You don't need to be a paying punter to enjoy some of the natural delights of the Harewood estate. Rights of way run through the park, and from them there are glorious views across Wharfedale.

The only problem as far as this short walk is concerned is finding somewhere to park. No, that's not entirely true. There's another problem involving a bit of over-enthusiastic ploughing which doesn't leave much room for ramblers. But we'll come to that later.

I managed to tuck my car into a make-shift lay-by at the side of the A659 Otley road from Arthington, just before the T-junction at the bottom of Harewood Bank. It's a potholed little place, but there's not much else. From there, I plodded along the grass verge with cars and vans roaring past me. It wasn't much fun, but it didn't last long.

Soon I was turning way from the road, following the bridleway up the driveway to Stables House stud farm and then continuing up the slope. This is lovely parkland, with a few grazing sheep and a lot of mature trees dotted around.

At a junction of tracks I turned east, climbing gently and stopping from time to time to admire the views of a lush, late-summer agricultural landscape (this was the end of August), with the lopsided pimple of Almscliffe Crag in the distance to the north.

Soon I was accompanying the wall of the Harewood estate, with woodland beyond it, before emerging into a lane past houses and the Harewood village hall to meet the busy A61 Harrogate Road.

From here, I found myself accompanying traffic again for a while, walking first along the pavement and then down the grass verge before picking a timely moment to cross the road and follow the footpath sign down Fitts Lane towards the River Wharfe. This is an ancient route, a sunken farm track offering lovely views of the valley through a frame of its overhanging trees. The smell of harvest-time was in the air as I walked down alongside the stubble to eventually meet the riverbank.

From here, my route lay upstream beside the slow-moving Wharfe, picking my way along the edge of a field which had been ploughed and seeded to leave only the thinnest of grassy strips for ramblers' feet. I hate walking on land in which a farmer has planted crops, but just occasionally I had no option but to let my boot stray on to the soil.

Soon the soil was replaced by maize growing higher than my head. I plodded on with that on my left and tall Himalayan balsam and nettles between me and the river on the right. For a while, this was more of a jungle expedition than a country walk.

Eventually I emerged by the graceful Harewood Bridge and crossed the road with care to return to my car. It had been an interesting, varied little walk, ideal for an afternoon outing as the days grow shorter - if you can grab yourself one of those few parking spaces!

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.