Return from Down Country with my brain and legs ready to get back into the walking routine, having spent the midweek celebrating My Mum's 80th birthday by organizing an afternoon tea for her church fellowship on the day itself, no small task as it required two days of labour and another of rest before we headed back Up Country with Mum being particularly pleased with how it all unfolded for her, and with that done we can get back into the walking year, still having to work around train strikes which limits my options again, and as we've done the best park walks in Wakefield district, staying much closer to home seem the best option. So we're walking in Leeds again as my ancient Explorer 289 comes out for probably its last hurrah, bussing ourselves out on the #40 to the east of the city to alight at 9.05am on the A6120 opposite the Cross Gates shopping centre and the railway station where we can start our tilt to the southwest, under unseasonably bright skies, with a pronounced autumnal chill in the air as our path takes us away down Green Lane and Cross Green Lane through the suburban quarter of semis to meet the Victorian townlets that grew beyond the city back in the day, meeting the terraces and town houses of Gravelythorpe on the way up past the Leodis inn, and onwards Chapel Street and the transition into Halton. Beyond said chapel, and the Dial House, the prettiest in this corner, we meet the Halton High Street, all of a 1980s redevelopment style that we're thankfully not doing any more, strung along the Selby Road, which we cross to head south, down Irwin Approach behind Lidl and alongside the local recreation grounds to meet Temple Newsam Road, leading us down through the suburbia and into the spread of Temple Newsam park, with our park walk arriving at the start of the day rather than the end, shadowing the perimeter of the golf course and sticking to the shaded pavement below the canopy of autumnal leaves as we are led up to the eastward turn and the reveal of the view back across south Leeds (one of the few places where Morley can be placed in the landscape at a significant remove). Press uphill on a familiar route past the running track and on to the Sycamore Walk to pass through the shade towards the heart of the park, arriving to the north of the Jacobean house complex and meeting the track that leads us down between the stables block and the Home farm, observing just how many folk seem to be out early to make the best of this sunny Autumn morning, and find a park run going on along the track on the fringe of the east lawn, which we'll not tangle with as we press east still, down the side of Mather Wood to the revelation of the wild woods on the rise beyond, where we have a single focused target, to be found beyond the fall of the beck that feeds the Menagerie Ponds.
Sunday, 9 October 2022
Cross Gates to Ossett 08/10/22
Sunday, 21 August 2022
Hemsworth to Bretton Park 20/08/22
The last two rounds of train strikes thankfully didn't effect our walking plans as Northern Trains weren't involved on either of them, leaving us to come and go as we had intended but for this day we have a general stoppage which means we are going to have to delay our planned late season residency in South Yorkshire and instead pull something off the end of season list instead, feeling fortunate that we do have full bus services available across Wakefield district thanks to the end of the beef at Arriva, ensuring that we can take a couple of rides south on the #427 and #496 to give us than chance to go for a Summer afternoon walk in the park in the late stretch of the day's passage. It's to Hemsworth we ride, to alight at the bus stand that could be easily mistaken for part of the Tesco superstore at 9.10am, just a few steps away from the library and the tangle of the roads in the middle of town at Cross Hill, where we pick the fifth and final of them for our westbound path, joining the Barnsley Road as it pushes out via the urban borough of West End, with its pair of Working Men's clubs giving the sort you'd anticipate as we pass the midway point on the old turnpike between Pontefract and Barnsley, and depart the suburban ribbon of the town as we elevate out past the Vissitt Cottage bar and hotel. The fields around Vissitt Manor give us the looks east towrds the fall toward the Don, but we are upper Dearne bound from here on in as we join Robin Lane, passing the suburban ribbon as we have the Enley Moor masts landing on our horizon, following west to meet the Holgate Almshouses, which are a fine bit of late Gothickery that you really can't get a good angle on from the road, which gives better sight toward distant Barnsley as we progress, shadowing the fall of Frickley Beck and the H&BR mainline beyond Brierly tunnel as we are drawn into the village enclave above Hiendley Common, distinct with its estate house and terraces from its near neighbour to the north, but apparently unnamed.
