The Rotary Club of Hebden Bridge

WALK DESCRIPTION

On the day of the organised walk, start at Signature Rugs, Pennine Industrial Estate, Hebden Bridge HX7 7BZ (Grid ref: 993 275), turn left out of the entrance to go along Valley Road passing the medical centre and petrol station as far as the bridge and the Council Offices.  Turn left here and cross over the bridge, pausing to take in the views.  Turn right at the end of the bridge, down Bridge Gate, cross over the main road, the A646, passing the Post Office on the left and down to the canal.  Cross over the canal bridge and turn left. 

Carry on along the towpath passing Hebden Bridge Marina on your left and Mayroyd canal mill lock no 8.  Pass through the gate in the wall just before the next canal bridge and then cross over the canal to the A646 road.  THIS IS A MAIN TRUNK ROAD – TAKE CARE WHEN CROSSING.

Take the indistinct path opposite the bridge up the hill towards the Mayroyd Cottages.  Go to the right across the tarmac car park area and pass through the gate in the fence and up the field with a fence on the left then turning left between fence and tree. Go straight up the field, keeping the stone wall on your right to a marker post.  Turn right into the wood and then bear left up through the wood passing a second marker post.  At the top of the wood pass over fence stile.  Carry on up the field with the wall on your right then turn right, staying on marked path to stone gate-post on the left.  Pass through field to wooden marker post.

Keeping a row of trees on your left, proceed uphill to the left hand corner where the field meets the wood.  Pass over the stone stile into an old lane, turning left up the lane and pass through the menagerie of Little Burlees Farm (Grid ref: 001 271).

After Little Burlees Farm turn right along the tarmac road, passing farm cottages and then continue until Souter House (Grid ref: 005 270).  Continue on the tarmac road bearing right and then left in front of the house.  After the house and before the road starts to dip downhill take the path across the grassed area and up the hill into the small wooded section.  Bear right at the stone wall and follow the path up the hill to a farm road, Raw Lane.  Turn right along Raw Lane passing many small farm buildings and a memorial seat to Ronald Gleave on your left.  At the end of the lane where the tarmac starts (Grid ref: 012 269) turn sharp left over the stile and up a rough path following yellow marker posts up to the Heights Road. 

Turn right along the road for approximately 100m and then bear left on a tarmac public footpath to Wicken Hill Farm.  Just before the farm buildings, take the public footpath through a gate to the left.  Bear right on the path round the rear of farm buildings to pass over two stiles and onto the heather moor and then, following the fence on your right, go over one more stile onto the open moor.

At the end of the wire fence and where the stone wall starts on your right, turn right along Calderdale Way (Grid ref: 014 275) to Churn Milk Joan stone marker post (Grid ref: 019 276).

Bear right downhill, still following the Calderdale Way markers.  Carry on across moorland until a stone wall is reached and follow the path with the wall on your right.  Go past the farms on your right and then turn right over a stile with a metal farm gate (Grid ref: 034 274) and then proceed left down the tarmac road to the road junction.  Turn left along an unmade dirt road for approximately 600m until you reach Clough Cottage. (This is a refreshment stage on the organised walk day)

Walk behind Clough Cottage following the track, passing Hollin Top Farm on your right and then Ferney Lee Farm ahead of you.  At Ferney Lee Farm, bear left over the stile by the gate (Grid ref: 024 283) to the moorland path.  Carry on past the farm, keeping the wall on your right, to the wall corner leading up on to the open moor, climbing steadily up above Luddenden Dene on a boggy path.

At the next broken down wall, take the low path keeping the wall on your immediate right (Grid ref: 019 288), cross the stream and bear left up the hill (Grid ref: 015 292).  When you reach the stone bridge over the catch water drain, turn left immediately before the bridge as indicated on the marker post (Grid ref: 013 300) and continue over open moorland in a north westerly direction. Continue past the stone marker post to the trig point (Grid ref: 009 303).  This is the highest point on this section.  Bear right at trig point to approximately 316o and follow the path down from the moor and to the A6033 and to the lay-by.

