Low Moor to Shipley 08/04/17

13.6 miles, via Bierley, Dudley Hill, Holme Wood, Tyersal, Laisterdyke, Thornbury, Fagley,
 Ravenscliffe, Eccleshill Bank, Thorpe Edge, Idle & Thackley.

Low Moor station finally arrives on the WY Metro network to open up transport possibilities in the south of Bradford and at the top of the Spen Valley, and I'll be there to meet it on the first Saturday of operation, along with hardly any other passengers, but that's largely due to the railwaymen's strike that has truncated services and landed me here for a 10.25am start, an hour later than I'd have liked on a what promises to be a very warm day indeed. So we immediately join the top of the Spen Valley Greenway, below the Cleckheaton Road bridge, and among the buildings of Transperience, the infamous museum of Public Transport that proved to be one of the worst financial debacles of the 1990s, the tram sheds visible off to the south with the auditorium and tram stand still in situ off to the north. The Greenway path leads north alongside the railway and the former site of the original L&YR station and engine shed, closed in 1965, onwards into the Kingsmark industrial estate and up to the half of the footbridge that once reached its way across Low Moor junction, where the GNR branch to Dudley Hill once had its southern end, a line that only operated from 1893 to 1918 and might thus be one of the most forgotten lines in West Yorkshire. Nothing can be seen of it as we rise along the roadside to junction 2 of the M606, even as we follow the alignment exactly, passing through the Euroway industrial estate and departing Merrydale Road along the cycleway that carries NCN Route 66 off towards Bowling Park, shadowing the line up towards Tanhouse farm and also getting sight of the former estate of Bierley Hall along the way. Our railway search proper starts as we meet the outer suburban edge of Bierley and take a few road corners to find the infilled plate girder bridge by Brogden House farm, and then keep to the countryside roads as we pace up Spen View Lane to find the narrow path that leads between farm buildings and fields to the extant section of embankment that is accessible to the walker, despite the underbridges at the access point and at the long lost Scales Lane being missing, and the sole extant cattle creep below the suburban houses of Meadowcroft Rise is sadly inaccessible from atop the formation.

Auditorium and Tram Stand, Transperience, Low Moor.

Low Moor Junction footbridge, formerly crossing the L&YR and GNR lines.

Greenfield Lane bridge, Bierley.

Scales Lane Bridge, Bierley.

The crossing of Shetcliffe Lane is gone too, leaving a pair of massive abutments in its wake, and paths endure along the formation behind a trio of closes, a path that looks like it was never intended for use by the curious walker, and the way beyond through the fields of St John's CofE school is well fenced off, so Ferrand Avenue must be walked, through the council houses of Bierley up to the crossing of the path that came this way in 2014, which crossed the lower arm of the Dudley Hill railway triangle and never acknowledged it, or the fact that it was never actually completed. Familiar territory is met again along Dawson Lane, and a look into the car parks of the Hallmark card factory will show the old GNR lines coming up from Low Moor on the western arm and from Ardsley on the south, all infilled now but not actually merging here as the Low Moor line actually passed under the Ardsley line, as well as under the A650 Tong Street, in a tangle of formation that I hope is still buried below our feet. Take the short path up to Railway Street and cross the main road over to Knowles Park where the GNR formation occupied most of the site in cuttings south of Dudley Hill station, and whilst most of these lines were closed in 1966-68, the stretch to Dudley Hill from Laisterdyke actually endured in industrial use until 1981, and the formation at the station site across Knowles Lane is still visible to the keen eye. The enclosed path alongside is less obvious, and dangerously close to overgrown, so we are lucky have come this way before Spring regrowth has taken it over, dropping out at Bridgeway and finding a clearer path behind the old folk's home back to the formation boundary where the embankment top has been covered by many factory units, and more abutment remains can be found on Holme Wood Road. I've not much of a desire to stray into this council estate, one that doesn't look aesthetically pleasing even on the sunniest of days, but I've only got to walk down one road of it, Grayswood Crescent, before paths drift back towards the railway boundary, away from the local goings on, and behind the houses up to a rare section that hasn't been built over but is aggressively fenced off nonetheless.

Shetcliffe Lane bridge, Bierley.

The Low Moor line in the Hallmark Cards factory carpark, Dudley Hill.

Dudley Hill station site.

Holme Wood Road bridge and embankment.

