We stopped for a sandwich on a rickety wooden bridge over a small stream, and continued on through the muddy river-side fields, with the cold mist clinging to our clothes.
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Strangely, this deserted place once attracted hundreds of visitors on warmer days. Between the wars, before the days of cheap overseas travel, many artificial beaches were created by importing sand from the coast. This happened most famously in London, next to
Tower Bridge, but here at Netherby Deep, as this section of the Wharfe is known, hundreds of tons of sand was brought all the way from Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast, and used to form a recreational spot for people from Leeds, Harrogate, and the smaller villages nearby. It was known as Kearby Sands.
The sand is gone now, and the crowds don't come here anymore. All that is left, buried beneath weeds, is the remains of a brick and stone building, which once catered to the needs of local tourists, perhaps serving teas and ice-cream. There is a basic wooden bench, possibly an old railway sleeper from the railway line which once ran across the Wharfe nearby, and a large chilling sign, on which the following can be barely read:
DANGER
This notice was erected by the grandfather of 8 year old twin boys who lost their lives here. They were last seen by the water edge. Five hundred people were here but nobody saw anything. If you care for your children please take them away. Avoid this place as you would a plague.
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU
On a sunny day in 1963, Andrew and Stuart Nicholson from Leeds, were playing along with hundreds of others, while their parents sunbathed, when they suddenly disappeared. Their bodies were later found by police divers. The tragedy led to a decline in the popularity of Kearby Sands, and it is now a largely forgotten spot, with the local pub, and other ameneties long closed. All that remains is a small caravan park, which seems strangely out of place, unless you know the history of the area. I doubt that the chilling notice did much to encourage further tourism.
We sat at the spot for a while, and then continued on our way, walking along a country lane, and then back into the fields.
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The moon was out, but there wasn't much sign of the sun, and I was surprised when I looked at my watch and saw that it was only 2.00pm and not later.
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Struggling back through the mud, we returned to Harewood Bridge, and a timely bus back to Leeds.