Check point one

From the check point in the lay-by, walk down the main road for 75m and turn right at the signpost down to Haworth Old Road (Grid ref: 998 310).  Go over the stile and follow the path down to the gate through the wall.  Carry on down to the right at the tarmac road.  After 200m, turn left signposted Public Bridleway.  Continue down the narrow path and over the bridge at Lumb Falls.  Follow the path up the hill, bearing left after the ruined building and then right at the signpost, Grainwater Bridge.  Turn left at the ruined farm building (Grid ref: 989 313) and walk uphill through the gates passing one more derelict farm on the left. At the top of the walled lane, go through the gate and bear left along the moorland lane.  Turn left through a wooden gate into the field (Grid ref: 983 314) following the path with a wall on your right and down through the field and on the farm track to Walshaw Lodge hamlet.  At Walshaw Cottage, turn right (Grid ref: 974 313) and walk up the farm lane heading northwards. (There is a checkpoint here on the day of the organised walk).

Continue up the farm lane and turn right at the flagstones over the stream and signposted Walshaw Dene.  Go through the gate (keeping dogs on leads) following the track up the hill with the wall on your left.  Go through another gate and carry on up the walled track to the top gate and onto the moorland track (Grid ref: 974 320).  Ignore the footpath to your right through the gate.  Bear right at the fork in the track uphill, taking the left fork climb to the sky line passing grouse shooting butts to the high point of 422 metres (Grid ref: 971 326).  Continue past one small shooting hut and go right at the fork in the track down towards the reservoir.  Pass through the gate and take the path to the left which runs between the catchment drain and the reservoir.  Pass over the drain at the embankment but do not cross the dam at this point. Take the footpath sign on the left along the shore of the bottom reservoir.  Turn right and cross along the lower dam wall.  Walk up the tarmac road and turn left (Grid ref: 956 330) along the grass path on the left of the road or follow the road.  At the fork, follow the tarmac road.  At the cattle grid, take the fenced path on the left of the road. Follow the footpath through the gate, left around the wall to the next check in at the car park (Grid ref: 947 322). (On the day of the organised walk this is a checkpoint).

Turn left along the road for 400m to Grid ref: 949 319, signposted Pennine Way.  Turn right through the gate and follow the path keeping the wall on the left to a fork in the path (Grid ref: 949 317).  Leave the Pennine Way here and follow the path with the wall on your left.  Drop down to Blake Dean Scout Hostel (Grid ref: 957 316) and down the road to left at the wooden gate before the road bridge.  Go down the slope to the stream and pass over the wooden bridge and then uphill, keeping the river and valley on your right.  Walk along the grass plateau, slightly downhill to the stile.  Cross over the stile to the wooded area, (Grid ref: 964 314) into the wood and pick up the wall on your left passing through the wall at a vertical stone.  Follow the path passing the cottage on your left.  After the cottage, carry on for 600m along an unsurfaced road passing over four small streams.  After the fourth stream, turn right down to the river (Grid ref: 973 309) crossing the river three times over wooden bridges.

Pass over the stone bridge at Gibson Mill bearing right along the riverside path and follow this down to the stone bridge over the river (Grid ref: 988 290).  Turn right over the bridge and immediately left, passing Midgehole Working Men’s Club, locally known as the Blue Pig.  At the fork, take the riverside path signposted Hebden Bridge.  Cross the river once again, cross the field and through the wooden gate, turn left and go up to the tarmac road.  Turn right and go along to Raw Holme Farm which is the first building on the right and then take the footpath marked Hebden Bridge.  Follow this path until the first house on the right and go down a stepped path before it, across a dirt road and onto the riverside path for Hebden Bridge.  Cross the river by the Bowling Club and carry on the riverside to cross the river once again at a packhorse bridge.  Turn right, then left, passing industrial units and the children’s play area to finish back at the Pennine Industrial Estate which is in Valley Road, Hebden Bridge.