Bailey Lane out of Warter has gradually become something of a recent favourite of mine. It is included in one of the shorter loops, ‘A Yorkshire Wolds Red Kite Bike Ride‘, and is best approached along Cold Wold from Huggate or Back Lane from Nunburnholme. At the bottom of Totterdown Hill (the proper name for the locally famous ‘Nunburnholme Hill’) it used to feel as though I was wimping out when I took the gravelly turn east towards Warter instead of grinding my way up to the top. No more. ‘Nunburnholme’ has lost its sparkle for me. Too narrow, too busy, no nice views. The opposite, in fact, of Bailey Lane.
There are arguably stiffer climbs out of Warter – Cobdale Lane (pictured in the distance in the photgraph above) and Cold Moor may well be more challenging – but they lack the views while Bailey Lane still offers significant resistance. To be clear, this is no killer climb – it doesn’t get a ranking in Roger England’s Hill Climbs of the Yorkshire Wolds – but is sufficiently testing that the folds of Bailey Dale down and to the left perhaps provide a welcome psychological distraction that lessens the impact on the tired rider’s legs. You are also more likely to see Red Kite gliding overhead. Which is nice.