Deighton to Mytholmroyd 25/07/20

15.7 miles, via Bradley Gate, Lower Fell Greave, Sheperd's Thorn, Booth Wood, Toothill, 
 Rastrick (Carr Green), Elland Lower Edge, Old Earth, Elland, Hullenedge Rec, Broad Carr, 
  Holywell Green, Stainland, Scar Hill, Bankhouse Mill, Barkisland Mill, Barkisland, 
   Bank Top, Ripponden, Soyland Town, Mill Bank, Field House, Sowerby, Dob, Higham, 
    Steep Lane, Long Causeway, Stake Lane, and Hall Bank.

I need a decent Summer to get my walking plans completed, and now I'm certain that the season is trolling me after giving us a warm spike on Friday which it promises won't persist into the weekend, and thus we set out on our early ride expecting the worst for yet another outdoor day, only to land ourselves in the Colne valley with the day bringing on sunshine that hadn't been projected at any point, with me dressed in waterproofs and having not applied sunblock despite us being at the start of the heights of Summer. So we alight at Deighton, on the eastern side of suburban Huddersfield, at 8.20am, ahead of most of the locals being roused for their weekend, and after the briefest of showers as we meet Whitacre Street and it's ascent over the current and former railways in the area, up to the Deighton Road corner where we meet the WMC and War Memorial, it's rapidly getting bright and too warm for extra layers and waterproofs need to be shed before we ascend the lane onwards, up past the Deighton Centre, the local multi-use sports arena. Our early route over the Colne-Calder watershed takes us onto a path that leads around the grounds of the Christ Church CofE academy, which feels like it hasn't seen much recent traffic as it skirts the car parks and boundary fence to lead into the woodlands that separates it from the suburban close beyond at the bottom end of Wiggan Lane, which will carry us north as it drops in quality, leading as a farm track up to the old Bradley Gate farm before becoming a rough path as to shadows the eastern edge of Lower Fell Greave wood. The covering of Beech trees snags us onto the route of the Kirklees Way as it leads uphill on Old Lane, passing a gatepost with a benchmark on it before landing among the expanding Bradley Business Park, which mostly hides from view behind foliage, but does reveal that it might have a traveler problem before we are propelled out onto the A6107 Bradley Road, which we cross to join Shepherd's Thorn Lane as it shadows the edge of Bradley Park golf course, and while the sunshine still holds sway here, we get rainclouds over Calderdale ahead. This does give us a rainbow hanging to our west as we progress beyond the fields at the hill crest and away from the Kirklees Way route, declining with a rougher track to meet the footbridge over the M62 on its long straight run down from Ainley Top, and join the improved track beyond as we enjoy our last footfalls in the district, passing the Booth Wood Scouts encampment and what looks like a roadside ice house that might double as portal to an alternate dimension for local teens to explore, in a Spielberg-esque fashion.

Whitaker Street, and the Greenway path, Deighton.

The Green Path around Christ Church academy

Lower Fell Greave Wood and the distinctive gatepost.

The passage over the M62, with rainbow.

Calderdale district is entered over Bradley Park Dike, and the fields beyond Toothill Green farm reveal a view over the middle Calderdale landscape towards Clifton and its woods, as well as the high passage of the motorway, as we come in close to the uppermost reach of Brighouse's southern suburbs, with Sheperd's Thorn Lane landing us on the A641 by the Gatehouse, and crash into the high edge of the town as we pass Toothill house and its range of associated farmsteads, ahead of meeting a ridge edge that route pre-planning had us well forewarned of. This marked change in hillside elevations is probably what makes Rastrick distinct from its neighbour, and out path down Toothill Bank sheds us a lot of altitude rather quickly, as we head roughly down to the edge of the playing fields below, spying Round Hill off to the south before we find the outer reach of Carr Green Lane oddly blocked off, forcing us through the park before we can get onto the pavement of the road as it leads us past Rastrick Cemetery and on to the suburban reach up the A643, where we cross Crowtrees Lane by the old school and the Lifestyle Express convenience store. A ginnel beyond leads us through the close of The Hoods, which just demands a joke that only 90s kids would get, dropping us onto the Delf Hill lane as it falls and rises, taking us to the very edge of greater Brighouse as we pass onto Lower Edge Road, past the Highbury School and the top of the local estates, passing the stray terraces by the old quarry and aggregate works before we get a reveal of the middle Calder looking west as we pass through the hamlet of Elland Lower Edge. This provides another quaint little corner with a grand views down to Elland Wood, and the eponymous town that the rapid decline of the lane leads towards, which grants us a preview of the potentially changeable weather in the valleys ahead as well as a view to its Upper neighbour up the hillside as we drop downwards rapidly, skirting a quarry site that has gouged quite a chunk out of the southern side of the Calder's high bank, before we find suburban Elland has reached all the way out to Lower Edge Bottom. As we all know, suburbia isn't my thing, and the boxy and anonymous type certainly isn't but this town growth is to be quietly loved because it's known as Old Earth, which gives its school name admirable connotations that probably weren't intentional, and the eponymous farmstead is to be found at its heart, whitewashed and with Elland Wood as its dramatic backdrop, ahead of us pushing into town along Elland Lane by the Spring Gardens inn, taking us pat the Spire Hospital and high over the A629 Calderdale Way via the arched footbridge, where roadworks are ongoing below.

