Walking Yorkshire - Round Hill, Beamsley Beacon You might think that I have done nothing for the past week except for rambling around Yorkshire, avoiding work and generally having a good time, and you'd be right. The golf course has been closed for snow, so I might as well walk. I set off from home (106486, handily marked CH for clubhouse on the OS map), didn't fancy taking my motor along narrow country roads in this weather. I went up Curly Hill and to the very top of Middleton were I saw this rather glum looking gargoyle in a garden. From Middleton I went uphill to Hill Top Farm, West Moor House then made a quick detour out to see March Ghyll Reservoir. Looking across the fields above Middleton to Burley-in-Wharfedale. The intake tower at March Ghyll (124511). There was a fair wind blowing now and the snow was starting to come down again. I went back to the farm to pick up the moor track, I didn't fancy hacking my way through shin high heather if the weather was turning. Walked along the track right around the reservoir and then followed the track north from Bow Shaw (124517). Sadly the track between Bow Shaw and and Gawk Hall Ridge has been utterly ruined by the moronic, petrol head bikers. In places the 'path' must be at least 40 feet wide, a vast ruined swath of moorland, channels cut feet deep into the soil by spinning tyres. It was just passable today as the mud had mostly frozen, I wouldn't fancy it in warmer weather though. Why are these bikers such twats ? Why do they have to ruin parts of the countryside in this manner ? With enough rain the topsoil simply washes away back to the bare rock beneath, it won't regenerate. This patch is probably the worst damage I have seen for a while, even eclipsing the horrible mess on Blackstone Edge Moor on the Pennine Way. Looking up the path with Round Hill in the background. Looking across to Beamsley Beacon from Clifford's Bent. Dos Clifford know he's been outed on an OS map ? The way marker at Gawk Hall Gate (133530). Looking down into Wharfedale from the top of Beamsley Beacon, the snow seemed to have halted at Addingham. Flowers on a shrub growing out from a wall in Langbar, I don't know what they are, answers to the usual address. Down in the valley again and the sun is out, this is the bridleway runing from Langbar (094514) down to West Hall Lane, I wouldn't fancy meeting a horse on this little thing, I had enough trouble getting past a lady and her excitable labrador. A tree, especially for the Pretty Tree Appreciation Society. Regular reader P will be hard at work here. Oh hang on, he's a software/IT bloke, he won't be hard at work then, he'll be writing e-mails, surfing the net, taking part in footy forums and watching the online cricket scores. Castleberg Scar, Addingham. And then back home, I cut the walk short by walking across the river at the 2nd green, I can get away with this, anyone else would probably get shouted at by irate golfers, not that there were any today. I was quite surprised to find that my new Rohan walking trousers were totally waterproof, and my nice Meindl boots might have been if I wasn't knee deep in the river.