Thursday 3 December 2020

A New Walk

Having stayed local for our dog walks for much of this year owing to lockdown and coronavirus restrictions, we feel as though we've exhausted our local walks so yesterday, we got in the car and drove ten minutes to a nearby village where there are some woods where we haven't taken Archie before.

It was a bit of a drab day but the forecast for the rest of this week is considerably worse as it's supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow so we decided to get out while we could.

There's a lane which runs to the right side of the railway track and then to the right of this lane are the woods.

Archie is always nervous when we walk anywhere new, it's as though he's spooked, he keeps stopping and looking around him. I don't know what he's looking for but there were very few people about.

I expected the ground to be much muddier than it was. There were patches of mud but it was quite dry in the main.

Archie enjoyed himself, there were lots of new scents for him to sniff out. I'm always conscious that we do many of the same walks so I don't want him to become bored, though he does seem to like the familiar more than the unknown.

I do think that these woods will be more attractive if we return during the summer months, it looks so stark at the moment but I can imagine what it will be like in spring when the trees are covered in zingy green leaves.

As we passed through the other side of the woods we came to a sign for the Trans Pennine Trail. This is a long-distance path running from coast to coast across Northern England entirely on surfaced paths and using only gentle gradients.

The path here runs alongside the Aire and Calder Navigation, which is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire. The navigation was built to connect Leeds to the Humber and the North Sea.

Archie loves water and did wander off to the side of the canal but I think the drop was too far for him to really consider jumping. We always used to put him back on his lead when we were near water but he's got better as he's got older and tends to do as he's told these days and stay out of the water.

We turned and had a wander the other way.

Various boats were moored here and one of the boats was selling refreshments.

This is somewhere we'll definitely return to. We enjoyed our short walk but we'd definitely like to venture a little further down the canal the next time we visit.

18 comments:

  1. A walk in nature always blows the cobwebs away. You are so lucky living where you do, we have the sea but no canals.
    It was Bo my daughters dog going into a river and her sliding down the bank to get him that gave her the broken ankle, so good job Archie didn't jump in. lol
    Briony
    x

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  2. It looks like a lovely walk, Jo. As soon as you mentioned water, I thought Archie might try to go for a swim! I'm glad he didn't as I would think it would be a bit chilly!!

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  3. That certainly looks to be a good walk, especially as there are woods and water to enjoy. It'll be interesting to see what it all looks like during the summer. xx

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  4. What a lovely walk with so much to see and enjoy. The weather is turning for sure. I've just got in from a dog walk and I'm wet and cold. Hot water bottle for me.

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  5. Everywhere looks rather bleak at the moment, it's hardly got light here today and it's rained none stop so far. That walk will be very different and lovely in the better weather.

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  6. That looks a good walk. I live near a canal and love walking along the tow path. There is so much to see.

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  7. We daren't risk Ruby off lead so we use one of those extending ones. She comes when called but is a bit panicky if dogs run up to her and I'd be worried that she would run off in a panic. Also we hear of many small dogs being attacked by free running dogs so we want her where we can protect her if that was to happen and also we can keep track of where she is and make sure she isn't picking up things like acorns, conkers and pinecones that are bad news for dogs. She has plenty of freedom to run about and explore but we can always reel her in if needed. Young dogs need more supervision don't they?

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  8. You can't beat a woodland walk followed by canal gazing, Archie must have loved it in the end.

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  9. Dogs like their routine but soon realise there are plenty of good sniffs to be had somewhere new. I'm glad Archie didn't jump into the water, what a nightmare that would have been.

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  10. It's always nice to find a new walk especially if there is water to be seen and if you find coffee then it's win win I say. I like the look of the Trans Pennine Trail I would have to explore that.

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  11. Looks like you had a nice walk along the water. I'm fascinated by the idea of a path that goes from coast to coast.

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  12. Lovely walk & will those woods be covered in bluebells come Spring? Although I've not walked beside that part of the canal, I do know where it is & seen signs for the Trans Penine Way when we stay in UK. Thanks, take care & huggles.

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  13. It's a lovely walk. It will be interesting to see how different it looks at another time of year, especially if there are refreshments available :) X

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  14. Awwww , that is a great idea . A coast to coast path! Love letting the pup run in the woods. Our Huck was velcro dog. We didnt hae to worry that he'd run . He really was on voice control. But we worked hard to get to that point

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  15. I love walks in the woods, and how nice to get to walk along the river too!

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  16. It looks like a nice walk, especially along the canal - I think that section will look lovely on a sunny summer day :)

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  17. This certainly looks and sounds a nice walk, I enjoyed seeing your photographs.

    Happy Weekend Wishes.

    All the best Jan

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  18. What a lovely walk, woods and water, my favourite combination. My older dogs in the past were often a little nervy on new walks.xxx

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