West riding

Three hands would be useful for this bike ride. Two to grip the handlebars and one to hold the map. You will be navigationally challenged and grateful for a guide. Stick with it, though, for all the route is along cycle tracks or very quiet roads and there are several spots of interest along the way.

Soon after setting off from the car park at Newmillerdam Country Park, near Wakefield, I was freewheeling through the woods with not a care in the world. Until, that is, I came to the end of the woods and what I saw didn't tally with the map whichever way I held it up. No matter how hard I tried to persuade myself otherwise I knew that the path across a field in front of me was not a disused railway line. Baffled, I battled on and after a fashion did join the line. Then, at last, it was full steam ahead - along a broad, flat, gravel track.

Soon I was back on an equally cyclist-friendly surface when I came across the Transpennine Trail. This is a multi-purpose, non-motor route which when complete will stretch from the west coast of Ireland to Istanbul. Wow! I only used it for a few hundred yards, perilously close to a stretch of canal. Trees grew out of and dipped into the water which was completely covered in green algae. That, combined with the stillness and enclosure, gave the place an almost Amazonian feel.

For a while the route was easy to follow; I just looked for the plethora of brown signs directing me to my next destination, The Waterton Countryside Discovery Centre and the Squire's Cafe. After all the build-up I arrived to find the shutters down and the premises closed. Good job I'd brought my lunch with me. I ate it looking over the Anglers' Reservoir, one of four reservoirs that form part of a 350-hectare heronry containing various wildfowl which you can watch from hides.

The road petered out and I found myself pedalling through a wood beside a tall wall. Behind it is Walton Hall which was built by Charles Waterton, a 19th century naturalist and traveller and the inspiration behind the heronry. Waterton turned the lake and grounds of the hall into one of the country's first ever nature reserves. In his time he was considered eccentric for conserving wildlife while most of his contemporaries were shooting it.

The hall, now a hotel, is idyllically located on an island which is accessible only by a narrow, iron footbridge. I was tempted to visit the coffee shop within but - accompanied by a two-year-old and wearing shorts - I felt shy of doing so, especially when all around me were button-holed wedding guests. Several map checks later I arrived at the 12th century Sandal Castle in the leafy suburbia of Wakefield. Little remains now other than a few ruins on a mound surrounded by a large moat. In appearance, more of a sandcastle, in fact. Richard III was planning to make Sandal his permanent stronghold when he was killed at Bosworth Field and the castle was demolished on the orders of Parliament after the siege of 1645. A scramble to the top of the mound gave a good view of merry, little red-sailed dinghys tacking this way and that on Pugneys Country Park.

The last couple of miles were a doddle. I even put my map away. In the interests of route research, I'd been this way before.

Directions:

Distance: 15 miles.

Time: Two hours excluding numerous stops.

Tip: Start the ride at Sandal Castle where the car park is free.

Map: A free map entitled Cycling In The Wakefield District is available from the local council's Regeneration Dept on 01924 305000.

Directions:To avoid the baffling bit follow this.

L out of car park then R down Almshouses Lane.

At t-junction R until the road bends round and then follow a short track that carries straight on.

After a few yards L onto railway path. After two miles fork R off path at the first road that crosses over it. R onto road then L at crossroads with the Oliver Twist pub. After phone box L on to the well signed Transpennine Trail.

R at junction with road then L to Cold Hiendley. L signed to Waterton Country Discovery Centre, The Heronry, etc.

L just before Wintersett. After road peters out continue along path through fieldgate.

As you enter Haw Wood, fork R signed Walton, keeping the wall on R. After bridge R on to Transpennine Trail.

Fork L to leave trail then R at road to Walton Hall.

Re-trace route after leaving Hall. At junction with main road, R then L down School Lane. Pass under two bridges then R down Oakenshaw Lane. Over the traffic lights down Castle Lane then L down Manygates Lane past Sandal Castle.

Cross dual carriageway then on down Chevet Lane by The Three Houses pub. At crossroads (with Walton signed L) turn R past Chevet Lodge. Return to Newmillerdam via L down Hill Rd.

Click here to view a map of the walk