Country Walks in the Calder Valley with Geoff Boswell

 

Walk No.1
Hebden Bridge to Todmorden
via Stubbing Wharf, Knott Wood, Jumble Hole, Eastwood, Ingham Clough, Cross Stone or Rodwell End and Lobb Mill.
Distance: 5.5 miles.
Walking time: 2-3 hours. A low route.

Black Pitt Lock

The descent to Todmorden

Click on the map to see a larger version

From Hebden Bridge Tourist Information Centre cross Bridge Gate and New Road to go down Holme Street past the Post Office and Hebden Bridge Little Theatre to reach the canal towpath. Go right, past Blackpit Lock and Hebble End, under the bridge and past the two locks at Stubbings, under the next bridge to the pub at Stubbing Wharf. Leave the towpath here to rejoin the road. Cross the River Calder and the main Halifax Road, going left past Savile Road to take the next right up Oakville Road.

You are getting away from the traffic here and soon run out of footpath to follow Oakville Road. Once you are up to the level of the railway you have views across the valley to Callis Wood. Passing the cottages at Oakville take the right track where the roads divide, just past the red post-box. This is Turret Hall Road, a public bridleway. The track begins to wind through Knott Wood, full of bluebells in spring. Do not take the track to Wood Farm but bear left with the cottages on your right. A gap in the trees here gives you a good view back across the valley to Horsehold.

You soon pass a clearing in the wood, which is a workplace for making willow hurdles and logs for general use. You can follow the track to the top but it is a little more interesting to take the public footpath on the left at the next corner. This is the Pennine Way coming up! We are now high above Sandbed on the north side of the valley. Where the path divides and the Pennine Way goes down to the left, we take the smaller path to the right. This path is rather overgrown and could have done with a bit of maintenance last time I walked it. The hillside here is covered in wild flowers in spring. Keep following the wall on your right, and you soon hear the sound of water in Dole Clough. At this point the path turns uphill past an old cottage dated 1764, to rejoin Winters Lane. Go left with good views of Stoodley Pike on your left.

At the next junction go left past Long Hey Top and take the field path on the left immediately after Long Hey Top. Follow the power lines to the next farm. At last we have a bit of downhill all the way to the bridge at Jumble Hole Clough. Keep to the right of the next farm and follow the green lane. Look out for rabbits on your left! The lane emerges onto the farm track to Dove Scout Farm. Follow the wall on the right behind the farm. The track is now above Jumble Hole Clough that we have to cross and climb to a slightly higher level on the other side. Power lines indicate the general direction.

Various paths diverge on the way down to the bridge, so let the sound of water guide you down. There is a lovely old slab bridge across the clough. The flow and fall of water in this clough is so great that it once supplied several water-powered mills. Once over the bridge we climb out of the valley bottom crossing two paths, at different levels, which run parallel to the stream. Once over the second path, the climb goes left and becomes steeper, passing through heather, bracken and bilberries. The last bit is quite a pull up around the back of Roundfield Farm, which is down on your left. If the dogs spot you, they will do their job and bark like mad! There is a stone stile before a final wooden stile to take you onto the downhill track to Roundfield Farm. You are out of the valley now ready for some steady downhill walking.

When the track turns sharp left to Roundfield Farm, continue downhill in the general direction of Stoodley Pike and then follow the track around to the right towards the next house at Hipperholm. Avoid the grassy track that goes straight down to the valley bottom at Sandbed. Continue along passing Hipperholm, Lane House Farm and Upper House Barn. You may hear the screech of peacocks up on your right along this stretch. The tower of Cross Stone Church is ahead as you approach a T-junction. At the junction you join Eastwood Lane, go downhill about ten paces, to the stone stile on your right. Follow an old causeway path, often buried, across five fields to a row of cottages at Chapel Houses. The right of way passes behind these houses, which you should keep on your left, until you reach the steps down in the corner of the last field to join a rather wet green lane. This leads down to the next house, Mount Pleasant. Just after Mount Pleasant cross the farm road and follow the green lane ahead.

You can see how Mount Pleasant acquired its name; there could be nothing more pleasant than this green track which has been little used for a number of years. Follow it straight ahead, ignoring the left turn to Pex Tenements, towards the line of trees in Ingham Clough. The sound of water increases as various field drains join the stream beside the path until it becomes a veritable torrent, particularly after rain. Bluebells line the banks in spring as you wend your way down to the footbridge across Ingham Clough. Once over the bridge the path follows the post and wire fence to the left, as far as a large beech tree. Then it the turns uphill to follow the wall to the top corner of the field.

These fields have been extensively grazed by a herd of Welsh Black cattle that have lived on this land for thirty-five years to my knowledge. The farmhouse burnt down in the 1970s and the land has had little agricultural input apart from some late mowing since that time. In June the fields-free from cattle-are covered in wild flowers. The cattle themselves are very placid, and it would not be unusual to find cows, bulls and calves all intermixed. If they are in the way, or appear too interested in you, walk on while telling them in a low "mooing" voice telling them they are "good uns". At this, they will turn away and resume chewing the cud!

