The Rawdon Billing
The view from the top of The Rawdon Billing
Location: SE 218 399
Getting there: Paths from all sides to the summit from nearby Yeadon, Rawdon or Horsforth
Height (at spot height on summit): 231m
Prominence: 35m
Map: OS Explorer 289
A prominent landmark rising above Leeds, this hill has plenty of history and gives surprisingly expansive views across Leeds and Yorkshire
The Billing has to be a favourite local destination of mine. It’s the one viewpoint that is accessible on foot from my own home in West Leeds, and the walk to up to provides varied environments, from the waterways that run along the Aire valley below, to the woods that adorn its slopes and summit, to open fields that surround its trig point, just below its highest point.
A path through the woods on the summit of The Rawdon Billing, with old quarried stone lying across the track
This makes The Rawdon Billing a regular pilgrimage for me, either as a route for shorter 1:1 sessions, or our Mountain Boardroom Wellness Walks.
The highest point of The Rawdon Billing is actually about half a kilometre away from its trig point, unmarked and nestled in the small copse on the summit.
The trees hide a number of interesting features - the site houses the remains of a quarry, with deep pits, and craggy rock faces. Two large concrete blocks, just outside of the woods, are said to be the remains of an World War II Anti-Aircraft battery, built to protect an Avro aircraft manufacturing factory near the site of Leeds Bradford Airport, though the blocks do not conform to known designs of such installations, and historical records and maps show no evidence of military buildings on the site.
The concrete blocks on top of The Rawdon Billing, overlooking Larkfield Dam and Rawdon below
A house was actually built on the summit in the 1930s, but was demolished soon after due to not being up to the building regulations of the time.
Travelling over to the trig point really opens things up - on a clear day, the views to the east extend across Leeds below, and into the Vale of York, and down to Emlyn Moor and Holme Moss on the edge of the Peak District to the south.
There are a lot of routes up The Rawdon Billing - I usually approach from the Billing Dam to the south, then descend back to Rawdon after the trig point, but there are also routes leading to the airport to the north, and Yeadon to the west. The Rawdon Billing also forms part of my epic West Leeds 4 Peaks Challenge.
