Once an important coach stop on the Great North Road the village became a sleepy backwater following the construction of the Wentbridge Viaduct in the early 1960s. Wentbridge and the surrounding area of Barnsdale was the true home of Robin Hood. The bridge is mentioned in the Robin Hood ballad, Robin Hood and the Potter: "Y mete hem bot at Went breg,' syde Lyttyl John" The Went valley runs eastwards from Wentbridge towards Kirk Smeaton and Little Smeaton and contains the Brockadale Nature Reserve managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Photographs of the Went valley and Brockadale can be found in my Pontefract Gallery

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