Tadcaster - Healaugh: 8 miles

NEW WALK!! A flat walk starting in Tadcaster located just off the A64 between Leeds & York.

We start from the free Britannia car park off Commercial Street (which crosses the main bridge in town) and is adjacent to the Coach & Horses pub and the bus terminus. Toilets available for 20p but its one at a time!

Having crossed the bridge and briefly followed the river Wharfe, we skirt around the church and along a few streets before picking up the viaduct walk. Having crossed this, we take the steps down to the riverside which we follow again for a short time. We then pick up solid tracks for a fair way before coming upon Healaugh Manor Farm, built on the site of a former 13thc Augustinian priory. We then walk along a pavement into the well-preserved village of Healaugh, walking to the far end, through a farmyard and then we embark on a winding course through a series of fields which ultimately finds us back at an earlier point of the walk from where we take a different route back into Tadcaster.

The walk will be led at a steady pace: not too fast, not too slow. Please be ready to start walking at the advertised time.

Walk fee: £3. No dogs please. Bring a packed lunch/drink/snacks with you. I don’t propose having a morning break as its easy, flat walking but will be happy to stop if I get a few requests! We will of course stop to consume our packed lunches.

After-walk refreshment at the Coach & Horses adjacent to the car park or if you prefer, there is a little café across the road from the car park.

Background notes
Tadcaster is famous for its breweries (currently three major ones!) which began in the 14thc but had become big business by the 17thc. The Old Brewery (Samuel Smiths) was opened in 1758 and is Yorkshire’s oldest. The other two breweries are John Smiths and the Tower Brewery where the Canadian brews Coors/Molson are produced. The reason for such a concentration of brewing in the town was the pure, hard water that seeps up through the bedrock in ‘popple’ wells as this enabled the production of a very clear, bitter beer.

The viaduct over the river Wharfe was built in 1849 by the railway magnate, George Hudson. The viaduct remained a white elephant for 30 years as Hudson’s financial empire collapsed before the railway itself was built. It was later used to service a mill on the eastern side of the Wharfe but that closed in 1955 and it now serves as a footbridge.

I have no formal walk leader or first-aid qualifications and the Group does not have insurance. When you RSVP for any walk, you accept that you remain responsible for your own safety at all times. You are required to respect the walk leader and be mindful of the safety of others. Please keep to the pace of the group and don’t go off ahead even if you think you know the route.