Calderdale Way #5: Illingworth to Brighouse 27/10/12

Self near Illingworth

Back to the North Country, and having missed out on extra walking opportunities in the Peak District, I can still set out on my last weekend of the holiday to get down the last stage of the Calderdale Way, and the odyssey back up to Illingworth commences on that sort of clear and crisp day that you hope for in Autumn. Along the way, I draw the conclusion that Halifax is one of those towns which looks good when it has its face on and arrival high above the town reveal that the icy blast of Autumn has arrived in force. The cold wind tears down off Ovenden Moor and the temperature has dropped by about 6 degrees from a couple of days ago, and the wind chill would have it feeling like below freezing point. There's little shelter to be had so one can hide to put on an extra upper layer, and I'm glad I chose to wear my thermals, and so priority for the morning is to get a move on and off the high lands...

The Calderdale Way #5: Illingworth to Brighouse.  10.7 miles


The view north from Crooked Lane

9.55am at the corner of Per Lane, and the path leads us off down Blind Lane, with the wind behind us and the low sun ahead of us (where it will be spending much of the day right in my eye line), which leads to a few lane crossings and rather too many jaunts across broken fields, slippery paths and one section where a building site seem to be encroaching on the path. With a freezing wind behind me, I head east for the first mile hopeful that some shelter will emerge or the lea of a hillside might stop the wind biting into me ears, and for the first time since March, I'm forced to don my woolly hat. Eventually, the path leads us down to Oats Royd wood and the sting of the wind is no longer felt as we tour some squishy land around some fishponds. I note that the recently excavated and drained Queensbury tunnel and Strines cutting are near here, and I really ought to seek it out, but the need to carry on to my walk schedule trumps that, so it's out of the woods and over the fields again to the section  of path that leads us through Holdsworth Industrial estate, possibly the least scenic section of the whole trail, but bright sunshine can even make transport containers look colourful. The path pretties up as Holdsworth House Hotel appears, a Jacobean mansion in an uninspiring location, and a road walk then leads us down hill further along Holdsworth Road, to Brow Lane, crossing over the barely traceable remains of the GNR Halifax to Queensbury Branch. This is where you realise that the big slab of hillside that you've been looking towards is going to have to be assaulted, and Brow Road is a steep haul that leads to Crooked Lane, an even steeper track that must surely fool the odd person with sat-nav, but as traffic isn't to be found, it can be climbed at a steady pace, putting my stick to good use after taking it for a walk on my Peak District exploits. All told it's about 120 metres of ascent, and it offers views back to the high moors, down over the top half of Halifax, and for the eagle eyed, the very last look at Stoodley Pike. Also a red bra, casually discarded by the path from the throes of passion an a much warmer day, I assume.

Shibden Dale

The top of the hill is called Catherine Slack, and crossing the A647 we meet the very edge of Bradford district below Queensbury, and knowing that the descent of the other side of the hill is imminent, I stop to water and discover that I have failed to bring my lunch. Dang, that's going to make for a hungry afternoon, so I'm inspired to get more of a move on as I head down Swales Moor Road, and hit the path that leads to the descent into Shibden Dale. It's soft going on the way down into the woods, and it gets worse when an overflowing spring makes you sink into the mulch with every footfall, but changing paths gives firmer footing beneath the shade of trees and offering excellent views into this hidden valley that I'd anticipate few people know about. Out of the trees, the descent gets soft again, and at the bottom of a rubble strewn section, I get lost for a while having descended too far and have to squelch back up the hillside to regain the trail that leads to Scout Hall, which is apparently a fascinating building for fans of numerology. Descend to the stream at the bottom, and then it's on to the road as far as Simm Carr Farm, and then back into the fields for the ascent up the other side. Too many cows in these fields for my liking and I really don't like the look of the bullocks in the field below Addersgate farm as I don't fancy trying to hit the escape route uphill along the stone steps. Escape unstampeded and follow the lane that leads me out of this under-known valley and up to the high fields for more field walking. It may be midday but the wind is cold again after all that time in the valley, and not many mental notes are made of the terrain, aside from the passage through a tunnel of Yew trees.