Sunday, 3 July 2022
Streethouse to Bolton upon Dearne 02/07/22
After our rail strike imposed interlude, we can get back to our questing into South Yorkshire as July rocks up, and today's start line requires quite the most ridiculous train ride to get to it, not just necessitating an early start on the ground to give me the best possible time window for, but also requiring an even earlier departure from home as there isn't a direct service to be had until much later, making this the third time this year that I've been compelled to travel the long way round when using services on the Wakey-Knotty line, and I'm sure it won't be the last either, so that we might alight at 8.55am at Streethouse. Starting out westwards along High Street, it's worth noting that Wakefield district appears to have got its bus services back as the #148 trucks past as we observe that the settlement beyond the level crossing is certainly the more substantial of the halves, taking us past its estate and primary school as we are led past the old Station Hotel, for the lost Sharlston station and over the top of the railwat triangle that once led into New Sharlston colliery, now landscaped away in the fields to the north as we pace on as the lane passes among the Coalpit Fields to the turn onto the track of Hammer Lane, that set us off south, taking us over the railway line that we didn't travel in on. Sharlston Common village lies beyond, with its suburban acquisitions reaching past its village school, which is passed around as we seek the route through the estate houses, along Jubilee and Northfield Road to find the way onto the A645 Weeland Road across from St Luke's church, where we continue southwest to the road division by the Spring Green Nurseries garden centre, and take the old Pontefract Road down its leafy passage toward the general spread of Crofton village, not on the most direct possible route considering our destination, but taking in lanes otherwise unpaced as we come down to the Church View terrace and war memorial on the Doncaster Road. Cross the A638 by the Cock & Crown inn and follow Cock Lane downhill as it passes around the western edge of the grounds of the lost Crofton Hall, now mostly buried beneath the suburbia that has swollen this satellite beyond greater Wakefield, with our route turning southeast as we join Harrison Road, passing the Shay Lane primary school and rising uphill to take us to a short detour up to All Saints church before joining the High Street, where the Crofton Old Hall hides behind the Crofton Academy, and the Royal Oak inn provides a faux half timbered contrast the rest of the main street shops, before we come up past the infant school and Sainsbury's store, ahead of the Hare Park Lane corner.
Thursday, 26 May 2022
Mary Towneley Loop #3 - Holme Chapel to Sandbed 25/05/22
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| Long Distance Trail means Selfies! #3 at Holme Chapel |
Sunday, 22 May 2022
Mary Towneley Loop #1 - Sandbed to Broadley 21/05/22
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| Long Distance Trail means Selfies! #1 at Sandbed. |
Sunday, 24 October 2021
Halifax to Bradford 23/10/21
Having finally done with trips out of the Calder valley last week, the late season centre of gravity seems to have shifted back towards Halifax, just like it did last year, as if it holds an appeal for this point in the annual cycle, and it's also time to approach some mileage that we missed out on a few weeks back and to get onto the untraced trajectory in the county that had meant to be on the slate for the end of 2020, while getting to it finally provides a ride from Bradford on the Grand Central train to London King's Cross too, ticking the Class 180s off the list of unridden traction on West Yorkshire services. We alight in Halifax at 9am, just as the morning sun is rising above the hills to the east, and even though our destination is off to the north-east, our early going will be wholly westwards once we're away from the station and Square Road, picking a route that takes us up the steps that leads to the carpark and main street of the Woolshops centre, then up the old commercial street of the same name to make another encounter with the Duke of Wellington Regiment's memorial, before crossing Market Street to get some wholly variable town centre flavours from our passages up Russell Street and Cheapside. We pass through the banking district again, and taje George Street up to the crossing of the A629 Cow Green, before we join Bull Green taking us out of the town centre and in the direction of the Calderdale roads before we shift onto the rising urban slab by Hopwood Hall, and get a real variation of the urban qualities as we pass under the A58 Burdock Way with Hopwood Lane, passing through the terraces around Royds Mill ahead of the greenery taking over around Peoples Park, the old municipal library and museum and the Crossley Almshouses. Old Halifax sure is a land of contrasts, and unrelenting hills too as we press on west, with the quality of the bands of 19th century development almost seeming to have been plotted randomly, as we pass on over Queen's Road and come up behind the plot of St Paul's station once again, noting its distance from the town but it convenience for the biscuit factories that still operate on both sides of the road, an enduring feature of industry in the landscape of Gibraltar, on these slopes above the Hebble valley, where the King Cross Social Club's sports field needs extensive retaining walls on two sides to keep it level.
Sunday, 26 September 2021
Mytholmroyd to Bingley 25/09/21
Only a few days into it and it already looks like the Autumn of 2021 is going to be throwing us weather that is just as inconsistent and unpredictable as the alleged Summer did, as gloom comes on when a white cloud day was projected for its first Saturday, much more mediocre than the forecast would suggest, which is a real shame as we need a few more good walking days before the inevitable fade of the season as we've three more trips over the Calderdale - Airedale moors to get in, and some residual warmth and no rain would be most welcome for them, thank you very much. The promise of the morning seen in Morley has already passed as we arrive in Calderdale, alighting the train at Mytholmroyd at 9.10am, as a wall of low white cloud is slowly drifting downstream from the west, looking to obscure everything from view as we aim a new trajectory out of the village, directly north, which means that early paces will match those taken before as New Road leads us beyond St Michael's church and over the Calder to Burnley Road, where the A646 is crossed ahead of us joining Midgley Road by the Russel Dean store. Uphill we immediately press over the Rochdale Canal, past the Clog Mill and the local school on its perch ahead of the lane starting to trace the descending wooded clough, finally getting off the road as we meet Dark Lane, which could be mistaken for a driveway to some high cottages before is starts its own snaking path uphill between high walls, giving us some elevation that ought to give us some grand views backwards, but the world seems to be ending to the west, as greyness bleaches out the horizon with the cloud hanging heavy at moorland altitude. A lightly teeming rain also falls, ensuring that the going underfoot is damp, saturating my trews in the long grass as we find our way onto the higher and rougher Stony Lane path, shadowing the fall of Foster Clough as we elevate ourselves above the valley, already wondering if it was wise to come out on a day like this, as we'll be at altitude for the full run to distant Airedale, as while Cragg Vale can be clearly defined on the horizon behind us, the moorland tops to both sides of it linger below a deepening pall of distinctly unfriendly cloud cover, below 400m, which gives me every reason to pause.
