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Yorkshire Ridings

The three Ridings – North, West, East – are the historic divisions of Yorkshire. My ‘ridings’ are series of bike trips exploring England’s largest county, as defined by its traditional borders.


Latest posts

(Or see full list of all 114 Yorkshire Ridings posts)

  • Harrogate: Cherry blossom polish29 April 2023
    The nearest you can get to Japan in springtime Britain could be Harrogate. Because the Stray – that picnickable green expanse in the heart…
  • Tile Maps Trail 3: Whitby to Middlesbrough21 April 2023
    Just two maps left to bag today. But getting from Whitby to the first of them, at Saltburn, was not as easy as the…
  • Tile Maps Trail 2: Scarborough to Pickering20 April 2023
    Ah, Scarbados! Yorkshire’s Blackpool, its national beach resort. A bit cold for a dip today, but there were consolations. A ludicrously long bench. A…
  • Tile Maps Trail 1: York to Scarborough18 April 2023
    I started a three-day trip today, relying for directions on a unique map that’s (a) made of tiles and (b) useless. It’s the mural…
  • Middleton: Steamy experience at world’s oldest railway10 April 2023
    Yorkshire is a country – sorry, county – of superlatives. Of stuff that matters, anyway. The best beer, finest scenery, tallest people, most interesting…
  • Kirkdale: Yorkshire’s secret micro-Minster4 April 2023
    Of England’s 32 Minsters, 13 are in Yorkshire. York’s is the best known, biggest, and obviously, best. Ripon and Beverley are familiar too; Hemingborough…

Two-Quid Trundles

Bargain bus trips with a folding bike to 10 destinations under the £2 Flat Fare Scheme in Jan–Jun 2023

Castle Howard: Bridleway Revisited
Goathland: Time travel pub
Goodmanham: Fired up
Helmsley: Star line-ups
Kirkdale: Secret micro-Minster
Masham: Genuine fake Druid’s Temple
Middleton: World’s oldest railway
Ripon: Up secret valley, down rabbit hole
Thornborough: Henge fund
Whitby: Gothic Horror Hill

Castle Howard: Yours for £2


Yorkshire Places

Rides in 67 quirky places: giants, narrow alleys, white horses, tiny ferries, fairies at the bottom of the garden…

Barkston Ash – Barnsley – Barwick – Beverley – Bingley Arms – Bradford – British Library – Buttertubs – Castle Howard – Cockayne – Coldstones Cut – Cottingley – Dean Head – Easingwold – Eboracum – Emmerdale – Greenwich Meridian – Filey – Football – Goathland – Goodmanham – Halifax – Hambleton Drove Road – Harrogate – Haworth –Hebden Bridge – Helmsley – Hessay – Hornsea Mere – Huddersfield Canal – Hull – Hunmanby – Ilkley – Ingleton – Kilburn – Kiplingcotes – Kirkdale – Malham – Market Weighton – Marston Moor – Masham – Middlesbrough – Middleton –– Millington – Morley – Norber – North Cave – Nun Monkton – Pocklington Canal – Ripon – Rudland Rigg – Rudston – Scarborough – Semerwater – Sheffield – Swanland – Skipsea – Tan Hill Inn – Thirsk – Thornborough – Thorne – Wakefield – Wentworth Woodhouse – Wharram Percy – Whitby – York

Filey Brigg: Check your brakes


Tile Maps Trail

York to Middlesbrough via bike, train – and nine historic railway maps

In the early 1900s, the North East railway company installed over two dozen elegant tile maps with a map of their network in stations across Yorkshire and north-east England. Nine survive in their original locations, York’s being a notable example.

The networks proudly displayed on the maps were devastated by the 1960s cuts, but the ceramic cartography remains as a testament to both the confidence of pre-WW I Britain, and the post-Beeching railway landscape.

In April 2023, this trip by train (along the lines that survive) and bike (along the courses of those that didn’t) visited all Yorkshire’s surviving in situ maps, and its three replicas at stations.

Day 1: York, Beverley, Bridlington, Hunmanby
Day 2: Scarborough, Whitby, Pickering
Day 3: Whitby, Saltburn, Middlesbrough

The theme tune for the ride is my guitar arrangement of Flanders and Swann’s ‘Slow Train’. Hear it

Where the Tile Maps are: See bigger version
Don’t plan your train journey with York’s Tile Map: See bigger version

Yorkshire A to Z, and B to B

Two End-to-Ends of Yorkshire in May–June 2021.

The A to Z went north up the west side of the county, from the first place alphabetically (Abbeydale in Sheffield, down on the southern border) to the last (Zebra Hill near Richmond, up by the northern border). This was a leisurely four-day ride of about 150 miles through magnificent Pennines and Dales scenery, on my tourer.

The B to B went north up the east side, linking two famous bridges: the Humber, down by Hull, and the Transporter, up in Middlesbrough. This was an equally leisurely two-day ride of 90 miles through equally magnificent Wolds and Moors scenery, on my offroad tourer.

A to Z 1: Abbeydale Steel away
A to Z 2: Abbeydale to Halifax Reservoir blogs
A to Z 3: Halifax to Grassington Great Walls
A to Z 4: Grassington to Zebra Hill Stripy top
B to B 1: Humber Bridge to Malton New Wold Symphony
B to B 2: Malton to Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge Moor the merrier

River Rides

Yorkshire’s eight main rivers ridden from source to mouth in 2018–2020. The Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe, Aire, Calder, Don and Derwent all flow ultimately into, or become, the Ouse not far from York. Their dales and valleys cover the county.

The rides were 50–130 miles of 2–3 days, on a variety of bikes: folder, trekker, tourer…

Swale Means ‘fast-moving and quick to rise’. It is, I’m not.
Ure Mountains, waterfalls, castles, three cities and pigs playing bagpipes
Wharfe Drink in the scenery – and the ale
Aire The mysterious disappearing river
Nidd Yorkshire’s most overlooked dale
Calder Hip towns and unexpected art
Don Quiet flows the Don, past Meadowhall
Derwent Scenery and surprises in the East Riding

Compass Rides

In 2017 I enjoyed eight rides that each followed a compass direction directly from my home in York – in the centre of the county – to the cyclable extremity of the historic border.

The rides were 60–100 miles of 1–3 days, on either trekker or tourer…

North York to Redcar
North East York to Robin Hood’s Bay
North West York to High Force
South West York to Saddleworth
West York to Dunsop Bridge
South East York to Spurn Point
South York to Harthill
East York to Bridlington

Top Ten Quirky Yorkshire Phone Boxes

White, green and rainbow coloured booths; libraries; museums; historical rarities; even a bike repair station… Yorkshire has some remarkable phone boxes for cyclists

Pump up the volume

York Route Guides

Leisure rides round York, with maps, photos and info.

Dick Turpin Trail In search of Swift Nick
York Monopoly Ride the board game’s squares
Inexplicable York The city’s most bizarre sights
York Bridges All nine in one lovely ride
York Lakes and Ponds Hidden gems great for picnics
York Orbital The city’s bike-path ‘inner ring road’

A wise choice

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