Thirty-four miles based on country roads - the sort where you only see tractors, cyclists and people with satnavs that are having a nervous breakdown - near the banks of England's most glorious river*.

Sublime.


* The River Wharfe in Ilkley is the first in the UK to gain bathing water status, the Government has announced.

The area of the river which runs between Ilkley Main Bridge and Beanlands Island will be added to the list of bathing waters in England from 2021.

It follows a public consultation by DEFRA which ran from August 7 to October 2. It was prompted by an application from the Ilkley Clean River Group, who want to ensure the river - which can attract over a thousand people on sunny days - is fit to paddle and swim in.