnance Survey map reveals that Wetherby grew up around a tight curve in the River Wharfe. Its importance as a river crossing was recognised by the building of a castle, possibly in the 12th century, of which only the foundations remain. The first mention of a bridge was in 1233. A few years later, in 1240, the Knights Templar were granted a royal charter to hold a market in Wetherby. At Flint Mill, passed on this walk, flints were ground for use in the pottery industry of Leeds. The town also had two corn mills, powered by water from the River Wharfe. The distinctive, restored weir helped to maintain a good head of water to turn the waterwheels. In general though, the Industrial Revolution made little impression on Wetherby. The town grew in importance not from what it made, but from where it was situated. In the days of coach travel, the 400-mile (643km) trip between London and Edinburgh was quite an ordeal for passengers and horses alike. And Wetherby, at the halfway point of the journey, became a convenient stop for mail and passenger coaches. The trade was busiest during the second half of the 18th century, when the town had upwards of 40 inns and alehouses. Coaching inns catered for weary travellers and provided stabling for the horses. The Angel, known as ‘the Halfway House’, had stables for more than 100 horses. The Great North Road ran across the town’s splendid arched bridge, and right through the middle of the town. When the railway arrived in the 1840s, Wetherby’s role as a staging post went into decline. The Great North Road was eventually rerouted around the town, and became known simply as the A1 and now the A1(M). In 1964, Wetherby lost its railway too. Ironically, a town that had once been synonymous with coach travel is now a peaceful place, reinventing itself once again as an upmarket commuter town.

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Everybody knows that Yorkshire has some special landscapes. The Dales and the Moors first spring to mind, but what about West Yorkshire? That’s Leeds and Bradford isn’t it? Back-to-back houses and blackened mills… Certainly if you had stood on any of the hills surrounding Hebden Bridge a hundred years ago, and gazed down into the valley, all you would have seen was the pall of smoke issuing from the chimneys of 33 textile mills.

Route details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

4 miles (6.4kms)

Ascent:

252ft (77m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

Find more walks in West Yorkshire

Wetherby and the River Wharfe

Recommended by

Our view

"Around a handsome country market town and along a stretch of the mature River Wharfe."

Walk details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

4 miles (6.4kms)

Ascent:

252ft (77m)

Walk directions

1 of 5

2 of 5

Turn left along Walton Road. After 75yds (69m) cross to a gated drive on the right, an entrance to Wetherby Racecourse and a bridleway through to York Road. Walk for 0.25 miles (400m) to meet a crossing track. The longer walk continues along the drive ahead.

3 of 5

To return directly to Wetherby, however, turn left, dropping onto the trackbed of the old Church Fenton-to-Harrogate railway line, which carried its last train in 1964. A mile’s (1.6km) easy walking takes you to the A1(M) motorway, raised up on an embankment as it skirts around Wetherby. Take the underpass beneath the road, and keep ahead along Freemans Way, until you meet Hallfield Lane.

4 of 5

Walk left, along Hallfield Lane, following it right around the playing fields of Wetherby High School towards the town centre. At the end, bear left into Nags Lane, right along Victoria Street and then go left back to the river.

5 of 5

Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Field paths and good tracks, a little road-walking

Landscape - Arable land, mostly on the flat

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead along roads and by racecourse

Parking - Wilderness car park, on right immediately over bridge when approaching Wetherby from the south

Toilets en route - Wetherby

Walks in West Yorkshire Dog-friendly walks in West Yorkshire Family friendly walks in West Yorkshire

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

West Yorkshire

Wetherby and the River Wharfe

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Sign up to our travel newsletter

Get the latest insider tips and recommendations to make the most of your next trip

Wetherby and the River Wharfe

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Sign up to our newsletter

Join over 4,000+ travelers who are getting the most out of their trips