Calder & Hebble Canal

Sunday, 4th November 2012
6 miles (9.78 km) - 2hrs 15min
MAP : OL21 South Pennines

A dry but very cold day.  When I left home the temperature stayed a 0c and the fog was thick and cloying. However, the mist did lift slightly by the time I got to the starting point, as did the temperature.
This walk was taken from Country Walking Magazine and downloaded from their companion website Trailzilla. I have to say that finding walks/activities on Trailzilla is not the easiest, or most intuitive but at least once found the GPS downloads are first rate.
The most difficult part of this walk was finding the start position (GR SE 095223) since the car park is not well marked. However, I did find it and immediately started walking in the wrong direction !!  I put it down to the slightly confusing directions, I'm sure the author would disagree !  Anyway, thanks to some helpful cyclists I eventually got myself on the right tracks and have to say that the rest of the walk is simplicity itself. Put simply, once on the towpath, stay on the towpath !!

The colours at this time of the year were spectacular and the walking easy and flat.  I was quite surprised at how many people, both walkers and cyclists, there were out and about on what was a bitterly cold morning. It is good to see that many more people these days take the opportunity to get outdoors.

As I say the route is straightforward, along the towpath until you encounter Sowerby Bridge marina (opposite  GR SE065236) where quite a few canal boats are moored. Just past the marina you cross the canal and double back upon yourself until meeting the Navigation Inn (GR SE067237).  Here you leave the canal and cross the bridge to a road that leads through some pretty ugly industrial estates until the River Calder is encountered (GR SE070236) and you escape the industrialisation for a path running alongside the river. 
One of the features of this first part of the walk is the proximity of houses and roads which, whilst close do not intrude on the walk itself.  The second part of the walk escapes into a more rural aspect, although the views remind you of where you actually are.
After following the river the route then cuts off and under a railway bridge (Hollas Bridge GR SE076231). Here I picked my one and only cache of the day, nicely hidden by a fence post close to the bridge. From the bridge the route then cuts quite sharply uphill giving some good views down and across the valley to the Wainhouse Tower, a famous folly that dominates the skyline. Sadly, the mist was still hanging around and I'm sure the photographs don't do the views justice.  After climbing the side of the valley you then descend sharply ending up alongside Old Rishworthians Rugby Club (GR SE084223).  A short stride takes you back under the railway bridge to rejoin the canal and back to the start point.
A I mentioned the walk started in thick, freezing fog but I'm glad to say it had lifted slightly by the end of the walk.  Most spectacular at this time of the year were the autumn colours and the fact that the walk leads through some fairly built up areas which are unobstrusive and do not spoil the walk at all.
Well,  I'm off to Twickenham during the next month.  I may get some walking done prior to the matches kicking off and will try and post some of them up here.