So we detour to Cutler Heights Lane to see some of the older houses in this quarter before we head back to Tyersal Lane to pass over the infilled bridge that was also seen in 2014, but this time around I'm happy to note that there is actually a void beneath it and thus still functions in its original purpose, which makes me happy, for some reason. The fields beyond are filled with railway formation, but are not permissibly accessible so a path is made among the prettier council houses of Sutton Crescent, to find the access point across the former Broad Lane junction, where the Pudsey Loop line split off on the southern side on the Tyersal triangle, and then steps are taken back to Carden Road and Dudley Street so the long boundary wall can be followed up to Cutler's junction, where the Pudsey and Ardsley Lines merged. The bridge over is still in place, and the extent of infilling is evident by the size of the drop on the northern side, as the second triangle took the lines onwards to Laisterdyke and Shipley, and we pace along the eastern arm as the latter line is our target, along Tyersal View in that part of Tyersal that is part of Leeds but is only accessible through Bradford, as we look over the triangle down to the industrial units below, and forwards for as far as the path will take us but no further as there is no access point over the Leeds & Bradford line in this direction. So steps take us back to Arkwright Street and past the fields of Tyersal FC to Dick Lane, where suburban redevelopments has claimed a the former New Lane mill site and only a single bridge remnant endures of the lines coming down to Laisterdyke junction, and the building of Spindle Court obscures the junction site, having been filled in completely back to the original level, with the footpath at it south edge as its former boundary and the double width New Lane bridge providing hints of the vanished site. Fart around the Laisterdyke site for a while, pacing along New Lane to the station house that has endured above the Leeds & Bradford line, and also looking down to the former station site that once had GNR trains travelling in eight different directions and now doesn't even have platform for the single line that runs through it, and the n head back on New Lane as it snakes back to Dick Lane to get no sight of the former junction from this angle either.

Tyersal Lane bridge, Tyersal.

Arkwright Street bridge, and Cutler's Junction, Tyersal.

Dick Lane bridge, Laisterdyke.

 

Laisterdyke station house.

So focus attention forwards again, as we drift across the Leeds - Bradford boundary again, and set off in search of the Laisterdyke - Shipley branch, possibly the most eccentric of all the GNR's lost lines, operational from 1874 to 1964-68, but only keeping its passenger service until 1931 as the route between Shipley and Exchange station was more than three times longer than the direct MR route to Forster Square, and our first relic is soon found below the rough fields that cover the Laisterdyke brickworks site, where the abutments of the bridge crossing the Leeds & Bradford line are found, often seen by rail passengers but rarely acknowledged, I'd guess. These fields have somehow escaped the developments that have grown up around Thornbury, and it's odd that a permissible path has endured between the new apartment building and the former golf course site, along the ledge of the former railway for much of its distance before dropping us in the car park behind the Odeon cinema, the boundary of which is followed to the Sportzone complex and then out of the Gallagher Leisure Park and on to Dick Lane for the third and final time. Meet Thornbury Green and set off onto Leeds and/or Bradford Road, crossing over and following the A647 to the infilled bridge that came before the widening of the dual carriageway, and whilst the path north has mostly been mostly consumed by playing fields, there's still one piece of partially infilled cutting to see here, before the path is resumed along the suburban boundary on Sunnybank Lane. Past Sunny Bank house we go country again, as the farm lane passes over the formation, and a path then comes in alongside the infilled cutting and the boundary of Calverley Golf course, which gives us our first shaded spot in quite a while to have a lunch and refreshment break whilst the peaceful idyll is rather compromised by the sound of many off-road bikers somewhere in the fields off Woodhall Road.  Beyond that missing bridge, we can ascend to the alignment proper to pace the old railway betwixt the fields and the outer edges of Fagley, getting views to Woodhall Hills and the beck valleys off to Airedale in the north and towards the Industrial Museum and the rise of Eccleshill to the west, and aside from an equestrian party, I've got these leafy tracks to myself, to be savoured and explored at my own pace, even taking a detour to investigate a cattle creep hidden away below.

Shipley line crosses Leeds & Bradford line, Thornbury.

Bradford Road bridge, Thornbury.

Woodhall Road bridge, and embankment, near Fagley.

 

Cattle Creep, near Ravenscliffe.

We soon slip into a cutting that brings us among the houses of Ravenscliffe, and the track fades from view and we have to return to the streets, via the close of Wharncliffe Grove and the fascinating variations of house on Wharncliffe Drive, pushing us away from the alignment until we can the path down to Hazlecroft where two phases of suburban growth have covered the trackbed, but the alignment is still traceable straight through to the A658, though despite initial appearances there are no abutment remains over Harrogate Road. Cross over to ascend to Summerbridge Crescent, where the bland suburbia offers no clue at all to the former presence of Eccleshill station, though the alignment is mostly traced as we head north to meet Park Road, where the bridge abutment has already been met on the steep descent down Eccleshill Bank, and there's another to be found at the other end of Bridgegate Way as well, on Bank itself, where suburban dwellings perch somewhat precariously above it.  Next we move on into the Thorpe Edge estate, one of the few bits where route finding looked like it might get complicated, but thankfully there's a clear path following the green space of the alignment between the council houses, and even as it drifts up and down around the closes of that mythical affordable housing that have dropped onto available plots, the way over to Rockwell Lane is never in doubt. Good to get an elevated view along the way too, just to see how high the railway climbed to get around the old outer edge of Bradford, and more fun is had to follow the route as the next stretch has been fenced off and we are forced on a detour along Summerfield Road past the community centre and garden, and onto a path through Abbotside Close to find the rough patch of common land where the alignment is located. Odd to find a field that seems to have no visible use or residential claim upon it, and it's all our for this moment, aside from the grazing horses, as it leads us to one side of Idle cricket club and into an overgrown but easily walkable infilled cutting that brings out to Bradford Road and another previous point of contact. Idlecroft Road has obliterated all signs of the former line as we press north, and the local goods yard having vanished beneath a freight distribution depot, and the site of Idle station has also gone, formerly situated where the road dives downhill by the branch of Aldi, a lower grade supermarket for a higher grade of suburb.

