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| Self in Brighouse |
The end of Summer is upon us and despite it being 'the wettest ever', for me it has been just fine, all those weekends of walking and only took two brief dousings, with only one weekend being ruined by the weather. The coming Autumn is an unknown of course, and projections of 'indian summer' and 'constant rain' are heard, and I'm going to go with my instinct that it will be nice enough to complete my Autumn plan of taking on my second long circular walk, namely the Calderdale Way. I may joke that the weather is always grim in Calderdale, based on past experience, but it has been good to me this year, and I'm going to thumb my nose to the fates of weather and hope for five more good days to get down the 50 miles of this trail, so let's head out to join this trail at the closest point to home.
Calderdale Way #1: Brighouse to Ripponden. 10.4 miles
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| Calder & Hebble Navigation, Brighouse |
An 8.55am start, on a bright sunshiny day, at the Huddersfield Road bridge on the Calder & Hebble Navigation in the heart of Brighouse is our start point, and I'm already noting Prego bar & restaurant as my celebratory finish point as I head out west along the canal path to retrace a path beaten only a few weeks previously. It all looks a bit prettier under the early morning sun, but it has been described before, so I'll talk trail for a while instead. It was marked down in the 1970s, as Calderdale council was established, in a hope to attract the ambitious walker to the hillsides, and I'm going to be following the route description off the CREW Heart Support Group site, largely because it is much more concise than the one on the 'official' site, and it straightforwardly breaks the route into easily manageable day walks. Depart the canal path at Camms Mill bridge, just below Brookfoot lock to take the path over the A6025 and into Freemans wood, and it's here that we learn the theme of the trail, namely that there are going to be a lot of ups and downs, and after weeks of canal paths, hitting the ascents hard comes as a bit of a surprise to my legs. Just as a first view up Calderdale toward Elland is made, we head down the stepped path known as the 'cat steps' down to Fort Montague farm before taking a swing right to head up hill again for a long haul up through Cromwell wood. This is one of those ascents that just goes on and on, but thankfully isn't too steep and in this wooded seclusion, you'd never know there was a major quarry just over the top of the hill. Emerge at the top onto Wood Lane, and meet the only other walker encountered on this first section, who warns me that the path is somewhat overgrown, but it's as nothing as compared to the riverside paths of the Calder, so progress is made easily, taking the turn down over the stream and then up the hillside to walk the field boundaries that lead into Southowram, the first of many settlements around these parts which I will be encountering for the first time.
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| Calderdale from Change Hill |
According to graffiti, Southowram has a 'crew' which I should be avoiding, so I depart by West Lane, past the huge and oddly located works of Marshall's the paving and driveway specialists. The road leads us to the first applause inducing views as the top of Change Hill gives us a look over the Hebble valley up into Halifax, with Elland and Greetland ahead of us and the wild moors of Calderdale and the Colne Valley further beyond. Doesn't sound much on the page, but it's one for the scrapbook in my mind, and as the path descend the road I wonder why such a prominent and round hill has no Iron age remnant atop it, I can only assume it has been farmed out of existence. Leave the views of Siddal, Salterhebble and Copley behind and leave the road by a house that has been half built for many years, according to the guide, and field walking lead us down around the back of Park Lane High School, Exley, where the girls are out playing hockey, before we hit Exley Lane and skirt around the farm on the corner before sliding downhill into the woods above the A629. Descend to roadside and discover that the route description and Explorer 288 don't match, and the guide tells me to cross the dual carriageway to trace a pretty nebulous path that emerges at the canalside at Long Lees lock. There's a barge full of Girl Guides arriving to navigate the lock as I arrive, but I impatiently scramble over the gates which don't have the foot boards on them to cross the canal when I realise that they are going to take a while. I've had time to rest and water, and photograph the passing Grand Central train on the railway bridge by the time they have gotten through the lock, and we go our separate ways. Onward along the canal path to join Stainland Road and follow it south to cross the Calder and pass under the railway before meeting the path that leads into the woods at West Vale.