Follow the wall on the left across four fields to a little wooden gate on Matthew Lane. At this point there are alternative endings. So it is time to choose. The first alternative is definitly the more attractive but the second has advantages if you intend to return to Hebden Bridge on the south side of the valley without going into Todmorden, or if you fancy a pub lunch at the Rose and Crown.

First alternative ending: Follow the lane to the left for about sixty-five paces and then take the path on your right, which drops down to a stream. It can be wet here. The path is fairly narrow, sometimes lined with rose-bay willow-herb and brambles and sometimes with oak and beech. Note the little white Clough Cottage down on your left. This only has a footpath to it - there is no road access. The path gradually climbs. Ignore the gate on the left and climb until Todmorden comes into view, then continue on to the old farm at Bean Hole Head where you join Cross Stone Road. Going left, you pass the rather colourful gardens at Hollins Hall to arrive at the hamlet of Cross Stone. The building on your left is interesting. Note the inscription "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it". This plaque was put there by Thomas Ashworth in 1805 when the top room was Cross Stone School. The bottom room was the jail and the right-hand end of the house was the home of the schoolmaster. The stocks are still in the wall backing onto the church. The church is now a private house and the old Bay Horse Inn has been renamed the Berghof Brandstatter and has been expanded to form a hotel and restaurant. I can remember the days when a pint of ale, served from a jug under a barrel tap, cost one shilling and five old pence!

Once past the Berghof we drop down Cross Stone hill. Todmorden unfolds before you. The legacies of the Fielden family stand out from the town. First the great spire of the Unitarian Church and then the Town Hall, both grade one listed buildings, provided by the Fieldens. Then there is Dobroyd Castle on the hillside opposite. Yet to come is Stansfield Hall. As you go round the fourth bend, just by a seat on the right, take the footpath that goes off to the right. Yellow broom lightens the path that soon goes between two rows of hawthorn trees on to The Mount. Here we pass six houses and then go down the steps by the wall on the left. This wall encircles Stansfield Hall, once a characteristic local hall. The Fieldens made additions to make it a much grander home. At the bottom of the steps cross the road and go to the right past the playground to a path which crosses the railway by a footbridge on to Wellington Road. Take the first left, past Claremont Place and follow the road to the bottom passing the fire station, the ambulance station and the bus station in quick succession. Turn left at the bottom and go past the market to the end of the walk at the Town Hall. A visit to the Tourist Information Centre is worthwhile.

Second alternative ending: Follow the lane to the left, and after the next corner, you are walking towards Stoodley Pike across the valley and towards the hamlet of Rodwell End, abandoned until the 1970s, it once had a manor house, a chapel, three farms and some workers' cottages. The census of 1841 revealed that it was a thriving place. Restoration is moving along slowly and the hamlet is gradually being brought back to life. The old farmhouse remains burnt out. The BBC Country File programme once gave a prize to the Ecological Building Society for its forward thinking in granting mortgages to people who wanted to restore these buildings. Take the track, which turns right just before you reach the old chapel, which you can recognise by its round top windows. Go past the large barn on your right, which has a stone vaulted roof inside, and then bear left in the yard to follow the path down to the valley at Lobb Mill.

The path zig-zags down the hillside. See how the road, the railway, the canal and the river compete for space in the valley bottom. Todmorden Town Hall can be spotted in the distance to your right. Soon you walk over the Horsefall railway tunnel, which was cut open, rebuilt and recovered in 1998, to reach the picnic site at the side of the main Halifax Road. Cross over the road and walk to your right towards Todmorden and then take the first left, Haugh Road, where you can join the towpath for the last mile or so. Lobb Mill Chandlers sell ropes, batteries and everything for the barge trade - but you can also buy ice cream.

Follow the towpath to the right. You are soon walking between the river and the canal. At the next bridge you see the fire-damaged Woodhouse Mill, built in 1832. It was once destined to be a textile museum but is up for sale at the time of writing. At this point you are about a mile from Todmorden town centre but less than 200 yards from the Rose and Crown, a diversion of about two hundred yards.

If you would like to take this diversion, climb the steps at the side of the bridge by the mill and follow the road to your right. The Rose and Crown is soon in view. Converted from three cottages, it is now a free house with good beer and food served every day from 12 to 2:30 p.m. If you get the taste and there is a good "crack" going on, there are buses outside the door to Todmorden and Hebden Bridge.

From the bridge on Woodhouse Road, the canal towpath forms a direct route to Todmorden. The next landmark is Oldroyd Lock. If it has been raining recently, water will be cascading down the overflows. Oldroyd Farm is on the knoll at the back of the lock. We are now into the industrial area of Todmorden. Warman International on your left produces huge pumps capable of emptying a coal mine or reservoir. The canal is home to ducks, geese and moorhens with nest sites on the far bank. After the next bridge you pass the new Baltimore Marina. Further on, there is an exit from the towpath into the Co-op supermarket car park. Leave the canal at the next lock (Shop Lock). There are tea-rooms in the Craft Centre to your right behind the car park. At the main road, turn left to Todmorden Town Centre. The Tourist Information Centre and Bus station are in Burnley Road. To reach the railway station, go up the steps to the left of the White Hart, west of the Town Hall. Todmorden Market is worth a look round but it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.