Just love walking: Nertherton to Meltham

I did a walk on Wednesday 28 November with a group I used to walk with called Wednesday Wanderers from Netherton to Meltham, via Honley Woods, Netherthong, Upperthong, Digley Reservoir, and then moor tracks & bridleways to Meltham town at Clarke Lane.

Below is a map of the route. This is from a website called http://www.gpsies.com/mapUser.do?username=wednesdaywanderers

The walk was 10.58 miles.

So if you are interested in walking in the Yorkshire Area then this would be a good source of walks to explore.

I took a train from Leeds to Huddersfield, then walked to the bus station where with other members of the group I caught a bus to Netherton, alighting at 341, Meltham Road. and started the walk by walking down a short path shown on the map below as a green speckled line from an orange road, the B6108 to a yellow lane known as Netherton Fold.

So here we are starting this walk, walking along Meltham Road from the bus stop

Now here is a map showing the first part of this walk.

The route is to go down a short piece of path onto a yellow lane then onto a footpath across the valley marked as a green speckled line passing some buildings and a sign saying "Moat" Not far away from us was the line of a dismantled railway line going past a factory and up the valley towards Meltham. Then our route was past the factory, up a yellow line to footpath up Honley Woods then to a lane and along a footpath.

So off we went & turned down off this road along the short bit of footpath down a steep leafy path next to a house.

There was a nameplate on a wall that showed us where we were

Then we came out onto a little lane, with a sign across the road saying Lea Lane

So we walked along Lea Lane and soon came to a footpath that we took steeply down a hill with a view of the valley ahead.

The path came out near a field with a stream in the bottom of the valley

So down to the stream we walked & crossed it on a wooden footbridge

Then we followed the footpath along the valley on a grassy field

At the end of the this footpath we came to another wooden footbridge, crossed it and ended up on a lane

Then up the lane we walked towards a factory

We soon passed the factory walking along Woodbottom Road

It was quite a stiff climb that reached us to a footpath up through Honley woods. We all looked back the way we had come across the valley towards the dismantled railway.

Then we entered Honley Woods and started another stiff climb up through the woods to the top of them

At the top of the hill we crossed Meltham Way

We went straight through the woodland

We emerged onto a bridleway called Hassocks Lane and turned left and walked a short distance along it

We then turned right along a footpath, not a bridleway because the first route from where we met this Hassocks lane on the map is a bridleway whereas the second route is a footpath.

So along the footpath we walked, some of it with a wall alongside

We had to cross a wall

Then continued along the footpath beside a cropped field

Then over another wall

Then we reached a lane called Bradshaw Road

Looking to the left I could see Castle Crag that overlooks Huddersfield

& crossed over it and walked up a tarmac path

Looking back towards the road

Soon we reached the village of Oldfield and walked through it on a footpath.

We followed a footpath to Netherthong

We walked along a field edge

Then past a signpost and down near a cafe

So here we were now in Netherthong-so now we are going to walk up into the village & walk to Upperthong-here's the map of our route.

We have walked down that speckled green route from Oldfield and joined a green stepped path with green blobs on it. This path we are following on the map above has 2 names on it-H & H walk & H V C Walk. The H & H Walk is the "Hills and Hamlets Walk" the HVC Walk is the Holmfirth Valley Circular Walk"

So after the cafe we follow the footpath across a lane

Then we climb up a steep flight of steps and walk up a steep path next to a school

We come out on another road called Thong Lane where we turn right

We walk up the School Street, past the Clothier's Arms onto Church Street where we go up some steps following the HVC walk

The path went into a field

Then over the wall on a stile and up the next field

Then the path moved over to the left hand side passing an old reservoir on the left

There were now views over the next hills & Castle Crag was still in view

Holme Moss TV mast was visible now

Soon we reached Wolfstones Heights Farm

We crossed the road & walked up a path to the Trig point at the top of this hill

Phil the Wednesday Wanderer's walk organiser took some photos of us on this hill

That's me in the red coat with a black hat on

View from Wolfstones Height

Then we left the top of this hill and started to walk back down to the road again down a steeper path

At the road, we turned left & walked along it

Next we turned right off this road into Carr Farm through a gate

Our route from here is on the map below-our path goes through Carr Farm, over a footbridge at the bottom of a slope, then up a path, then right at the top, and along a path to emerge onto a lane in Netherthong. Here we turned left, walked to and followed the road down to meet a track towards Nether House & the A635. We then took a lane down into a valley & up again, to Hogley Green.

