Page 12 - GO ents and lifestyle - Thu, June 22, 2017

Friday,June16,2017 www.halifaxcourier.co.uk
MYWEEK 13
Explore beau ful moorland scenery
A gentle stroll from Hebden Bridge to Stoodley Pike
This week’s walk, courtesy of Caroline Spalding from Cal- derdale Ramblers,
is a 10-mile route beginning from Hebden Bridge tourist information centre.
This walk is a great way to climb, albeit rather gently, up to Stoodley Pike, and then returning across moorland with beautiful scenery.
The trickiest parts are the navigation out of Hebden Bridge itself and the return into it! I recommend the use of the larger-scale OS Maps that are available to buy in the Tourist Info Centre itself. Beginning at the Tourist
Info Centre, walk along the main road and turn into the park you will soon see. Here, join and then cross the canal when you can. You can fol- low a path that will lead you to cross the river and sub- sequently the railway line, emerging onto Palace House Road. You will see a way- marker immediately indicat- ing a right which appears to be a private driveway into new houses, but take the sec- ond right-hand way-marker, following a track as it as- cends into woodland. Here is where it can be confusing, indeed I was confused, but it’s always a bit tricky navi- gating in woodland where the trees block your view! That said, the paths are clear, and essentially, you need to be climbing up, therefore if you take a wrong turn, you should find your way. We as- cended bearing south-east,
turning right before taking another le turn; zig-zag- ging through the wood. We le behind the woodland on a path that went through a small tunnel at a cross roads before turning le again to meet a clearly defined path. You will follow this path in
a continuous direction for a while, and soon enough you will enter Pinnacle Lane – once you get sight of Stood- ley Pike you cannot really go wrong.
You will join the Pennine Bri- dleway and follow the way- markers; turning le
and the right past
Kershaw Farm and then you will pick up a way-marker for Stoodley Pike, using the Pen- nineWay
[the Bridle-
way continues
straight ahead,
instead turn le
off it]. The path to the
Pike is very clear, and usu- ally there are many other walkers and indeed, run- ners, using it. At the Pike, shelter for a coffee or lunch stop – it is always windy! The weather this time was much more favourable than the Easter-day walk when I was last here; the views are fantastic. I adore seeing the mixture of clearly defined farmlands and fields, as well as the moorland. At this time of year there is still some yel- low of what I presume to be
oil seed rape in the fields, but there are bu ercups a-plen- ty, decorating the grasslands around.
From the Pike, continue to follow the Pennine Way along the ridge until you meet the cross-roads of paths; where you will turn le to follow the Calderdale Way. From here, follow the way markers and Withins Clough Res- ervoir will come into view. Descending to the edge of the reservoir, follow its edge until you reach the car park. Here, the Calderdale Way
continues, descending to your right, but
instead, take the tarmac road up
to your le . Continue along the
main track;
on reaching Coiners Bank
car park, go right, leaving
the tarmac to join a stony track.
At Crumber Hill, the track bends to the le , con- tinue ahead, following the track. You will leave the track when adjacent to Coiners Barn; there is a distinct path, initially lain with stone slabs, continuing straight ahead
– follow this. Here the land does become rather boggy and the path less distinct, but you should keep gener- ally in the same direction. Up ahead on your righthand side you will see Broadhead Clough Nature Reserve – a distinct dip in the terrain,
full of trees and foliage. You are aiming to curve around the tip of the clough, bending slightly to your right. You will meet a way marker with vari- ous routes proposed. Con- tinue ahead, bearing slightly north-east if you have a compass. There is a former boundary wall, now, much overgrown but with stones showing the boundary line. Follow this across Erringden Moor, continue straight ahead. You will pass a way- marker; on the map it says Broad Head, and if to turn right you’d descend to My- tholmroyd. Instead, continue ahead – again more boggy ground. You should descend to a track, where you bear right a short while before picking up a clear way-mark- er that will descend through the beautiful woodland adja- cent to Moorside Barn.
On reaching the road, bear le and you will reach
Wood Top. Here, turn right [Spencer Lane], then ahead you will see a way-marker beyond the house immedi- ately ahead. Pass to the le of the house and bear le . This path take you through woodland above Hebden, with steep drops alongside. Here, if you know the area, you’ll know how to get back to where the route started, but we continued, until tak- ing a small ginnel that lead us to a ‘proper’ road. We turned le , walked until we reached a traffic light and we were back at the railway crossing we passed at the start.
walks