Langbar Loop #2: West Hall Lane - Lycra Highway
This is the 2nd of a series of 15 caches which will take you on a 4.75km circuit from Addingham across the suspension bridge, then up to Langbar along lanes and across farmland to Langbar via the ancient sunken 400m long Narrow Lane. The route continues across and back down following a fine footpath along the top of the west bank of the steep-sided Holden Gill, then across a large field to West Hall Lane and the side-access lane/path to the bridge.
See Langbar Loop #1 for background info on the series including a map.
From #1 continue north up the footpath along the beck passing a lovely small old arched stone footbridge, then cross over the wooden footbridge and follow the farm access lane up to West Hall Lane and on to the cache location in the corner of the field just through the gate.
West Hall Lane (aka the Nesfield Road) is the name of a section of a 6.5km narrow twisty (back) - and deceptively quiet - lane which connects Ilkley with the A59 just east of Bolton Bridge, running through Middleton, Nesfield and Beamsley.
It is a promoted spur of the 210km Yorkshire Dales Cycleway (see route map here) and as a result is very well used by club cyclists as the main access into the Dales from Ilkley and Otley.
So on fine weekends in particular it can become rather busy. Unfortunately, from time to time there have been (and no doubt will continue to be) 'negative interactions' between the Lycra lovers and (careless/carefree) motorists (using the route as a way of avoiding the busy A65 when this gets jammed). Sadly, some of the latter also cause scary and so-called 'SMIDGAF' incidents!
See here for an article on Rise of the MAMILS (Middle-aged men in Lycra) and here for Do cyclists have to be slim to wear Lycra?
A 2017 Feasibility Study (see here) assesses the practicality of creating an all-weather family friendly multiuser (walking, cycling and wherever possible horse riding) greenway route linking Burley in Wharfedale, Ilkley and Addingham - the proposed Phase 4 of the Wharfedale Greenway (see here). Details of issues relating to the Nesfield Road section of this route are found on p23 of this document.
