Meltham Way RFM Blue Line Walking with Peter

 

Meltham Way

RFM Blue Line 

Walking with Peter

19/06/26

It was over 20 degrees at 7.40 when we set off on this walk. This is an official walk and should have signs and be well maintained. It was patchy at best.

We headed up to Hebble lane and then down past the Alpacas Max and I passed on a previous walk. What a lovely way to start a walk. 

We left the track and headed into the woods and over Royd Edge Clough. 

The way up the hill towards Green Bottom (what a great name), was overgrown and had no signs. The views were really good.  

                                                

Looking back across the valley we could see the donkeys we had seen on our walk of 2 weeks ago though we were on a different path.

The path through the park to the road at Meltham Hall was an easy path along the valley bottom. Reaching the road our first ascent of the day began with a steep climb up the road.

                               

Leaving the road the path worked its way up to the Reservoir at Thick Hollins. This was familar as we had descended down this path a couple of weeks ago.

Paddington and Teddy were still there. When the blue line coincides across 2 separate walks I always try and work it so we go in the opposite direction. Its almost as good as a new path. Regardless its still cool to see the bears again.

This res is just so lovely and we reckoned that the guy flyfishing was the same one we had seen in the same place 2 weeks ago. He must be a member of the fishing club.

This is when things went slightly awry.The line on the map goes through the woods but the path goes closer to the lake. I decided to take us through the woods to match the line on the map. It was impossible to follow a trail so we just went were we could and got back to the main path eventually. A little side adventure, a bit of fun.

We headed over the fields past a farm towards Meltham Road.

After the road the lane lead us down to Honley Woods. The horse and foal and Castle Hill in the back ground was a nice image. We stopped and had a coffee sat on a couple of big boulders placed to stop vehicles entering the woods. Quite a few dog walkers passed us with super friendly dogs. 

The woods reminded us of Wharnecliffe Crags a lot of silver birch and a steep drop off to our left. The view across the valley was very woody and green.

                                     

We had passed this dog with her lady owner earlier and exchanged greetings but they had gone on ahead. As we descended off  the ridge at Scotgate we found the lady with her dog Bryn madly chasing the unreachable swing. It was really funny and she explained it was a daily ritual. Good on yer Bryn.

It was quite a slope down a dried muddy banking to the road at Honley Wood Bottom. 

The panoramic view of this green and lush valley with houses and factories in evidence doesn't do justice to the peaceful scene we were looking at. It was great.

From the mill at the bottom of the hill to the road above Crossland Hall was a really steep climb on a tarmac road. The second part of the hill after the road was a bit of a jungle, pure and simple. Nettle tingle time.

We passed the lake and went through Bank Wood. This was really steep so we had a few stops.

Wth the woods behind us we went higher and higher. 

The route across Far Fields was in no way sign posted so we just stuck close to the line on the map crossing meadows and fields. A farmers sign helped us to find this field with the cow and calf. I thought it was a bull until a few strides into the field Peter said it was a cow. He was right.

We found and followed the lane towards Crosland Edge. 

The views towards the Pennines were beautiful. This modernised building intrigued me. What was it originally used for. Who knows?

Peter kindly held up this property whilst I passed.

Finding a bench with a view just outside Crosland so we stopped for a break. It soon became obvious that the land in front of us was a vinyard. How cool is that? In the distance, the church in Helm stood tall and proud.

A little higher up the lane we came to Blackmoorfoot Reservoir. This is a big body of water with a big dam. We hadn't seen many walkers for a while but there were plenty up here.

We chatted to a few walkers and their dogs and then set off on what looked on the map like about 4 miles of flat level walk. We were intrigued to find out what this was.

The route ran alongside the Blackmoorfoot Conduit so was a bit like a tow path on a canal but a lot rougher surface to walk on. This was a fantastic piece of engineering and ran for miles. 

The views over the valley were great. We were now on the other side of Helm with the church prominent in this view. On the other side of the Conduit was Meltham Cop, another intriguing name. I researched it. There is an urban myth that the Cop is built from the waste excavated to build Blackmoorfoot Reservoir. The similarity of the name to Spion Kop a battle in the Boer War often used to name ends at football grounds, is part of this myth. The hill is actually a natural outcrop made up of Millstone Grit and Cop is of Scandanavian origin and means Hill. 

Although flat this section of the walk was never boring. The long horned cattle were sheltering from the sun. These hills are familar to Max and  me as we crossed them a few weeks ago.

The Crow did not fly off as we passed it. A little later we passed an injured Crow and I wondered if they were together. Crows will help their injured mates and even feed and protect them.

There were a lot of lambs in this field full of various types of sheep.

We still followed the conduit and  at each bridge we had to climb up and over these metal stiles. Well built but hard work to get over and there were a lot of them. I feel we had a good work out on the stiles alone.

We had reached Brow Grains Dyke and the conduit swung south east towards Meltham. The Cop still conspicuous in the landscape.

Where the conduit turned there was also a metal ladder to climb down. Definitely not a walk for dog walkers or cyclists. We hadn't seen anyone on this stretch. I think the conduit changes name some where here to Catchwater Drain.

It's a great to be... Yorkshire. 

We could see that Meltham was getting closer but we had a way to go yet. We passed a couple and their dog avoiding the stiles by going under the bridge. We chatted briefly mainly about the stiles. The ditch was still pretty damp and had stretches of water but not the flow of earlier.

I like to think this sheep was requesting a photograph but I suspect it was smelling our scent to see what we were.

Finally we left the ditch and set off up a hill in the apparently wrong direction. We had to go up the hill to turn left and get on the lane back down to Meltham. Hot and tired but still full of beans.

We reached the top of Royd Edge Clough and I showed Peter where Max and I had ascended the valley the other week to Magdalen, another name worth researching.

Then it was down the lane past the cemetery to our cars and home.

On a hot day over 10 miles and an ascent of over 1100 feet would feel like an ordeal but today it felt like just a good walk. We were bith strong at the end which is great. 

We had a few dog walkers to talk to and a few dogs to stroke but did not see many ramblers or hikers, if any. 

Meltham really delivered here. I love the Pennine hills but this walk around Meltham with its woods, vinyards and conduits was hard to beat.

I feel really happy to spend so much quality time with my brother and believe me it is fun.. 

OS Map

https://explore.osmaps.com/route/32543907/meltham-way-rfm-blue-line?lat=53.58371&lon=-1.8607&zoom=15.616&style=TopoAuto&type=2d