The view over the middle Calder from Toothill.

Toothill Bank looks less imposing from below.

The Delf Hill junction, Rastrick.

The middle to upper Calder view, from Elland Lower Edge.

Old Earth, Elland.

Land on the west side to progress among the outlying terraces and factories which sit around The Drop inn, over which Wellington Mills tower, with our passage talking us over the Elland Riorges Link bypass road and on to the foot of Eastgate, which leads us uphill past the Morrisons superstore and the chapel that now endures as a stage school, to park us at the bottom of church street, right next to the first in the run of tower blocks that Elland has a rather particular relationship with, just down from the parish church of St Mary the Virgin. I guess this crossroads with all the lanes on the compass rose must have been the ancient heart of town, though the way ahead along Westgate suggests little vintage as the council flats and blocks dominate all the way along to the Fleece inn, as our local path crossings pile up and we cross over the top of the Long Wall descent to join Hullenedge Road, which offers a fine view over the middle Calder Valley for the estate houses above the Nab End cliff, and we are lead to the Hullenedge Recreation ground, home to the town War Memorial and enough shade for us to break for early elevenses. Reset my dress as we are in for a hotter triop than expected, and cross the park to emerge onto Recreation Lane, which leads to Victoria Road at the smartly suburban west end of town, over which the Brooksbank school stands tall, ahead of meeting the green fields that descend down from Blackley End, and the golf course that reaches along the northwest side of Hammerstone Leach Lane. This leads us over to the hamlet of Broad Carr, where our only trip across the Blackburne valley prior to this year brought us, dropping us off the upland bluff which we've traveled over ahead of the drop across the hidden minor side valley of this hidden side valley, which offers a fine view across to Holywell Green and the descending cleft of its brook, but we also see weather coming in from fast for the west so waterproofs need to be donned again ahead of the rainfall as we descend to the Rock Hotel and the rising lane beyond the brook  crossing. We have to pause for a few minutes as it rains stair-rods, sheltered by a high hedge and wall, before we move on as it relents slightly, ascending Station Road to pass over the bridge on the L&YR Stainland branch, the cutting of which now forms the access road to the Chemlink plant which occupies the sites of the station terminus, goods yard and former Brookroyd Mill complex, around which the suburban houses and bungalows dwell, ahead of the quaint terraces and villas of older vintages sit on the rising lane up to the Holywell Green inn on the Stainland Road corner.

St Mary the Virgin, Elland Parish church.

Hullenedge Rec, and Elland War Memorial.

Green fields beyond Elland, ahead of Broad Carr.

The last shot towards Holywell Green, before the rain came.

The Holy Well inn, Holywell Green.