Sunday, 19 September 2021
Colne to Keighley 18/09/21
Burnley Manchester Road to Burnley Central: 1.2 miles, via Centenary Way and St Peter's.
It feels like we've been waiting for the entirety of Summer for Summer to arrive, and now it actually feel like it's arrived, it's already done, as are my Jollies, thus starting out from Morley again as we return to the long trips on the train, looking to complete this three legged excursion around the western edge of the expanded field of experience in the East Lancs valley, heading out with my left foot's sole stuck together with one off-brand Compeed plaster and knowing that even with a 7am start from home, it's going to be a three hour trip to the starting line. As is familiar by now, the connection options in Burnley are awful, and thus to make best use of a wasted hour, it's best to alight at Manchester Road station and walk across the town again, alighting at 8.50am to find that the way up to the A682 is indeed a challenge, rising up the long allegedly level access ramp which adds minutes to any westbound connection, before we set a course around the east end of the town, hitting Centenary Way beyond the traffic island to head over the flyover that we passed under last time out, looking west to the town and its Town Hall, framed by Pendle Hill as we also pass over the canal. Looking east, the best, and indeed only, views to Boulsworth Hill and the Hameldon Ridge can be had over the roofs of Tesco and the bowling alley, ahead of the descent down to pass behind the police station and courts complex, before we come up to the eastern end of St James's Street, in the shadow of The Culvert and its embankment, and carry on up Church Street, passing below the high rising St Peter's Centre, the only tall building in the entire town, located in a loop of the River Brun, across the way from the closest batch of enduring terraces and townhouses in the town, around the bottom of Ormerod Street. Past the oldest schools in the town, we meet Burnley's parish church, St Peter's, located in it's yard in another twist of the Brun, and looking to celebrate 900 years of its recorded establishment in 2022, giving some ancient history to a town that doesn't suggest much before the 19th century, passed around as we join School Lane, passing below the old Grammar School on the way up to Active Way, which is crossed as we seek the alternate path to Burnley Central station, between the Anchor and Prestige retail parks which hasn't been cut off due to the dereliction of the Adelphi hotel, landing at 9.20am, meaning the last train trip of the morning will only require a half hour wait, and then we can lead you into the day's scheduled programming...
Sunday, 15 August 2021
Mytholmroyd to Brierfield 14/08/21
The first weekend of August is lost due to neither day being able to present a viably large window of decent weather for trekking over the Pennines, with rain particularly blighting the latter half of the Saturday, and thus our disappointing Summer continues with us being almost halfway through the month before we can get out again, full of intent to seek out the way to the only road that could honestly be described as a mountain pass in West Yorkshire, over the top of the northwestern high lands and into the East Lancs valley once more. We'll start this trip from Mytholmroyd, just so we are varying up our start lines and putting down a bit of distance before we are compelled onto the uphill lane, alighting at 9.10am and setting a course westwards along the floor of the Calder Valley, seeking a path that makes the most interesting possible passage along the straight mile of the railway line, which means descending to Cragg Road and cross Cragg Brook via the footbridge in the shadow of the viaduct that leads us over to the flats of Elphaborough Court, which are passed among to join Thrush Hill Road, where we pass under the narrow tunnel to the north side. Thence left, down behind the housing block on Erringden Road to meet the first footbridge, which elevates us over to the south side again, leading us into the Nest Estate, with its enduring 1940s vintage prefabs, and its path through the central close before we turn to the railway once again, passing over the stone Paddy Bridge, which doubles as a farm access route, which lead us back to the suburban edge of Caldene Avenue at Hawks Clough, where another turn takes us over the rails for a third time, over the footbridge leading to the Great and Little Stubb farms. Pass among them before another farm track drops us down, taking us under the railway via the Stubbs lane underbridge before we meet a rough path that shadows the railway west, through the trees and above the industrial enclave at Calder Brook before we meet Carr Lane and pass over the railway for the final time in this quarter, settling us onto the track of Crow Nest Road, which leads us below the steep ban of woodland at a short remove from the railway's side, where morning sun teases us with an appearance above the canopy before we meet the outlying houses that sit beyond the site of what used to be Hebden Bridge's gasworks, just a step or twelve east of the end of Wood Top Road and the railway station.
