Skipton to Saltaire

On day 4 we travelled a little bit further afield. The start of this ride was Skipton. This should take two trains from Hull – the Transpeninne Express to Leeds and then a Metro train to Skipton. We took four trains…. one that accidentally went to Selby and one returning us to Leeds.

Saltaire is:

• a Victorian model village
• near Bradford in West Yorkshire
• named after its founder, Sir Titus Salt and the River Aire
• an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This ride starts of in Skipton the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales. There are a number of good coffer shops. These are of course a good place to start a bike ride.

This route starts on country lanes. They hold stunning views that can not easily be captured in a single photo. But, as a word of warning, there are a couple of small hills with gradients around 20%.

You need to keep a keen eye out for a pub lunch! The first part of the ride has a limited number of options. I had a lovely pie and Helen had bangers and mash.

After the more strenuous hills and riding through someone’s farm … the route becomes a lot simpler following the Leeds to Liverpool canal. Easy gradients but unfortunately the towpath has not been well maintained.

There were some impressive locks, including the 5 level rise Bingley lock.

Since we were a little delayed in our start and the forecast was for rain, we decided to shorten our ride and finish in Saltaire. We’re glad that we did. Saltaire, an UNESCO site, is a fascinating model village. It’s mill, now closed, has been turned into and art space with tasteful shopping.

I’d recommend visiting Tambourine for you cake and coffee needs.

Resources

• The GPX route from GPS Cycling and Walking Routes.
• My Strava information, so you can see how slow we were.
• Salts Mill and Tambourine Coffee websites.