Join the B6112 as it continues to ascend this ridge, past Holywell Hall and the Holywell Green primary school, ahead of the terrace with view across the Holywell brook side valley up to the Colne watershed to the south, and as the lane rises to make the transition into Stainland itself, the narrowing road causes an hilarious bus route snarl up before the terraces crowd the roadside, with the rain finally departing as we come up to St Andrew's church and the market cross, at the heart of this loftily placed ribbon of a village that fills this hill top. The reason for it being up here isn't clear, as it doesn't seem hugely rural despite its apparent vintage, and the Town Ing mills site beyond the Duke of York inn doesn't look like it fired its growth either, so the history will have to go the proper historians as I just enjoy the atmosphere along this absurdly narrow lane that seems too small for a B-road designation, as we come past the old Co-op store, the 1885 inn and the former Mechanics Hall and Chapel, and also noting that it has even gained council estate housing ahead of the road division by the library. We split to Bowling Green Road side, passing the primary school and the chippy that's doing busy trade, ahead of splitting from the village altogether, and its acquired blob of suburbia, starting our descent into the Blackburne valley which is full revealed beyond the terraces and chapel on Providence Hill, where we can look upstream to Crow Edge, Scammonden Dam, and the farmsteads that litter the east side of Wholestone Hill, before the roads swings around to give us sight towards Barkisland and thence downstream. Despite carrying the name of Beestonley Lane, there doesn't seem to be much of a settlement that shares its name, with Scar Hill farm forming more of a hamlet by the side of the descending road, iwth the eponymous house mostly hiding from view as we make the twisty downhill turns with the lane that forms the only major route across the main body of the Blackburne valley, which makes me rather love its secrecy within West Yorkshire, despite having attracted industry here in the 19th century, with Bowers Mill revealing itself downstream. As the most significant local road, it would make sense to find more mills here, which we do, with Bankhouse Mill having gotten a residential redevelopment ahead of the footway-free drop down to the valley floor where we encounter the more substantial Barkisland Mills, starddling BLack Brook as it virtually forms a garden feature at the most executive looking of retreats, ahead of the renewed climb, and the traffic descending Branch Road to the Sonoco recyling plant, further upstream.

Stainland Road, and St Andrew's, Stainland.

Westgate, Stainland.

The upper Blackburne valley, from Providence Hill.

The descent to the foot of the Blackburne.

Barkisland Mills, at the valley floor.

We steel ourselves for the coming climb, which is long and consistent, rising up the north side of Barkisland clough, passing Balckburn house on the way of its ascent up to Barkisland village itself, passing the Old Hall and smithy cottage at its lowest end, and finding that the ancient core of it is to be found here, far blow the suburban growth among the crossing roads up the hill, with the rural and stone-y terraces cramping the roadsides once more, around the Griffin inn and the farmstead that gives the game away with its name of Top o' the Town. The suburban variant of the village can be found past the point where the lane is almost too narrow to be functionally useful, with the ascent still ongoing as we rise to cross over the Saddleworth Road by the village store, with the arriviste estates spread off to the north side as we progress west, passing the local schools and the playing fields and cricket club as we near the hilltop crest, as the horizon flattens as we pass below the run of pylons and actually feel the sunshine breaking through as we approach the descent into the Ryburn valley. We get this reveal at the Barkisland Cross junction, where the B6113 cuts in from the northeast, and while the colourful view over the valley towards Great Manshead and Crow Hill feels completely new, we saw it from here back in 2012 on our passage of the Calderdale Way, which tangles up with the road here as it drops down past the hamlet of Ripponden Bank Top and the Fleece Inn, which is a lot more in business than it was eight years back, though probably not as much as it would like to be right now. We'll trace a new route downhill from here, sticking to Ripponden New Bank as it angles itself across the valley side, with the town below at the crook of the valley, with its approach to us, along with the suburban spread up the hill drawing the attention as the higher horizon drops away, as we come into the alignment of Cob Clough on the steepening direct descent, which passes below the road as it sends us past the former station site now covered in bungalows, and below the abutments which spanned Elland Road, wile giving us a completely different shade to see the town in after last week's dampness. So sunshine rules as we rapidly come down to the bottom of the valley, noting the foreign fire engine in the yard of the old school house before we pass over the Ryburn via the new bridge, upstream from the Old Bridge Inn and St Bartholomew's church, and downstream from enduring factories before we rise to meet the A58 by the Lion inn, just before the sharp division of the Rochdale and Oldham roads, and we'll press to the bottom of Royd Lane to snare some shade under the trees by the Conservative Club, as lunchtime feels necessary.

Old Barkisland around the Griffin inn.

Suburban Barkisland rises towards the Blackburne - Ryburn watershed.

Great Manshead and Crow Hill from Ripponden Bank Top.

Ripponden secluded in the Ryburn valley, from New Bank road.

Crossing the Ryburn on the Elland Road Bridge, Ripponden.

