Why this ride
A 141 km round trip from Leeds - roughly 3 h 02 in the saddle. It goes by way of Saltaire, Component 2, Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of and back through Component 2.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Leeds afternoon · Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 141 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 02
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Leeds
Leeds made its fortune from wool and cloth, then from engineering and trade, and the evidence is in the arcades. The Victoria Quarter, with its glass roof and stained-glass windows, the Corn Exchange, an oval hall of iron and stone, and Kirkgate Market, where Marks & Spencer began as a penny bazaar, all reflect the confidence of the Victorian city. Today it is the biggest legal and financial centre outside London, and a university city with a young crowd, which gives the evenings plenty of life.
Read the complete Leeds write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Leeds is where the day begins. Next is Saltaire.
2. Saltaire
Titus Salt was a Bradford wool magnate who got tired of the smoke, the sickness and the squalor of the city, and in 1851 he began building a new mill and a new town beside the river Aire, a few miles north. Saltaire, his name joined to the river's, was a model community: tidy stone terraces of different sizes for different grades of worker, a hospital, a school, almshouses, a church, a park, and a huge Italianate mill with a campanile chimney. The mill opened in 1853 and was among the largest in the world. UNESCO listed the village in 2001 as an outstanding example of Victorian industrial planning.
Read the complete Saltaire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Saltaire comes up 17 km in.
3. Saltaire
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saltaire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
34 km in you reach Saltaire. Next is Component 2.
4. Component 2
The monks who founded Fountains Abbey arrived in 1132, a band of Benedictines from York who were unhappy with the laxity of their house and decided to follow the strict rule of the Cistercians. They settled in a wild, wooded valley beside the River Skell, with, as the chronicle says, nothing but thorn trees and rough stones, and over four centuries they built one of the richest and largest monasteries in England. Henry VIII dissolved it in 1539, and the ruins that remain, the great church with its soaring tower, the long cellarium and the cloister, are among the most beautiful in Europe. In the eighteenth century the owner of the neighbouring estate, John Aislabie, turned the valley into a water garden, so the ruins are now part of a designed landscape of ponds, canals and temples. UNESCO listed the whole ensemble in 1986.
Read the complete Component 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Component 2, about halfway. Next is Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of.
5. Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of
Fountains Abbey is the largest monastic ruin in Britain, and it stands in a valley so green and quiet that it hardly seems real. In 1132, a group of Benedictine monks, dissatisfied with the lax life at York, left their abbey and sought a stricter rule, and with the help of the archbishop, they settled in this remote valley beside the river Skell. They became Cistercians, and over the next four centuries the abbey grew rich on sheep and wool, building a huge church, a vaulted cellarium, and a tower that still rises above the ruins. Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1539, and the roofs were stripped for lead.
Read the complete Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Component 2.
6. back through Component 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Component 2 comes up 85 km in. Next is back through Saltaire.
7. back through Saltaire
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saltaire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
102 km in you reach back through Saltaire.
8. back through Saltaire
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saltaire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Saltaire, late in the day. Next is Leeds.
9. Leeds
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Leeds write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 141 km.
Leg by leg
Leeds to Saltaire
Leeds → Saltaire is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Saltaire to Component 2
Saltaire → Component 2 is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component 2 to back through Saltaire
back through Component 2 → back through Saltaire is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Saltaire to Leeds
back through Saltaire → Leeds is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.