Introduction
I enjoyed a varied walk last week, and, as I made my way to West Yorkshire, I hoped today would also provide some interesting and varied walking.
It was a stunning October day, with clear blue skies, warm sunshine, and no wind. Tee shirt weather!
It’s an hour to drive to Mytholmroyd from Cheadle Hulme.
The walk is 7.8 miles with 1330feet (405m) of ascent. It could be made at least a mile shorter by parking on the B6138 near where the route crosses it on the way out and back. I would do this if repeating the walk.
I took 3hours 45 minutes, plus 30 minutes for lunch at Stoodley Pike, meaning that on this occasion I was out for considerably more than 5 hours!
It’s a good walk for dogs who like to run off the lead. There’s much woodland, some farm tracks, but also some moorland walking where care would be needed.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL21.
I parked on the roadside on Scout Lane, outside “The Chapel” use postcode HX7 5JQ.
Ascent Via Hoo Hole
From the car, I walked up Hall Bank Lane, turned right and followed a path through a pleasant wood, before dropping down to the B6138. Crossing the road, it was immediately a climb uphill, with great views up Cragg Vale.
There was an ancient tree-lined stone track to follow in parts.
The views down towards Mytholmroyd were equally good.
After tackling the steep climb, I emerged at the edge of the moors, and soon found a wide track that would lead me on towards Stoodley Pike.
It had become hot work climbing out of the valley, and it was necessary to remove coat and jumper!
At Erringden Moor, te path I’d planned to follow didn’t really exist on the boggy ground, so instead I followed the path along the “Boundary Stones”. There weren’t many of them!
At last, I got my first view of the monument.
Stoodley Pike
It wasn’t long before the scale of the monument became apparent.
This monument, built in 1854, replaced an earlier structure, started in 1814 commemorating the defeat of Napoleon and the surrender of Paris.
There is a spiral staircase up to the viewing platform. I took a 180 degree panorama shot. Amazing views.
The Feature Image at the top of the blog looks down to Hebden Bridge, though I loved this view of the sunlit moorland slopes, the low sun casting interesting shadows.
I stopped here for lunch too, and took a final picture of the structure as I headed away to the south.
Withens Clough
I made good time now, going downhill. I was soon at Withens Clough Reservoir.
Beyond the reservoir is a delightful lane along the side of the clough.
At the foot of the clough is The Hinchliffe Arms. Looks lovely, but wasn’t open till 4pm.
Cragg Vale
The route back followed Cragg Vale. There are regular information boards along the way as the vale clearly has a significant industrial heritage. There are many bridges, weirs, old mill races, mill buildings… and sunbathing cattle!
It’s very pretty.
One of the boards is at the site of a derelict water wheel of a paper mill.
There was a helpful diagram explaining the basics of a waterwheel’s operation.
There was only one point where the path briefly rose into the woods above the brook. It was quite precarious!
In the woods, the sun glistened through the trees as I looked back to the brook.
I had to cross a new bridge over a small tributary; it was fairly clear what had done for the previous bridge.
Soon enough, I was back at the B-road, crossed over and made my way back to the car, enjoying the view up to the gentle hillside on the opposite bank of Cragg Vale.
Well, what a glorious day to be out and about!
This is just a really good walk, with plenty to keep the eyes and the mind interested throughout!
And Finally….
A new Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott album is out this week. It’s called N.K-Pop and is full of typically Heaton compositions! Here’s the rather melancholy Who Built The Pyramids?