Pause for longer than is usual thanks to the heat and need to change gear, again, and the sunshine has been lost once we get going out of the valley, which is a shame, and the limbs soon feel the pull on the way up Royd Lane and Stony Lane, as we start to tangle, and untangle, with the Calderdale Way route again, steeply rising beyond the suburban run of houses that seem unpractically elevated to my eyes, soon popping out above the town to look back across the Ryburn, struck by how narrow it seems as it makes its passage northwards. We rise on, aiming ourselves to the next village up, which is Soyland Town, and the eight years that have passed since we last came this way, making our sole passage across this quarter of this upland means it's all a new revelation again, doing that sort of quaintness that hides the fact that it must have been a pretty remote feeling place when its economy was entirely rural, though it still does have Making Place Hall along the way of it lane, combining factory and residences with the growth of the cloth industries. Stick to the lanes, rather than testing out the challenging field paths that illustrated the need of a walking stick all those years back, fooling myself that we've reached an altitude that will persist as the day progresses to its end, having forgotten my prior passage this way, and the adage that every hidden side valley has its own hidden side valley, as we look on across the fields to see Mill Bank, our next destination, some distance below us, with the wooded cleft of Severhills Clough coming down across our route, with Foxen Lane dropping us down alongside it. This leads us down to another remote little quarter in Mill Bank, which has a slightly more rurally industrial flavour to it, hence the name, where we pass over the Calderdale Way route for the last time by the beck crossing, and thence rising uphill sharply with the houses, cottages and small mills jamming up by the roadside in an almost random fashion, looking very contemporarily quaint, with us splitting off the Lower Mill Bank Lane when we need to hit the steep stepped passage up to the upper lane, giving the village a distinctly split-level feel, and joining Birks Lane as it presses north past the Wesleyan chapel and Sunday school. It's now back to elevated walking above the Ryburn valley, on a northbound trajectory mostly contained on the narrow lanes as we skirt among the fields of the small holdings on the morning sun side of the valley, and all the views are the east as the rising westerly aspect offers nothing, and there's maybe four farms to see along here with Bowood guarded closely by the Border Collie in the lane, and Deer Stones looking like the primest retreat.

Looking back over the Ryburn from Stony Lane.

Making Place Hall, Soyland Town.

Descending into Severhills Clough, from Foxen Lane.

Lower Mill Bank.

The downstream Ryburn, from Bowood Lane.

There's fun with traffic to be had on these high lanes, passing without care for foot travelers or other vehicles it seems, and it's nice to find an unexpected sort of stately home up here, in the form of Field House on the Dean Lane corner, which has a mid 18th century formal style that's not especially common in West Yorkshire as far as I've seen, as most of the country piles seem more rustic, like the early 17th century old hall that it's welded to, and it must have had a commanding view in its day, looking over the uppermost crook of the river , a view now lost behind many trees. Sowerby village lays not much further beyond, still separate from its Bridge settlement at the river confluence far below and quite a substantial place in its own right, with an estate stretching down the shaded lane for quite a way from the village centre, overlooking both of the village schools, ahead of it leading us to St Peter's Avenue where we meet the parish church and the old hall, both seen on our last passage through Calderdale proper, which was just shy of five years back, showing just how badly I've neglected this district since my early walking days. So west along the high edge of the dale, with the old village and its terraces and farmsteads to the north and the council estate to the south, passing the Rushcart Inn at the junction where we split onto Higham and Dob Lane, where we can look over the Calder valley proper, sadly shaded in gloom as we look up Luddenden Dean towards Ovenden Moor, and back to the outermost reach of greater Halifax, following the walled lane as it passes the hamlet-lets, or mere farmsteads, of Dob and Higham as they hang over the high apron over the valley, a landscape space I'd claim to know well but haven't mentally retained in my mind. Nice to get some fresh aspects in then, claiming views above my last path cut this way, still finding time to hit another ascent as we meet the real hamlet of Steep Lane, which has barely any space to fit the walker on the lane as it rises past the cottages and the Baptist Chapel on its slope, and even with the climb we still manage to stay below moorland altitude, as we have all day, taking our last break at the bench at the top, where we can observe another bus standoff developing. Join New Lane to make the push to the finish line, rising slightly to Hole farm, with Miry Lane inviting us onto the nearby moor, but we have views to absorb before we head on, looking back to see a backdrop of all the highpoints that we've visited across the revived season, from the turbines above Elland Wood and to Fixby Ridge, and around to Pole Moor and Wholestone Hill, framing our trip nicely.

Field House, and its Old Hall.

Sowerby Old Hall, Sowerby.

Higham & Dob Lane, with Hamlets?

Steep Lane hamlet, earning its name.

Downstream upper Calderdale from New Lane.