So down the slope we went towards the footbridge

Then up the other side

then up and over a stile

Then along a path towards a lane

At the lane we turned left

Then right & left again

Then along a track towards Nether House

The path went down a hill passing the house on the left

It emerged onto the A635

Here we left the road & went down a road towards Booth House

Then up the hill the other side to Hogley Lane

We went down this lane and at a junction turned left

Up the other side passing this little sign

Then we turned right following the footpath sign on the wall

The walk from here followed the speckled path with blobs on it passing the numbers 262, down to a yellow lane which we walked up for a short distance, turning left past a house, that looked like an old church, to join the HVC walk to Austinley and down a similar footpath to Bank Top on the map

So this was us walking along the footpath with blobs on

Then over a stile and the field had 2 paths on it, one going alongside a wall and the other going down the field towards a stile or a gate

So we went down the hill and then across another field towards a road

Then we walked up the road for a short distance going towards a building that looked like an old chapel

When we reached this building we turned left and walked down a footpath beside the building

The path went down a narrow path

Then it crossed a wall on a stile and went up a slope again

At the top of the hill we turned right between some walls and walked across a field towards the far corner

We seemed to be heading now for the Holme Moss Transmitter near to Black Hill, but at the corner of the field we climbed a stile

Then walked across another field and over another stile

This now led us into a path between 2 walls

We walked along this path which led us to a lane which we crossed next to Austinley House

Next to the house was another narrow footpath with stiles as well

The post near the stile had a yellow sign on it that told us on which path we were walking on

After crossing the stiles we walked down a field edge, over the remains of a stile, and down another field

The path went down a hill to come alongside a road which we crossed

This was our lunch stop overlooking the Digley Reservoir wall

After lunch we walked up the road and ended up next to the reservoir

We then walked up to another footpath by going through a gate then up some steps

At the top of the steps was a car park and a couple of signs

Then we set off again alongside the reservoir but high above it

Along the path we went, then down a slope

So looking at the map again we could see the route from Digley Reservoir to Meltham. The path went from the blue letter P, north of the reservoir, around its edge passing spot height 242, then parallel with Bilberry Reservoir, then right, up the hill, then left near Greaves Head, then along Nether Lane to spot height 325, then right up Old Lane and onto the A road. Then along a footpath called Magdalen Road, passing Royd Farm and onto Harden Moss Road, then left towards a ford and up and down footpaths into Meltham. We were still on the same walk route

Down another hill beside some forest parallel with the reservoir

Then at a junction bear right up some steps

Then down some steps

Then on the footpath again

Soon we came out where one path goes down to Bilberry Reservoir & our path goes up a slope towards Greaves Head.

Looking down from this point we can see the Bilberry Reservoir

Up the track we went and went right and up again to where there was a junction and a sign

We turned left on the blobby walk towards Greaves Head

and walked along the track

Eventually we came to a gate and passed through it

Then after this we came to a sign and turned right off the track & up a grassy track called Old Lane on the map

So up the slope we went making towards the red line on the map the A635, Holmfirth to Greenfield.

We came out onto a track & turned right to walk up it onto the main road-the wind was blowing very hard now.

We soon reached the main road and turned right and walked along its edge for a few metres taking care that the wind didn't blow us into the carriageway.

Soon we found the path on the left hand side & went through the gate & back onto the moor again

This footpath, the Magdalen Road was very clear, as it dropped down

We soon passed Royd Farm and joined Harden Moor Road for a short walk

Then we reached the track that would take us to Meltham with views in that town's direction

A look at the map confirmed route from this point

We were going along the blobby walk, to a Ford on the map, then up a path to stepped path, then a path like an alleyway onto an estate road (white on map), to a road called 68 in red, where we would turn left & walk towards a bus station. The path down in fact crosses a bridge over a mill race then goes up and clear footpath