Monday, 19 July 2021
Northowram to Mytholmroyd 17/07/21
After two consecutive weekends of garbage weather, shedding my walking plans on principle, coupled to the intent to travel away Down Country, seems like a rather foolish course of action once a veritable heatwave washes across the country, offering the hours of sunshine that we'd desired for a scenic walk, albeit attached to a temperature spike that you could probably do without, meaning that the trail is rejoined with hope that the month of July might be redeemed, while dressed in my light summer gear that hasn't been out in three years and loaded with liquids for what could be a very testing day indeed. This time busing out to Northowram goes without a hitch and it's already hot as our feet touch the ground opposite the surgery and across from the end of Hall Lane at 9.35am, so we already know that it's not going to be a rapid sort of day, which means a slightly more leisurely pace will allow a chance to properly see the landscape that we hurried through two weeks ago, seeing how suburbia has butted up to and penetrated the grounds of Northowram Hall, which still hides in there behind the wall and the trees, and how much of the associated estate has endured outside the boundary. Further on, we enter the landscape of fields and farmsteads scattered on the high land that Shibden Dale digs into, with Marsh Hall being by far the most impressive, with its apparent 17th century stylings and vintage, while Land Head almost form the heart of a rural mini-hamlet among the undulations and hillocks that rise around the concealed valley which remains our point of focal interest, to be found down Cave Hill where the view from the Brow Lane corner is as marked a contrast as you could want as the sunshine blazes down. Our traversal is thus resumed, as Blake Hill End Road traces the eastern branch of the valley, past Bleak Hill End farm, before turning back along the valley side with Paddock Road, past its eponymous farm and the only suburban house with an aspirant view in the area, before we join the track of Addersgate Lane, wending its way down the hillside past the farmsteads perched on the dale's brow, passing by Plough Royds, Woodcock and Adders Gate and getting quite the most superlative views of downstream Shibden Dale, as we go.
Sunday, 27 June 2021
Sandbed to Cowling 26/06/21
Summer lands, in theory, but June fails to continue to flame as we aim our our most ambitious tilt at the lands between the Calder and the Aire, approaching an unbroken stretch of the Pennine Way, that most notable of long distance paths that I keep blathering on about never wanting to do in its entirety, located only a short way west of where we were last weekend, but those extra couple of miles upstream from Hebden Bridge requiring an earlier start and some inconvenient early morning busing to get us to the start of the trail and the time window we need for so, so much off-roading. So it's off the #592 bus at 9am, by the Sandbed terrace, on the side of the A646 Halifax Road, deep in the wooded cleft of Calderdale, by the Callis Bridge weirs and at the point where the Pennine Way and Bridleway both drop in from the south, immediately joining the former of these as it starts north, under the railway and past Lacy House, at the eastern end of the Underbank hamlet-let, and sending us directly up a stone causey at an angle that makes you glad that we haven't got wetness underfoot as height is rapidly gained away from the river. Altitude gains us views back, landing Stoodley Pike and its moorlands on our reverse horizon as we land amongst the perched cottages and farmsteads of Higher Underbank, following our path west before it switches back beyond, past the concealed former chapel and its graveyard, and onto the path directing us northeasterly into Marsh Wood, giving us a gentler ascent up the steep sides of the Calder valley than we are accustomed to, letting the locality of Charlestown and Eastwood recede behind us as we rise up through the ferns and birch, only getting steep as we rise up aside Dale Clough. It looks like it has an old hydro plant built above the cascade, which we pass on our way up through a knot of inconvenient vegetation to meet the cottage cluster above, the last one crammed in on the angled valley side as above lies open fields, met once we're past the Long Hey Top terrace and a passage along the track of Winter's Lane, with a clear way ahead through the long grass, angling us between the Popples and Scammerton Farmsteads, and passing through the wild garden of the latter on our way up to Badger Lane, one of the unexplored high roads in this quarter, and on up to the crest of the Pry Hill ridge, our first summit of the day.
