Meandering to Middleton Railway 2026

This is a circular ride to Middleton Railway in Leeds which is the world’s oldest continuously working railway, having been established in 1758. As it is the school holidays, there will be trains running during our visit. There is a visitor centre and chance to clamber on the locos as well as a fairly basic cafe. It is all run by volunteers.
The ride is 35 miles with nearly 1600ft of climbs. Our return journey goes past Leeds Station and so you can opt for that which would make the ride around 24 miles.The first part of the ride as far as Morley is all on road though mostly quiet suburban and semi-rural roads. From Morley we take a different route to a couple of years ago and which avoids the busiest roads.There are tracks to and through Middleton Park, including alongside the railway. There is then a quiet on road section from the railway to the Aire-Calder Navigation into Leeds before we take the canal all the way back to Shipley. I have ridden the off-road section from Morley to Middleton and the surface is pretty good. It was a little greasy at points but that should have dried out by next week’s ride.
We start by leaving Shipley and heading up to Wrose, the hardest climb of the ride, before heading in a south-easterley direction through Undercliffe and Thornbury into Pudsey. We continue to Morley via New Farnley and Gildersome, taking advantage of light controlled junctions across the A58 and A62.Skirting Morley centre we make our way to the tracks leading into and through Middleton Park to the railway terminus for our lunch stop and train spotting. We make our way a short distance to the Aire-Calder Navigation and head through Leeds with those who do not want to take the train, heading back on the canal to Shipley.

We will have our lunch break at the Middleton Railway Terminus which as bike parking, indoor and outdoor seating plus the necessary facilities as well as a basic café. There is a museum, exhibits to get on and there will be locos running.

Helmets are a must as is some hi-vis outerwear. Make sure you have a spare inner tube at least and that your brakes, tyres etc are in good condition. Check that the British Cycling website has up to date personal and emergency contact details.

We never leave anyone behind