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| Copley Viaduct, from North Dean Wood |
Clay House, the Jacobean manor hidden in this corner of the woods is apparently the official start of the Calderdale Way, but the signage on the ground is very confusing and the map and guide don't seem to coincide with it or each other, so I choose to follow the map as I have no intention of getting lost in a strange wood and wander along Clay House Lane, through the industrial units and terraces of this corner of Greetland to find the paths that ascends to Collin Moor Lane, high above the town. Having achieved altitude, finding the path to the top of North Dean wood is easy enough, and for a while I wonder if I'm going to acquire a stray dog for company, but no, I continue solo. The path keeps right to the top edge of North Dean wood, hugging the field boundary and not letting you descend into the wood at all, understandable when you see how precipitous it gets. Along here, my route guide shows up too much vagueness with regards distance, and the crossing paths are much further apart than it would indicate, but we do find the 'official' route emerging out of the wood, so that will need exploring when time is on my side. From this top path, we do get a splendid view of Copley Viaduct, and Moor Bottom lane appears to give some indication of the route guide being correct, and soon we're out of the woods and onto a long field boundary ascending towards the purple moorlands. Look back to see the spire of Holy Trinity, Ossett in the far distance, as well as the hills I have already walked, also noting Wainhouse Tower as our accompanying landmark for today. I also hear the sounds of sports, which seems odd in such a remote location and despite getting no visual indication of its whereabouts, there is a sports club up here, apparently.
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| Norland Moor |
Norland Road indicates the end of farmland for the moment, and at Clough Moor Bridge we walk onto Norland Moor, our first section of wild, high moorland. Well, it's not all that wild or remote, judging by the number of other amblers up here, and it's as good a place as any to stop for lunch. This isn't a large moor, not big enough to get lost on, as there's a nice cairn in place to indicate your path to the western edge, and whilst you do walk towards a flat and featureless horizon, a look in any other direction gives you plenty of landmarks and views. It's not too wet either, but I'm sure the other moors of Calderdale will make up for that. Arrive at the far side of the moor by the disused underground reservoir and get a view down toward Sowerby Bridge, as well as to the hills further along, which I will be encountering in the coming weeks. We move away from the immediate influence of the Calder valley to take in its tributary, the Ryburn, and follow the edge of the moor south westwards, taking in the gritstone outcrops and rough areas of old quarries and resist the temptation of a dash up to the trig point. From Ladstone Rock we get our first good look into the Ryburn valley, towards the bleak moors alongside the A58 and M62, and down to Ripponden, our target for the day. Descend toward the road, staying on the moor edge until the very last moment and wonder if this really is the sort of place that you would want to own a static caravan, all very well on a day like this, but what of the rest of the year?
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| Ripponden, from Old Bank |
Leave the road at the New Rock Inn, to pass the tractors out harrowing and descend down Highlee Lane, one of those farm tracks that starts out purposefully before seeming to peter out. Our way goes south, through a couple of soft fields, before turning into a lane again. Moor Bottom farm looks like it is having some significant renovation going on, it also has ancient railway wagons in its fields, after I had lamented their disappearance from the landscape, it also has foraging pigs in the woods. Beyond a less nicely turned out farm, we emerge onto the B6113, and descend passing The Fleece Inn, also having a renovation before joining Ripponden Old Bank, the original route into the town which took the most direct route off the hillside, ie. straight down. Pause to admire the cobblestones and do not expect to meet any traffic down here, but have to dodge a 4x4 taking the easy route to one of the houses on the edge of the town, and also enjoy the view of the town with its blackened multi-level houses and the spire of St Bartholemew rising below us. It's all very picturesque, but I never leave myself enough time to have an explore, and crossing over the Ryburn and heading up Priest Lane, I note that the Old Bridge Inn claims itself as probably the oldest pub in Yorkshire, having been first documented in 1307. My Sis recently noted that I mention a lot of pubs and never attend them, and this is still the case today, I really must start putting boozing time into my schedule, instead I make my way up to the A58 to end the day's walk by the Conservative Club on the corner of Royds Lane at 1.55pm, before finding that Calderdale takes great pride in its public toilets (no lewd graffiti here!) and await the bus ride that will take me to my train from Sowerby Bridge.
To be continued...
1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 363.6 miles
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