Dogging in West Yorkshire: area guide

The lie of the land in West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is compact and densely built up. Leeds is the biggest city, with Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Halifax and Keighley all within a short drive. Most people live in a ribbon of towns that have grown into each other along the valleys of the Aire, Calder and Colne.

The Pennines shape everything. Climb out of a mill town and you reach bare moorland within minutes. The South Pennines to the west, Wharfedale and Airedale to the north and the edge of the Peak District near Holmfirth give the county real contrast between city streets and open hills.

Because the county is small and well connected, people often travel in from further afield, from Lancashire over the tops or from the south along the M1. Quiet corners can attract a crowd without any clear reason, which is one more reason we keep this guide to general advice.

Getting about safely

The M62 crosses the county east to west and the M1 runs north to south, with the A1(M) on the eastern side. The M621 and M606 are short spurs into Leeds and Bradford. All of them back up at peak times. The M62 over the Pennines is one of the highest motorways in England, and wind, snow and fog can close lanes or the whole carriageway.

Trains are plentiful. Leeds is the hub, with lines to York, Manchester, Sheffield, London and the Aire and Calder valleys. The Airedale and Wharfedale lines run north to Skipton and Ilkley. Leeds Bradford Airport sits on high ground north of the city. Late-evening services get sparse, particularly on the Calder Valley route, so check before you travel.

Off the main roads, hill routes are steep, narrow and often unlit. Drystone walls leave nowhere to pull in. Mobile signal can fall away in the deeper valleys, and moorland roads gather fog quickly. Winter ice lingers in shaded dips long after the town centres have thawed, and ground mist pools in the valley bottoms on still nights. Check the weather for the tops, not just for Leeds.