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Harland
Way - Spofforth to Wetherby Cycle and Footpath Route
'This
railway path is constructed on part of the York and West Midland Railway
Company's Church Fenton to Harrogate line and the former Leeds to
Scarborough alternative route from Crossgates to Wetherby. The railway,
which was opened in the second half of the 19th Century, was closed to
passengers on.4th January 1964 and to goods traffic on 2nd April 1966.
Railway
Path Construction
Early
in 1992, under the auspices of Harrogate Borough Council, work commenced
on converting the disused railway into a footpath and cycleway between
Spofforth and Priest Hill on the outskirts of Wetherby. The next phase
of the work, which has resulted in the conversion of the former railway
'triangle' in Wetherby, was initiated by Wetherby and District Lions
Club and completed during the summer of 1993. The route has been named
after Peter Harland the Lion President who died during the planning
stage.
Landscape
The
path goes through a variety of scenery from open farmland to deep wooded
cuttings. Like many disused railways the land provides a range of
habitats for wildlife which have not been affected by changes in
agricultural practice. Watch out too for the remains of an ancient field
system, complete with strip lynchets close to the banks of Crimple beck
to the north west of the route near Spofforth. Other features of
archaeological interest include the site of the stone axe factory on the
top of a cutting near Kingbarrow Farm, halfway along the route.'
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