Friday, 28 May 2021
Bronte Way #3: Wycoller to Gawthorpe Hall 27/05/21
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| Long Distance Trail means Selfies! #3 at Wycoller Country Park |
Two rest days are taken from the trail in the midweek period of 2021's Spring Jollies at Home, to allow time for other activities like shopping, spring cleaning and generally getting our house in order before The Way is rejoined at its most awkward extremity, but not putting Mum too far out of the way on another day out for her while performing Parental Taxi duties, dropping us off at 9.50am under much brighter conditions than we saw three days back above Wycoller's valley, at the country Park's Haworth Road car park, where we can both regard The Atom in a much more positive light than we did on Monday, as sunshine really elevates the views from the Panopticon. Looking forward to a whole day of walking into the previously unknown in Lancashire, our first in a long while, The Way needs to be returned to by the descending path down to the hamlet, giving us restored views over Pendle Hill and its borough downstream as we return to Wycoller Hall's ruins where we can poke around the remains of this late 16th century hall, dismantled in the early 19th century, meaning we have the same sort of edifice to regard as Charlotte Bronte supposedly did, as we wander among its rooms and around to the aisled barn, and that's going to be about it for the Bronte connections as The Way seems to have fallen like the Hadrian's Wall Path, having crammed most of its points of interest into its middle portion. We'll need to trip around the hamlet before we go, tracing the track to its northwestern end by Lowlands Farm, and the pricey new cottages that have been added in here, then coming back up the main street, crossing over the beck as we go and quietly marveling at how expensive and Cotswolds-ish it all feels, ahead of us meeting the Packhorse and Clapper bridges again and heading on upstream along the metaled path on the southern bank, through some willow tunnels and across a small wetland reserve as the settlement falls away behind us.
Tuesday, 25 May 2021
Bronte Way #2: Thornton to Wycoller 24/05/21
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| Long Distance Trail means Selfies! #2 at Bronte House, Thornton. |
For leg #2 of this trip across a Chunk of West Yorkshire's literary history, I've got my Parental Taxi in attendance, so there's no need to make the frustratingly long bus ride via Bradford Interchange to get out to Thornton, as Mum can drive me out here, getting in behind the rush hour traffic, and not putting her out of her way at all as she can continue on to visit friends of hers in Skipton without having to put much more than a dozen miles on the round trip from Morley along the way of acting as my shuttle, like she would normally have done if we were having normal Spring Jollies. So alight on Thornton Road at 9.45am, and scurry back up Ball Street to mick up the trail once again at the Bronte House, where Rev. Bronte recalled as having spent the happiest years of his life (mainly because all the members of his family were alive whilst residing there), before we set off with the trail up Market Street, taking in more of this pleasingly rural vintage village, as we roll up to the Black Horse inn on the West Lane corner and rise up to meet the suburban spread of the village above, taking us past the Thornton Mill redevelopment and up to the chapel and Sunday school on the James Street Corner. Cross here and rise to the path on Reservoir View, the last terrace in the village at this altitude, and enter the equestrian fields and meadow beyond, perched up the valley side above the tapering west end of the village, affording come fine views up and down the valley, as well as to Thornton viaduct as it descibes it less than straightforwards passage up from the south, before we enter Thornton cemetery and trace its wide promenade path across its width, between the raked terraces of graves up and down the hillside. A rough track and field path guide us on, from Bottom of the Row farm, and up to Close Head farm, as we look down to the passge of Well Heads tunnel, its portal hidden in the wooded pit below, and still no closer to being revived than int was in 2013, and we'll start on that year's route again as we rise up to Well Heads hamlet, with its stone terraces stretching down from the White Horse inn, atop the rather blasted feeling ridge that rises between Thornton's valley and the next one over to the north.
Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Halifax to Slaithwaite 11/10/20
Sunday walking comes around again, due to Saturday inclemency and the promise of a much brighter day subsequent to it, and as we can still do inessential travel, despite the worsening Covid infection rates, busing and training it the log way around can get us to Halifax for a 9.55am jump off, alighting for a later start than usual under the brightest of late season blue skies, which illuminates the area around the Square Chapel and the Piece hall as we rise away up Horton Street, feeling like we've arrived in town ahead of all the regular local shoppers. Of course there are other reasons for the quiet, but that means I'm not going to look like so much of a stranger as we make our way up to the Royal Oak corner and angle ourselves away up St John's Avenue on the day's southwesterly trajectory, rubbing us right up against the town's old urban terraces that butt right up next to the Lloyds Bank offices, beyond Commercial Street, which gives us a nice contrast of Victorian and Modernist before we delve off into the suburbia which lies beyond Savile Road, where older villas and their estates got consumed in waves over the last century. So it's on among the semis on Well Head Lane, and thence into the more contemporary Lego houses on Central Park, seeking the Clover Hill Walk path as it traces its old course through the slight depression in the landscape, before we meet the steep rise of the cobbled Cat Steps path that leads us up into the terraced district to the east of Savile Park, which we approach via Clover Hill Road and Free School Lane, ahead of arriving by St Jude's church. We'll make our way down its eastern perimeter, along Queen's Gate, in front of the villas that have the prime location overlooking the expanse of grasslands and the avenues of trees, ahead of Wainhouse Tower and the Crossley Heath school, and in the current climate, it's good to see how many people have still come out to make use of it on a sunny morning, be it to jog, meet up with their dog-walking group or do a spot of circuit training in the fields beyond the lodge and chip shop, which we pass on our way to crossing the A646 Skircoat Moor Lane at its southern end. We are then drawn on, into the landscape of walled estates that have mostly had their gardens claimed by upscale suburbia, passing the Southwood Club and the Gleddings Prep School on Birdcage Lane, which provides our route off the town's plateau and into the wooded north bank of the Calder Valley, as we meet the path of Birdcage Hill dropping sharply downhill between the ancient woodlands of Long Wood and Scar Wood, before giving us some setts to carefully trace our way down on Woodhouse Lane.
