Next along the line from Cross gates is Garforth, a medium-sized town mentioned in the Domesday Book as Gereford and Gereforde (the name may be derived from the Norse for “ford at a triangular plot of land”). Despite it thus having existed in some form for the best part of a thousand years, virtually no trace of its ancient history survives. Like so many settlements in the West Riding, it grew in size in the seventeenth and eighteenth century due to coalmining, and has more recently expanded as a detached suburb of Leeds, transforming into yet another commuter town. The lack of historical buildings and a distinctive town centre (which consists largely of a single high street) makes it fairly unremarkable, but this walk is nevertheless not unpleasant, in part due to the fact that extends out in the surrounding countryside.
Garforth Railway Station is one of two serving the town, both of which are included on the walk. The station opened on the Selby Line in 1834; the red-brick station buildings (added in 1872) survive and now house a ticket office, waiting room and café. In contrast to the many stations we have visited that are basically unstaffed halts, it has retained considerable charm, and the handsome cast iron footbridge connecting the platforms has gained Grade II-listed station. We leave the station via the footbridge onto Aberford Road, then turn right, cross over, and turn left along Parkinson Approach, following it to a large Tesco supermarket. Just past this, turn right and follow a signed footpath to the edge of a field. Pass through a gate and bear diagonally right across a field to reach a farm bridge over a stream, then turn left and follow a path through a gap in the hedge and bear diagonally right across a second field. Pass through another hedgerow and continue straight ahead to Hawk’s Nest Wood, a small but pleasant wood adjacent to the nearby motorway.
Do not enter the wood, but instead turn right and follow a path alongside it, eventually reaching a junction of signed footpaths. Continue straight ahead between disused industrial buildings to a metal gate and then follow a track to a junction. Turn left and walk to Ash Lane, then turn right and follow this until it ends at Aberford Road, then turn left and cross over and bear right along Sturton Lane. Take the second right turn along Firthfields and when this reaches a set of bollards, turn left along Stirling Way. At the end, turn right along Harlech Way and follow this to Skipton Rise. Turn left and then immediately right to follow a path between houses.
Continue straight ahead along the path until it reaches the footbridge over the railway track at East Garforth Railway Station, the town’s other station. This is an unstaffed halt with wooden platforms that was opened on the Selby Line by West Yorkshire Metro in 1987, a sign of the town’s early expansion as a commuter town. Cross the bridge to reach Woodlands Drive, then turn right and walk to the junction with Green Lane. Turn right again and follow this to Ninelands Lane, then turn right, passing the Podgers public house on the opposite side of the road. Turn left past this along Church Lane and follow this to the Church of St. Mary the Blessed Virgin, a Grade II-listed building dating from 1844, which is the oldest and most notable building on the walk.
Church of St. Mary the Blessed Virgin
Turn left in front of the church and follow a path through the churchyard, bearing left to reach Garforth War Memorial, then turn right and follow a path from here that bends left and leaves the churchyard on Ninelands Lane.
Turn right and follow the road, then just after passing the junction with Derwent Avenue on the right, turn right along a footpath that follows a disused railway line – the Lines Way – and forms part of the Leeds Country Way. This was originally the Castleford-Garforth line, opened in 1878 by the North Eastern Railway and closed in 1998. As we follow it, it gradually leads out into open countryside and what is undoubtedly the most scenic part of the walk. We stay on this path for approximately a mile, passing under a road bridge that carries Selby Way over the former railway line, and eventually reaching a crossroads with Brecks Lane. Here, turn right down Brecks Lane and just after it crosses a bridge over Kippax Beck, bear right into Brecks Wood. Follow a path parallel with Brecks Lane through the edge of the woods, rejoining the lane when the trees end; in the spring, this wood is heavily carpeted in bluebells. Continue in the same direction, and just after passing Brecks Farm, turn left along a farm track running between fields.
Stay on the track as it bends slightly left, then just before it bends left a second time turn right and follow a signed footpath along the edge of a field to a footbridge over another stream (“The Beck”). Continue straight ahead, following the path uphill past a new housing estate (still being built as of early 2023) to reach Selby Road. Cross this, passing the Gaping Goose public house on the right, and continue straight ahead along Nelson Croft. At the end, follow another signed footpath between houses to Westbourne Avenue. Cross this and walk clockwise around the edge of a playing field, then turn left to follow an alleyway to Ringway.
Turn right and follow Ringway to Lidgett Lane, then turn left. Shortly, turn right along Lowther Road and when this ends at a junction, turn left and follow a footpath past allotments, which forms part of Lindsay Road. When this ends at Church Lane, turn right; continue straight ahead to view Garforth Methodist Church, otherwise turn left along Pinfold Lane and follow it past Garforth Cricket & Social Club. Turn left past this to follow a path to Main Street, where the Briggate public house can be seen just along the road to the left. Turn right, passing the Newmarket Inn on the left followed by the Miners Welfare Hall on the right, just past which take a detour along Chapel Lane to view a former Primitive Methodist Chapel.
Continue along Main Street to Aberford Road and turn right, passing the Miners public house on the right. On the wall of the pub there is a blue plaque dedicated to Sergeant Albert Mountain, awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during the First World War.
The Miners
The Miners is shortly followed by the Lord Gascoigne public house (also on the right) and then Garforth Country Club (on the left). Finally, after passing Saint Benedict’s Catholic Church on the right, bear right along Station Road to return to Garforth Railway Station.
Our tour of Garforth complete, there is one last stop on the Selby Line before we return to Leeds city centre and head out on other lines…
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