The fourth Spread Eagle group walk Heath Common and the Southern Washlands Date: Sunday 17th March 2013 Walkers: Avril, Jonathan, Mick, Cath, Joan, Phil, Fiona, Nick, Tim, Billy Start and Finish: Heath Common Car Park Distance: Approximately 6 and a half miles Difficulty: Easy, flat route Weather: Cold but bright Interest points: Heath Common; Goose Common; Kirkthorpe Stocks; Half Moon Lake; Reclaimed colliery land with streams, ponds, grasslands; River Calder; Aire and Calder Navigation; Blue Bridge; Kirkthorpe Weir view point Libation and fodder: The Kings Arms
Heath Common through Goose Common and Kirkthorpe A beautiful old Common near the Georgian village of Heath. The village is designated a conservation area of outstanding architectural and historic interest. The Common was saved from enclosure in the 1840s by the famous naturalist Charles Waterton, who wrote, "It is beautiful in nature's wildest charms". Today it is leased to Wakefield Council by the Heath Estate. (NB Only horse owners who hold licences, issued by the Council, will be granted approval for grazing on Council managed land. This is due to unacceptable increase in horse numbers overgrazing our Commons.) ‘Wakefield was mainly settled by Danes, and was the centre of the wapentake of Agbrigg. The local court met around the Heath Common area. It has been claimed that Wakefield was the Scandinavian capital of the whole of the West Riding.’ (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~petyt/wakefieldhistory.htm). The Southern Washlands ‘This site is in the Lower Calder Valley and forms part of the flood basin for the River Calder. Once worked for sand and gravel it was restored in 1987 as a reserve and is one of several wetland sites in the Lower Calder Valley. A variety of habitats – open water, swamp, marshy grassland, willow and hawthorn scrub – are home to a variety of wildflowers, birds and amphibians. The air is filled with butterflies and dragonflies in the summer. There are a variety of birds including kingfisher, green woodpecker and water birds. Other wetland sites within walking distance include Stanley Ferry Flash to the north (1 km), and Stanley Marsh Nature Reserve (2.4 km)’ (http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=45&N=&ID=415