Sunday, 27 September 2020
Smithy Bridge to Marsden 26/09/20
Tuesday, 22 September 2020
Mytholmroyd to Smithy Bridge 19/09/20
My (very) late Summer Nine day Weekend lands, and I'm not feeling the huge need to use it all up putting down as many miles as possible, even with the opportunity for a holiday away being not really plausible in the circumstances, as the walking can take a bit of a back seat to more important business, though the trans-Pennine routes can continue along slightly more modest distances, especially as we have a route to approach that has been travelled many times over the years, but never on foot, and getting that off of my slate of unseen routes needs to happen before this year fades. There's absolutely no need for early starts now that we have burned off all the long routes for the year, the extra hour of rest being appreciated before we ride away for a 9.10am departure from Mytholmroyd, not under the friendliest of skies but hopeful that a nicer day will arrive as we get towards the top of the day, and thus we set off south, past the shoulder of Mutton, the village green and over Cragg Brook to get to the real start line of the day, the bottom of the B6138 Cragg Vale ascent, the longest road gradient in England, rising almost 300m over 5 miles, from the bottom of the Calder Valley to the Lancashire Border. I'm going to test this as a speed ascent, and the early stretch, taking us out of the village, beyond the old firehouse, my regular base on Cragg Road and the Royd Ices factory at Hoo Hole don't give the suggestion of a workout to come, but as we open out into the greenery of the valley, and press on up to Dauber Bridge, the shallow but unrelenting ascent starts to make itself felt, and even an early hour its obvious that I'm not going to be the only one testing the climb, as multiple soloists and groups of riders pass on their bicycles, testing themselves on a route given extra exposure by the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France. Of course this is a path already paced this year, albeit downhill, so on the way up all that was seen in July is seen again today, from the caravan park, the Clough Foot farmsteads, the high banks of Hollin Hey Wood, and the deep and wooded gouge formed by Cragg Brook ahead, though the topiary hedge dragon by Moorfield house is a new one, and experiencing any route as an ascent is always good for the variety, and the route up as far as the Robin Hood inn has been traced before, on a dark evening when the Shoulder was closed because of one of its floods, and thus it's nice to trace the path again in daylight. That's us up as far as Cragg Bottom in what feel like no time at all, where route have already brought us twice this season, but there's fresh pavements to tackle once we've passed the Peter Row terrace and the way down to Castle Mills, finding that this hamlet stretches some way further up the road, with new residences with a view having spread on the declining side of the lane from the builders yard to the old Wesleyan chapel, to afford views over to the western valley side where we travelled up and down in preceding weeks on routes that I just cannot trace on this occasion.
Sunday, 6 September 2020
Lockwood to Littleborough 05/09/20
Cliff End, Longwood (& the Edge), Salendine Nook, Mount, Outlane, Gosport, Stainland Dean,
Firth House mills, Knowsley Hill, Ringstone Edge reservoir, Withens End, Booth Wood,
Pike Clough, Rishworth Moor (Pike End, Blackwood Edge, Dog Hill, Green Withens Edge,
Flint Hill Drain, Rishworth Drain, & Old Packhorse Road), Blackstone Edge Moor
(Aggin Stone, BSE Pasture & Roman Road), Lydgate, Gate House, and Durn.