The reveal towards our last leg comes as we rise up towards Stanhope farm, the upstream view having been obscured by its local coppice, and beyond the lane drops down to a steady height and direction, giving us our backdrop of Midgeley Moor as we progress back into the landscape that aside from my recent bubble walks and a few off season trips has not seen my footfalls in almost five years, an insane amount of time to be away, so some re-familiarisation as we settle onto the run of Long Causeway, passing the New and Old Crib farms and their dairy. It's a northwesterly run to the finish line up here, with various routes coming up to meet it from the main-ish road that passes lower down the valley side, but we'll stick to the high run all the way to the top of Stake Lane, which is further away from the scattered farmsteads than expected and also much further up the hill than you's think, meeting our 2013 path down this way right at the top, but not coming down to meet our recent circuit until much further down, beyond Stake farm and the end of the tarmac, and after gaining the view over Cragg Vale to Bell House which makes so much more sense now. The steep and grass path leads us to the point where we pierce our bubble route, tethering it to the main body of the season at long last, and we track downhill on the setts and newly laid stepped route by the flood management feature where work is ongoing before we land on the hard surface again at the top of Hall Bank Road to track down into Mytholmroyd, again tracing a seven year old route down the deeply cut in lane, but happy that we aren't going against the darkening skies this time, to touch the village as we land by the New Delight and New House cottages. It always surprises me just how deep the village is at it burrows up the valley sides in many directions, and just how many vintages its conceals among the parts that I don't visit so regularly, as is the case around Hall Gate, where we must have two centuries worth of residences, just uphill from the chapel (which has now passed into commercial use), the view to Scout Wood, and the ancient farmstead by the village green. Eschewing another visit to my local friends, as they're imminently due to travel on a week away (in Brittany, I think), it's only a short turn from here past the Shoulder of Mutton (which notably didn't hurry back into business earlier this month), to pass under the railway viaduct and the gradually reviving station buildings, an operation which has been totally stymied by the Covid lockdown, though the extensive car park works endure, which are passed through to end the trip on the platforms at 3pm, capping a similar distance to last weekend at a whole 40 minutes faster.

Long Causeway and the Upstream Calderdale view.

The Top of Stake Lane, far from Mytholmroyd.

Broadhead clough and Bell House, from Hall Bank.

Hall Gate, Mytholmroyd.

Mytholmroyd station buildings, overdue their revival.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 4525.1 miles
2020 Total: 258.6 miles
Up Country Total: 4062.1 miles
Solo Total: 4201.5 miles
5,000 in my 40s Total: 3118.9 miles

Next Up: A frankly bonkers distance to attempt over Calderdale's terrain...

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Pandemic Thoughts: Week 20

As we roll in the 20th week of this thing, and after venting rather hard at the end of my last post, I start to feel like I've not got much left to say on this particular matter, as we are now merely returning to work again, to get back into the routine of auditing at the MRL, with a smaller staff than previopusly thanks to some reassignments, and meeting up with my super DH, whom I haven't seen in seven months as she's been NIW for a while, having found that the first half of 2020 turned out to be a very bad time to try to sell a house, and it's good to catch up with her again, regardless of the pandemic situation. Chatter also turns to the news that Covid antibody testing is finally being made available to our hospital team, so that we might finally find out if any of us have actually been carriers through 4+ months of working constantly through this scenario, and there are also choice words to be dropped on the news of public sectors workers getting a pay rise, which in the NHS is only being proffered to doctors, ignoring all the nurses and everybody else who's been on the medical front line during this crisis, but while somehow finding time to favour the police and armed forces, who've been doing what, exactly? Otherwise, we look for change, and the only marked one is the wearing of face masks is the mandatory in all shops, which is a move that some of us were already well ahead of, and sad proof that many British people will only take public health seriously when forced to do so, while we may have a good reputation for being a nation that follows rules, we're not good when it gets in the way of the natural order of things, meaning we'll naturally form queues happily, but won't accept new (and temporary) restrictions on their behaviours nearly so easily. I still await news of when Leicester's lockdown might be ended, as it's got another week on it at the very least, and I regard news of a Covid vaccine being made available with the most furrowed of brows, as some reports suggest that HM Government is preparing to buy 90M doses, while the others are saying that getting a functional vaccine at all might be a pipe dream. You see how little enthusiasm I have for talking about this right now, from my personal and jaded perspective, maybe I ought to ration these thoughts to a monthly update, keeping my head clear for walking and blogging the rest of the time, because do we really need weekly updates on my train services, and the reports of the early morning TPE six-car trains still feeling hilariously under-subscribed, while the evening Northern three-car units start to feel busier than is comfortable now that their social distancing restriction notices aren't in use?  We shall see...