Halifax to Todmorden 08/08/15

14.1 miles, via Savile Park, Sowerby Bridge, Sowerby, Boulder Clough, Mytholmroyd, Erringden Grange, Eastwood & Cross Stone.

A weekend drops out because of the challenges of Summer working, but now we have another bright day for the trail to the Irish Sea, maybe the most benign weather I have ever encountered in Calderdale, and let's face it, it's been a while since I ventured into this quarter on foot, nearly two years since my high moor explorations and even longer since I started walking it laterally, so 9.25am in the sunshine is our start time, and this is gonna be a long one as the district knows how to bring the challenges even when not venturing to moorland altitude. Setting out along Church Street and Prescott Street has Halifax bringing me more surprises in its styling, the warehouses still standing proud in the Hebble valley, and building such as the County courts and the swimming pool suggesting an enduring civic pride that I might not have expected, and my route of choice along Savile Road is a long parade of proud Victorian town houses and apartment buildings, many falling into the compass of the Calderdale Royal Infirmary these days. Altogether, I've probably picked the best and prettiest axis through this town, and it continues as our path swings down through the terraces that border onto Savile Park, the town's major open space, sitting above the river valley after the first uphill drag of the day and filling up for the local carnival as we pass. My trail leads to the A646 crossing an into the woods around a forgotten graveyard to get an up close look at Wainhouse Tower, the 84m tall tower/folly/chimney of 1874 that is a standard candle for these parts and on that I have never encountered up close, worth a look to see just how eccentric the late Victorian industrialists could be. Descents then follow, with views into Calderdale from Wakefield Gate, slipping among the terraces on Upper Washer Lane and then steep drop down to the A6026 follows Washer lane as I ponder exactly where the break between Halifax and Sowerby Bridge might actually be. Canal Road crosses me over both Canal and Calder, naturally, with leafiness and industry enduring at the riverside along Holme Lane, which brings me up on the railway station, almost unexpectedly, and slip beneath it via that deceptively heighted bridge. Station Road is the familiar corner of the town for me, and it is soon departed as the roads diverge on their different tracks to the south, with us taking Sowerby New Road for a long steady ascent out of the town, soon rising above Calderdale for some fine views west towards Luddenden Dean and Midgeley Moor, whilst suburban growth sits on the upper side of the road, providing an aspect worth purchasing.

Break at the top of the slope, retreating to the yard of St Peter's Sowerby for some much needed shade, and having regarded the village that named the bridge settlement below, its time to push on down Pinfold Lane for a steady, but no too long descent, getting more fine views to east and west that illustrate the sheer awesomeness of the districts vistas. pass through the hamlet of Boulder Clough, with its outsized Methodist church and apparently barren stream before rising again on acre lane to get our first major switching of views  as Halifax and Sowerby Bridge vanish, and the look to Mytholmroyd and Heptonstall replaces them. It's a track I've visited before, a few new Years ago, and it looks wholly better up here on an August day, midway up the valley side with the many well preserved 17th century farmsteads lining Sowerby Lane, and such oddities as Luddendenfoot's cricket field sitting high above the village on the only piece of flat land available in the vicinity. Views fall down to Brearley and Midgley before we hit the top of Scout Road, all closed off the last time I came this way, but now reopened after the repairs of the landslip in Scout Wood, and it's still not a lane over-used so passage down through the trees does not feel fraught, and suddenly Mytholmroyd appears, with old terraces light industry and another overgrown cemetery providing the surrounding before we drop out on Cragg Road, having descended to the valley floor again. No early lunch in the Shoulder of Mutton, instead push on to the next ascent, hitting Nest Lane and the closest this town has to contemporary suburbia, following Park Lane on the route of 2012's Bonus Stroll as this is a route loaded with farmsteads and views that needs a second look, under much warmer skies, but despite the appearance of Old Town Mill and the moors beyond, Hebden Bridge remains tantalizingly out of view. Serious ascending comes on the cobbled track up to Old Chamber farm, a challengingly located B&B, the rough track beyond finally offers up a view to the town below, as well as the view all the way to Wadsworth Moor and to Colden Clough before we meet our next angle at the abandoned quarry workings above the microwave mast, a good spot to stop for lunch and to catch the cooling breeze before focusing attention in the direction of Stoodley Pike and the final third of Calderdale hitting the path on past Erringden Grange and Pinnacle farm before finding the only overgrowng path in the area that leads me down to the wooded clough that houses the Pennine Way and Bridleway.