September arrives with us still deep in our schedule of Spring walking plans, and with me wondering if this garbage Summer is actually going to offer us something that resembles The End of Summer as we shift over into markedly cooler days and lower angles of sunshine in the shifts of the season, not that it really matters as I have a slate of four walks to get into that had been intended as a prelude to a Summer of burning as many Trans-Pennine route as possible between West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, a plan that we can only nibble at now before we start to run out of long enough days, a mere month in the future. So our routes Over The Top for this month start in the vicinity of greater Huddersfield, still travelling early as we alight at Lockwood at 8.15am, with the day promising to be chillier than it is bright, landing on the Holme valley side again, though just barely, as glimpsed as we pass under the railway for the downhill view before starting off northwards, up Winton Street to make our way over the top of the terrace-clad Yews Hill, along its eponymous top lane and down Moorbottom Road before splitting onto the footbridge path that leads back over the railway, revealing the north portal of the tunnel that penetrates it. We then move on into the Colne Valley through the tangle of terraces which lead us out to the bottom of Blackmoorfoot Road, a familiar corner of Crosland Moor Bottom, crossing the A62 junction by the Griffin Hotel and diving downhill via Birkhouse Road to meet the Narrow Canal, by the IronWorks flats, and the River Colne, both crossed in short order among the Paddock Foot industrial zone and under the shadow of the iron spans of Long Royd viaduct, and our long ascent away starts as we rise up Shires Hill road to meet Market Street, a major suburban lane of West Huddersfield. We seek the interesting green lanes and split levels of this town though, so we quickly slip away down Brow Road, which is Colne Valley leafiness incarnate beyond the Wren Street corner, with the few suburban arrivals getting that countryside feel in the heart of the town, concealing that fact that it was once wholly terraced on the length of its sweep around to the rise over the railway line to Manchester in its deep cutting, with us progressing on up Clough Lane to the Paddock Clough traffic island, home to both the Angel and Royal Oak inns. Get back onto a clear trajectory as we rise onto Longwood Road taking us on through the terraces and house of the Royds Hill estate, past the old Co-op store on the Quarmby Road corner and on up through the runs of terraces that sit above the valley side, before we drop some through the corner of Cliff End, which gives us some upstream views towards Scapegoat Hill, and is in usefully close proximity to the former Longwood & Milnsbridge station before we are angled along Vicarage Road, and into the dry valley of Ballroyd Clough.
Monday, 31 August 2020
Slaithwaite to Hebden Bridge 29/08/20
Camp Hill, Scammonden Dam, Meg Dike, Krumlin, Slack, Ripponden, Royd Lane,
Cross Wells, Blackshaw Clough, Lighthazles, Cross Dikes, Flints (moor & reservoir),
Slate Delfs, Sykes Gate, Turvin Clough, Cove Hill, Hove Yards Wood, Turley Holes Edge,
Withens Clough Reservoir, Higher Moor, Sunderland Pasture, Higham, Erringden Moor,
Cock Hill Moor, Wood Top, and Crow Nest Wood.
When I initially planned for a long August Bank Holiday weekend, between my usual breaks in July and September, it was in the hope that I might be able to travel away for my own solo holiday and burn a few trails that bit further from home than usual, but pandemic circumstances have transpired to render it as my first and only opportunity to get together with my family this summer, and thus the walking options have to be reduced to fit that in, as well as clearing away a lot of necessary housework that has lain fallow since my walking year resumed, on the early days. So as Mum is travelling up on the Saturday evening, it again pays to ride out early to do yet another trail from Colne to Calder, which should be the last of them, alighting in the sunshine at Slaithwaite station at 8.35am, and setting course for possibly the easiest of all the route out of the valley to the north, favouring the long and slow ascent that can be found by heading east, following Station Road as it passes below the high stone retaining walls that contain the remnants of the original station buildings and foot tunnel, heading down to pass below Crimble viaduct. This leads us to the Swan inn, and the heart of the sub-village of Crimble, where our lane ascends up the valley side on as shallow and angle as is plausible, with Radcliffe Road raising itself beyond the terraces, through the wooded bank and on upwards through the suburban outliers that have chosen their perch over the Colne valley very carefully, ahead of the hidden hamlet of hilltop and up to the emerging view downstream towards Titanic Mill at Linthwaite and back to Deer Hill and Pule Hill at the valley head. It might be the long way round, but its worth it to emphasise the scenic potential of the valley, one that's a bit too easy to disregard, and you do wonder if Westwood House and the nearby rural terraces arrived here to absorb the views deliberately, beyond which we locate the village of Wellhouse, where the village school possibly has one of the best views of any educational establishment, and the rural weavers cottages of the upper village pile up haphazardly, beyond which we start our rise out of the valley after a good mile in the 'wrong' direction by hitting Copley Bank Road. This rises us above the wooded side valley that cleaves this side of the Colne, beyond which Golcar can be seen, scattered down its own hillside, looking like a model village with its cottages and terraces best arranged to exploit the sunlight needed for domestic weaving, with our route finally tending northwest as we rise above to an expanding downstream view, while we are directed steeply uphill towards Heath House Mill and the Bank End terraces, later arrivals on the woollen industry scene in this valley.
Sunday, 23 August 2020
Sowerby Bridge to Walsden 22/08/20
Lighthazles, Blackshaw Clough, Syke Hill, Soyland Moor, Manshead End, Collin Hill,
Cold Laughton Drain, Byron Edge Drain, Whiteholme Reservoir, White Holme Drain,
Turley Holes & Higher House Moor, Withins Moor, Warland Drain, Langfield Common,
Gaddings Dam, Basin Stone, Rake End, Salter Rake Gate, and Birks Clough.
