Here in West Yorkshire – my home county and the place to which I will be relocating permanently later in 2015 – I have just had a brief Boxing Day walk over the newly-created cycle path in West Vale (about 3 miles south of Halifax) that makes use of a long disused viaduct. The Sustrans delivered project linking the two sides of the valley was officially opened in October but it’s surprising that there is still no signage whatsoever, either on the ground or on signs, that the route is indeed part of the National Cycle Network. Perhaps they are planned. Apart from making the journey across the valley far more pleasant for cyclists and pedestrians, access to the viaduct opens up views that haven’t been seen for many, many years. These are streets that I know well but which I have only ever seen from ground level. The long steep street, incidentally, (with the 20 mph restriction) is Queen Street, the starting point of the ‘Col de Greetland’ during the Tour de France stage 2. The picture here flattens it somewhat but I can assure you, it is very stiff climb. Nice also to see that at least some steam can be found near the old viaduct track even though the trains have long since shunted off into the great railway cemetery in the sky…