Harrogate Road, abutment and embankment survivals are conjectural. 

 

Park Road bridge abutment, Eccleshill bank.

Bank crossing and formation, Thorpe Edge.

Infilled cutting, by Idle Cricket Club.

The junction of High Street and The Green shows up some of the best Victorian stone facades in the district, and we get a relic in the form of an abutment of the former bridge as the embankment resumes and we follow it as it Railway Road leads us into Idle recreation ground, which seems popular with all ages on a day like this, and as the formation rises overhead we finally get an intact bridge at the north end of the park, seemingly unnamed and popular as a hangout spot for the local kids. No way onto the alignment beyond, residentially built on in the oddest way, so ginnels and footways must be walked among the suburban faces of Harper Grove, Pellon Terrace and Kingston Road to find no extant trace of the crossing there, and then we improvise a route, heading onto Ashfield Road to find the way to Leeds Road, hopeful that there might be a way into Thackley cutting from the side of the A657. There is, thankfully, as the partial infilling give a steady descent down to the former track level, and even though the cutting is filled with small saplings and an ocean of twigs and other detritus, it's straightforwardly walkable, dropping us below the large Leeds Road bridge and into the roughly hewn rock cutting beyond, getting progressively deeper as we work our way down to the short tunnel under Thackley Road. I feel like we could progress further, on to Thackley station, but unsure of the accessibility at the western end and not fancying a fight with increasing amounts of undergrowth, it's best to beat a retreat as climbing out of the cutting in a tight spot doesn't seem like such a great idea, and I'd wanted to see the crossings from above anyway, so it's worth it, especially as the Leeds Road bridge is chequer-boarded for safety and the stone urinal on the Thackley Road corner would have been missed otherwise. Get a look at the above ground version of Thackley as we pass the Methodist church and head down among the varied houses of Cragg Hill Road to pass over the line again by the still extant station building and its access bridge, and it's possible to get to track level here too, so a passage along the cutting would be possible, when less green perhaps, and the westward route seems to have gained an unofficial bridleway so a previously trammelled path is made down the shaded trackbed to the passage under Ballantyne Road bridge.

High Street bridge abutment, Idle.

Footpath bridge, Idle Rec.

Leeds Road bridge, Thackley Cutting.

Thackley Road tunnel, Thackley Cutting.

Cragg Hill Road bridge, and Thackley station.

Ballantyne Road bridge, Thackley.

Suburban growth seems to have spread like a rash on Thackley, and our last ground level footfalls are made along Bantree Court, which seemed to only gain access to half its land packet by gouging through the embankment of the railway, which spoils the feature somewhat, but at least the Windhill Old Road bridge is still in situ and imposing, and a road walk won't be in order to the finish line as the trackbed is again accessible all the way down to Shipley. It's not all completely level, rising and falling to an infilled footbridge before descending away from Thackley and not easing off on its downhill run as it wavers again at the missing bridge over the lane to Fern Cottage farm, and as Baildon can be observed across the Aire Valley and the contemporary railway can be watched at the floor far below, it's brought home just what an operational nightmare this line must have been as the steep ascent and descent of the bank would surely have limited its usage in the heyday of steam. Still we can be grateful for the GNR having built is as we've got a shady path to enjoy as the later steps of the day start to feel like hard work, eventually dropping below a very derelict and dangerous footbridge, and running out its descent of Windhill as it drops us out on Walker Place, a very rough track that hides below the industry that occupies most of the lands at the lowest end of Thackley Old Road. So wander away from the railway back in the direction of the A657, noting that the Windhill corner of Shipley has some very proud buildings to offer, but the finish line isn't quite here as we need to detour down Dock Lane to see the very last pair of abutments of where the GNR's line merged with that of the MR, and also to note the lock house and pumping station of the Bradford Canal, existing relics of a completely different establishment, also long lost from the landscape. The most remarkable survival of the old GNR line must be Shipley Windhill station, of course, having remained in industrial use almost constantly since closure in 1931, and despite being one of the few remaining station buildings left from that entire network, it's not currently listed and is regarded as at risk of demolition as it occupies a prime residential site next to the contemporary station triangle. A fine finale to this long day around suburban Bradford that has offered so much more than I was expecting, and proved a harder walk that I've had in a long time, as dehydration and knee pains come on sharply as the final steps are made to Shipley station for a 4.10pm, still hopeful for more sunshine like today's as the season progresses.

Windhill Old Road bridge, Thackley.

Fern Cottage farm bridge abutments, Windhill Bank.

Derelict Footbridge, Windhill Bank.

Walker Place bridge abutments, Shipley.

Dock Lane bridge abutments, Shipley.

Shipley Windhill station (GNR).

 

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2683.3 miles
2017 Total: 118.3 miles
Up Country Total: 2439 miles
Solo Total: 2428 miles


Next Up: Easter Weekend demands some Countryside!