Our morning ride out for today's excursion, breaking the theme of the revive season by staying wholly in the Calder catchment, show us the we can have no clear expectations of what the weather is going to bring, as we board our early train from Morley in bright late Summer sunshine, which gets replaced by a fierce rainstorm as we pass through Brighouse, which has passed as we land in Sowerby Bridge, under skies so dark and overcast that all the street lights have come on, making 8.05am feel a lot earlier than it is in reality, and gets you wondering what the day might bring before any footfalls are made. We have the 69th and final unseen railway station in West Yorkshire as our destination, with a lot of Calderdale to cross to get there, so haste needs to be made, away from this one and it curious mix of vintages, hitting the rise of Norland Road as swiftly as possible and getting the pulse going as we head up the double-arrowed lane, before rising with the footpath alternative to Boggart Lane as it heads up to Sowerby Croft Lane, immediately regretting the choice as the steep setts and steps are as slick as after the recently passed downpour, but at least the views reward as we ascend to the high east side of the Ryburn valley. We'll hang on this edge as we go on for the initail stages, passing through the elevated hamlet of Scar Head before joining the high track of Long Lane, a road that really looks like it ought to go somewhere but is only used for remote farm access as it settles in among the angled fields, not too far away from the Rishworth branch line, which hides under the tree cover below as we pass the path tops that we had intended to use to access it, coming around to the high reveal of the valley ahead, looking up to the field we walked above a few weekends back, and down to Bank House farm, somehow crammed into the angled fields below. Rise as the lane chooses to crest high, before our gradual descent starts, beginning as we drop down to the junction at Lane Bottom, where all of the ongoing routes are not recommended to motorists, take the lower road, which takes us past the pair of Wood Nock farmsteads, again clinging to the valley side, looking like desirable country retreats these days, with the road ceasing to be driveable beyond, and pretty much unwalkable too as the steep run of uphill cobbles looks unappealing and slick, but an alternative is presented that features no ascent at all. So footpath it instead, guided through to the top edge of Dodge Royd wood, through which the railway cutting gouges, following the contour around as it passes through the open fields and meets the descending track from Oaken Royd farm, a wise corner to cut off as we are quickly led to the bridge over the throat of Triangle station, and a route is retraced as Stansfield Mill Lane drops us down past the cricket club and over the Ryburn, past the eponymous mill and up to meet the A58.
Monday, 20 July 2020
Slaithwaite to Sowerby Bridge 18/07/20
Rishworth Mills, Godley, Rishworth, Dyson Lane, Farrar Height, Manshead Moor,
Baitings Reservoir, Ryburn Reservoir, Stones Mills, Rishworth, Ripponden,
Hanging Stones, Triangle (station), and Watson Mill.
I'm now pretty certain that the Summer of 2020 is openly mocking me, not just by preventing a first family get-together of the year to celebrate Dad's birthday by locking down My Mum in Leicester for another few weeks, but also by seeming to know that I want to get my walking impetus on again, and thus dropping deeply unseasonable weather onto the days that I have selected to walk, whilst giving us three days of the conditions that you'd like to out in when I'm busy doing something else entirely with my time NIW, making the Summer feel far too much like the relentlessly damp one of 2007. So we travel out early on Saturday morning, with a plotted route in mind, but not certain if it will achievable due to the fact that we are projected to have rain in the air until 1pm and no significant improvement dus after that, riding out to alight in the Colne Valley at Slaithwaite station for the first time at 8.40am, with waterproofs already donned and a climb coming right after we've headed out from the platform by the old goods yard, not opposite the other, down to Crimble Bank and then uphill under the railway and hair-pinning left to join Hill Top Road and Royd Street through the terraced district that clings to this high side of the valley. I'd have hoped to get a view of Slaithwaite reservoir in its side valley cleft as we carry on up Longlands Road, but only its dam and heel are faintly visible beyond the run of suburban houses that run up the hillside, petering out as we rise higher, into open fields on the steeply rising road, with Merry Dale Clough opening out to the west of us as we see the first of many drizzles coming on as the road shifts us uphill to the hamlet of Wilberlee, where the Colne Valley Circular brought us last year, reeling rather remote for a suburb, despite being barely a hard mile out from the start line, and only part way up the climb out of the valley. Tiding Field Lane leads us on uphill sharply, before we reach a welcome level section below Moorside Edge and among the high farmsteads on the edge of moorland altitude, which we crash as we head above the gash of Barrett Clough, taking us over Crimea Lane and the route of the Kirklees Way, onto the high plateau and among the high points of the Colne Valley's north side, with Worts Hill to the west of us and the bulk of Wholestone Moor further off to the east, having gained over 200m of altitude as we pass behind the microwave masts on Pole Moor, the slender sentinels that can be seen from far and wide, which scrape the low clouds as they pass overhead.