As the paths intertwine, I take the better surfaced one on the long wander down through Callis wood, losing all the altitude gained as the bottom of Calderdale is approached again, crossing the Rochdale Canal and the Calder again at Eastwood, having ticked another small section of the Pennine Way off the list, and a beeline to Todmorden could easily be gained by following the main road to the town, but we need more interesting route. So after a while, we pass beneath the railway to pick a predictably steep route up the other side of the valley, choosing the option of the steady and shaded track up through Common Bank Wood, which leads to the weed-choked path up to Upper House farm, a lung-bursting excursion but the views are worth it, following the tracks and field boundaries and looking over to the wild moors surrounding Stoodley Pike and looking on to the high moor on the Lancashire border. Not wishing to get ahead of ourselves, and needing to make time to get the correct ride home, a hard track is met to meet great House Farm, and the lane beyond, one popular with weekend drivers leads beyond more farmsteads to rise above Todmorden, meeting the odd little hamlet of Cross Stone, which seems to exist solely to serve the cemetery, though its pub ands church seem to be largely out of commission these days. Sure as it's expected the descent starts as the lane twists downhill, into the corner of town that invites the building of slightly odd suburban houses, and a footpath is sought among the older houses to lead me out to Stansfield Hall Road, to find quite the most admirable terrace of houses, and a footbridge takes me over the railway, just beyond the recently reinstated Todmorden triangle. Still descending as we meet the slightly more industrial terraces of Stansfield Road, moving into the middle of the town again as we cross the Calder for the last time, now looking like a mostly unimpressive brook having looked so proud on previous encounters. Looks like we've wandered into Market day as the streets throng as we pass below the enduring Todmorden viaduct, and several hostelries tempt a visit, especially the Polished Knob, but we are in good time for our train, so a path is cut past the Town Hall, as distinctive a building as a small town could want, to make my way up Station Approach to land for a 4pm finish. Two days in, and that's a good place to leave the trail to the Irish Sea, the remainder can now slot in to my late Summer Jollies in September, pounding out across Lancashire in three days, hopefully, on a path that still hasn't been defined, and in the meantime we can look back to terrain that isn't quite so challenging.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1836.1 miles
2015 Cumulative Total: 433.9 miles
Up Country Total: 1676.4 miles
Solo Total: 1624.1 miles



Halifax on a Sunny Day, West Yorkshire doesn't have many better sights does it?
(actually yes it does, many of which will be seen today!)

Savile Road, Halifax. This town never ceases to amaze me with its many picturesque corners.

Wainhouse Tower. You deliberately plot a course to get up close to it, but the tallest
 folly in the world (per Wikipedia) is obviously best observed at a remove.

Onwards into Calderdale, and is Sowerby Bridge really an independent
entity of just an offshoot of Halifax? We might honestly never know.

Canal Road bridge, over the Calder, currently out of use because someone crashed through
the retaining wall, such is the risk of 21st century transport using 19th century engineering.

Royal Lofts, Sowerby Bridge, one of the most attractive building in the town, for sure.

Calderdale looking towards Luddendenfoot and Warley Moor,
the pleasing vistas just keep coming in these parts.

St Peter's Sowerby, an odd mix of classical and gothic revival,
in a village that seems to have slipped form view in the modern world.

Methodist Chapel (former), Bolder Clough. If you can find an
odder building in Calderdale, I'd like you to tell me about it.

Sowerby Lane, every farmstead is old and has a view, and is a
place to be envied when summer brings its best weather.

Scout Road, extensive road rebuilding has made this lane accessible once again.

Mytholmroyd, this is surely the oldest corner of this town?

Middle Dean and Old Town Mill from Park Lane, and the views keep coming!

Old Chamber farm and B&B, which should come with a health warning for anyone
wishing to drive to it, as the access road is as steep as you'll ever encounter.

Colden Clough from the old Quarry above Fairfield.

Stoodley Pike from the lane to Pinnacle farm.

Callis Wood, and the Pennine (Bridle)Way.

Common Bank Wood, shady going as I wonder why I'm going uphill again.

You go uphill in Calderdale to get views like this one!

Cross Stone, Todmorden's Cemetery district?

Stansfield Hall Road terrace, love those utility sheds!

Todmorden Town Hall, if you're building on a prominent corner,
you might as well make your construction as distinctive as possible.

Yeah, I know that's a lot more pictures than usual, I just love Calderdale that much!

Next Up: Time to start making paths inside the loop of the Wakefield Way.