Coley Beck

The ascents eventually lead us into the corner of Shelf, known as Stone Chair, and I don't know if the stone chair by the A644 gave the district its name or the other way round? I'd love to stop for a pint and a hot meal in the Duke of York, but even in the middle of the day it feels like the daylight is waning and the trail must be kept to. So onward along West Lane and Shelf Hall Lane we go, and the walk gets a bit suburban for a while, before an alleyway leads us to the A6036 and we hit Shelf Hall park and the path leads us down Bridle Stile, which seem to be an access road for expensive looking houses before it spill us out into the fields beyond the village and then just keeps going. It's a nice steady yomp downhill, with trees showing up some autumnal colours before the road arrives at Dean Head farm and the way leads us into the fields and down into the glade that surrounds Coley Beck. Such an idyllic little spot, with the ground completely covered in beech leaves and the stream forming nicely shaped waterfalls, a moment is spent to soak in this hidden gem before the test comes with ascending the 114 steps up and out of the glade, and some of those steps didn't feel secure at all. Back to more prosaic paths as we are led into North Wood, high above the beck, and after 6 miles of heading south-east, we start on the section south and I start to think that Brighouse will soon appear over the next rise, but it doesn't, there's still 4 miles to go and more field boundaries and tracks to walk until we arrive in our next bit of hidden civilisation.

Wyke Viaduct

Norwood Green is not a village you would ever encounter accidentally, as no routes of note pass through it, but is one of the most remarkable villages I have encountered, seemingly made up or a single road stretching for half a mile and featuring buildings of all types and vintages. From the Congregational Chapel at the north to the War Memorial at the south, it's a village deserving of a heritage walk, and there are various minor manor houses around too, as well as a pub called the Old White Beare, which is named after a sailing ship. I'd love to loiter to soak the place up, but I need to keep to the trail and depart, with intent to return one day, past Upper Rookes Hall and the cricket club. Up pops the railway line betwixt Bradford and Halifax, and I loiter for a bit of a watering and some train passage, before moving on looking to Wyke in the east and Hipperholme in the west before the field walk leads down towards the A58 and I finally have a few moments in some territory that I recognise. The feature here is the remains of Wyke Viaduct, originally part of the Lancashire & Yorkshire's Pickle Bridge line between Brighouse and Wyke, built in 1881 and closed in 1952, and partially demolished in 1987 due to subsidence, but 8 arches remain to give us a baffling bridge to nowhere. I take a few moments to loiter here too, strolling along the A58 for a photograph, and then it's onwards to the fields for more soft going and questionable route description to find me way into the north end of Bailiff Bridge, and it's a popular path for the dog walkers this one. My Explorer 288 promises extensive mills in the village but I'm disappointed to see that Victoria Mills has been demolished and replaced by just the drabbest coloured housing development. The Memorial Garden is nicely turned out and there are other notable mills still standing, but I had hoped for a big old industrial site on the trail, for heritage's sake.

The descent to Brighouse

Along the A649 for a stretch that feels like we're going in the wrong direction, and then it's out of Bailiff Bridge along Birkhouse Road and under one of the substantial bridges of the Pickle Bridge line, and this would be another good bit of railway to explore but the trail keeps largely at a distance from it. The path leads from the roads to tracks around the nicely turned out Common End farm and up what feel like it must be the last ascent of the day to the seemingly forgotten about Woolrow farm, and then it's to the fields again, where more cows are making it their business to block my path. The hill crests and I get my first view of the high points of Brighouse and feel like I'm almost home as I pick my way down the fields and around the paddock and loose horses of Hole Bottom Farm. Feel even closer to the end as I trot down Thornhill Beck Lane, looking forward to the viaduct on the approaching disused railway, but the path tears us away from it for another ascent up to the hamlet of Thornhills. Sure that must have been the last ascent, the walk along Thornhill Lane offers more views of upper Brighouse and passes the 1892 Plague hospital, built to combat a smallpox epidemic, and think that this detour was worth it for such an unexpected artifact. Then the downhill stride towards Brighouse starts and I'm walking directly into the low sun again, all the way down to the path alongside the Pickle Bridge Line again, but proximity provides no architecture to view and I couldn't say if I was walking next to a cutting or embankment.


Self in Brighouse

The path pops me out on the A643 and I think, 'Hey, that's my local A-Road!', and so the last stretch takes me down to the A644 and onto wander through the sunlit industrial units of west Brighouse before Mill Lane drops me on the corner between the Wharf and Sainsbury's and I follow Wharf Street to join the Calder & Hebble for the last 100 yards between Mill Royd Mill (!) and the back of the supermarket before ascending the slope to Huddersfield Road bridge. 3.30pm and strike a pose by the 'Welcome to Brighouse' sign and thus concludes my tour of the Calderdale Way, 50 miles of hard walking that certainly isn't for the faint of heart or the under-prepared. Done in 37 hours over five days and I feel like my legs deserve a rest, but there will be no celebratory booze at Prego as the train ride home is only half an hour distant and I've plenty of beer in my fridge, so I bid Calderdale adieu, newly in love with the district and grateful that this land of such capricious weather has been so good to me.

1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 445.8 miles