On a very beautiful sunny September morning, 5 Leeds goodgymers met in an overcrowded car park to the north of East Keswick. Once we had blocked each other in the car park we decided to set off on the hike Jenny had planned at 10:15am.

After deciding that Tom would be the chief map reader, we started the route by walking by the calm River Wharfe. We had to dodge elbow height nettles to get through sections of overgrown paths and we were all concerned about the being attacked by Ticks. Ellie unfortunately cut her finger on a piece of sharp grass! Once we were safely out of the overgrown path, we were faced with a very steep climb that must have been over 300 meters up to the edges of the Harewood grounds.

We were greeted with views of deers and lovely woods. We made our way through a lovely arched tunnel and the visited the grounds of a beautiful derelict church where we marveled at the messages and history in the grounds.

After crossing the Harewood grounds we made our way onto the Leeds Country Way where we stopped for a quick lunch break under a shaded tree.

We continued on the beautiful Leeds Country Way where we identified a collection of mini snails that were crawling under a sign, we were all wowed by this sight and stopped to take pictures.

We then made our way back to the car park with the final stretch through the pretty village of East Keswick.

We all enjoyed the walk and were very lucky to have such beautiful weather.

Another hike will be planned soon.