Wildlife Walk – Deer, Kingfishers & the River Aire

1. Plan your walk

• a. Where to start
• b. Elevation Profile
• c. Route files for GPS & mapping apps
• d. Toilets & Refreshments
• e. Walker-Friendly Stops

2. Walk directions

3. Frequently Asked Questions

Bingley Arts Centre

Main Street
Bingley
West Yorkshire
BD16 2LZ

Grid Reference: SE 106 390

What3Words: ///sprint.colonies.downfield

Bingley Railway Station is only a step away from the start of this walk making it a car-free train walk! We encourage walkers to use public transport, rather than cars, as much as possible.

We have provided an interactive map below, powered by OpenStreetMap. You can zoom in and out, explore the route in detail, follow your live location along the walk, and view points of interest, cafés and facilities directly on the map.

The Brown Cow 

Start outside Bingley Arts Centre in the town centre, with the old covered market and buttercross to your right. Head past this historic feature towards the car park, and at the bend in Queen Street you will find the entrance to the Riverside Walk. Go down the stairs and look for the stone plaque on the floor inscribed with “The Throstles Nest of Old England Bingley" – a lovely piece of local history to set the scene for the walk ahead.

Turn right and follow the path along the river. As you walk upstream, look out for the Ailsa Well sign marking the site of an ancient water spring. Continue along the riverbank until you reach Millgate, then turn left and cross Ireland Bridge – a grade II* listed structure – towards the Brown Cow pub. Just after the bridge, look for a narrow ‘snicket’ between two houses on the opposite side of the road. Cross carefully as there is no pedestrian crossing, follow the path through the houses and turn right back onto the riverbank.

Back on the riverbank, you will have great views of the Church and the historic old town of Bingley. Follow the track along the river, passing the site of the old gasworks, now replaced by new housing. After the last house the track becomes noticeably more rugged and you will feel like you have left the town behind entirely.

This stretch of the River Aire is excellent for wildlife spotting. Fallow deer are regularly seen grazing in the fields alongside the path, particularly when the trees are not in full leaf. Keep an eye on the river too, as kingfishers are a common sight along this section.

The track eventually veers slightly left away from the river. From here you will see Ravenroyd Riding Centre in the distance. As you approach, signs indicate clearly where to go. Watch out for horses and traffic in the yard, though it is rarely busy.

Once you pass the last horse training ground, the track becomes rough again. Pass another house before arriving at an open field. Continue uphill until you reach Hutler Hill, a distinctive rounded hillock rising to 101 metres that stands out clearly in the Aire Valley landscape. The origins of the hill are uncertain – it may be a natural glacial feature or something older – but it makes an unmistakable landmark and this is your decision point for the two available routes.

Shorter route: At the hillock, veer left and follow the wall along the edge of the woods. When you reach an old open gate at the wood’s boundary, continue following the wall on your left up to a wooden gate.

Longer route via Marley Farm: At the hillock, turn right through the field towards the railway track. Follow the path alongside the track up to a bridge, then turn sharp left up the hill along a tarmac track leading to Marley Farm. Continue through the farm uphill, then turn left to loop back to the other side of the hillock. You will arrive at the same wooden gate.

At the wooden gate, go through the opening in the wall to the left of the gate (do not open it). Follow the track up through Hollin Plantation, a beautiful mixed woodland sitting high above the River Aire. At the end of the track you will reach a gate into a field – turn left, staying inside the woods, and follow the wall on your right. You are now walking back above the track you came from. At some point the path passes through a gap in the wall; continue through and carry on inside the woods. You will cross a small stream with views down to Ravenroyd Riding Centre below. The path can be muddy here. Rejoin the uphill track when you meet it and follow it to the wood’s edge, where you will find two gates. Take the right-hand gate, passing through the opening on its left-hand side (do not open it).

You are now in an open field with the wall on your left. Horses are usually grazing here so please take care. Follow the path across the field, cross a small stream, and head towards the gate in the distance. From here you will be rewarded with sweeping views across the Aire Valley, with the Pennine hills beyond. Go over the stile on the left-hand side of the gate and you arrive at Altar Lane.

Turn left and head down Altar Lane, passing the Ravenroyd Estate Gate, all the way to Harden Road. Take care when you reach Harden Road as traffic can be very busy and fast. Cross carefully over to the other side and follow the path down through the woods.

Note: If you fancy a break at this point, the Brown Cow pub is a short distance to your right along Harden Road, a convenient stop before the final stretch back into town.

Back on the path, as you head down through the woods keep an eye on the trees above the privately owned lake to your left. This is home to a heronry, where herons nest high up in the treetops. It is one of the more unusual wildlife highlights of the walk and well worth pausing to look for the nests on the way through.

After the woods you will find yourself in a open clearance field running alongside the river, which once used to be a horse racing track. Cross the field towards the green steel tubular Festival of Britain Bridge over the River Aire and cross to the other side. You are now in Myrtle Park.

From the bridge, head uphill through the park and take a track passing the basketball court on your right. Keep following the track which will pass behind the former Bingley Town Hall building, then continue through the track to emerge near the entrance of the Wishing Well Nursery. Cross the road into the car park with Bingley Town Council Hub building on your right. Bingley Arts Centre is just on your left, thus completing the walk.