Rambling Around, and About, Keighley

Since switching jobs to something more flexible, in an effort to stave off unhealthiness I (Ben) have been trying to find some walks back home from dropping off The Childs at school in the morning.  Keighley is not exactly visually inspiring on the main roads, but if you look around there are a few interesting patches of the older Keighley.

There is a path along the side of the Worth Valley Railway from the station in town, which I used to walk along occasionally on one of my previous jobs.  Like many parts of Keighly the later in the day you walk these areas the less appealing they become (you can only be chased by so many angry teenagers before the appeal of an area wears off) but at eight in the morning, it felt safe enough to snap a few pictures.

Adrenaline-inducing meetings with people aside, I like these somewhat neglected backways, especially as (like this one) there are glimpses into the heavy industrial past of the town.  That, and run-down and neglected areas tend to be photographically more interesting.

OK so the lighting was a bit poor, and I was using just the camera on my iPod (the idea to snap some photos was a spur of the moment one, and so I didn't have a 'proper' camera) but there might be some spots to come back to with better kit.  It was struggling with the weird light a fair bit...

The path weaves and crosses the various railway lines (open and closed) which threaded this part of town, back when Keighley was built on the wool and light industrial trades.

This is interesting, the blocked cutting of the old Great Northern Railway goods branch.  It is hard to tell if the cutting is properly part-filled with soil and debris, or just decades of natural growth.

More interesting relics, the old cobblestones showing through the tarmac.

Back alongside the preserved railway, more massive stone-built retaining walls.  Just the sheer effort it must have taken to construct these walls back in the day is impressive to consider now.

The path at this point branches off, and we're back into territory I occasionally visit for railway pics.

I do like this path, at least this lower section just for how odd it is, a jumble of bridges, with the oddity of the fact there is a stream under the concrete which has been covered over to form the path.  You can hear it running under the path, it makes the path so low that you have to duck under the bridges, and looking at it, the concrete channel must carry floodwater too.

Walking up the path just leads onto another estate, so back down to the river path...

Evidence of someone burning their own (or more likely someone else's) homework...

More jumbled mix of building styles...

Old railway sleeper fences.

And finally, the river Worth itself, just before the path ends up back on the main road.

So it isn't too bad a path, and it would be worth going back there with a better camera at some point, maybe whilst filling time between trains during a round of railway photography.  And it makes the healthy walk home in the mornings a little more interesting...