Hepworth ~ Medium Walk

Distance Covered: 5 miles Time to Complete Walk 3 hours

Suitable for dog walking: No

A walk in the land of Compo, Clegg and Foggy from Last Of The Summer Wine - the classic BBC comedy. Start at the location of the comedy in Hepworth  and make your way through a natural ravine playground of stepping stones, bridges and rocks, stopping at a kooky cafe The Carding Shed which has a cool vintage car vibe and some lovely dishes! Then climb and meander your way back to Hepworth. A great walk with all kinds of terrain.

General Safety Tips:  The start of the walk is over stepping stones which are slippy when wet, negotiate them with a walking stick as some were loose. Part of the walk was overgrown. Be careful on the roads and walk facing the traffic. There is a tight squeeze stile and a big but short ascent on the return to Hepworth. 

The Hepworth Walk

Getting There

By Car

From Middlesbrough, follow the A19 onto the M1 southbound. At junction 39 head onto the A636 and follow this until it becomes the A635 towards Holmfirth. Keep left and towards Jackson Bridge on the A616 and head into Hepworth. Park on the roadside just before the church and just after The Butchers Arms.

By Bus from Huddersfield

The 310 line from Huddersfield runs to Hepworth from 6.30am until 22.35pm

Maps of The Hepworth Walk

The Walk

From the roadside head towards the junction with the Bus Turning Area on your right and a sign to the church on your right. 

Take the right fork in the road downhill.

Head down the road and after the sharp right bend look for a signpost to the left down to the ravine.

This first part of the walk is over stepping stones, wooden planks and bridges, rocks and other terrain and is great fun. Follow the path until it ends at a bridge and some steps up to a track.

Turn left onto the track.

Follow the track to its end at a road. Turn right onto the road.

Follow the road to another road and turn right. Look for a wall stile shortly after on your left.

Follow the field path to another stile and over two further field stiles.

After the final stile turn right onto a track and immediately through a very tight squeeze stile.

The next section can be tricky, however head in a two oclock direction. You need to head down to the road below. This section is overgrown but look for a public footpath sign below and head towards it onto the road carefully.

Cross over the road carefully and head to the left.

At the crossroads go straight ahead onto the road.

Follow the road down and fork right downhill.

Follow the road down until you arrive at the Carding Shed cafe and this is worth a pitstop for a bite to eat.

Recommence the walk by heading left up the road from the Carding Shed to a junction. Turn left and follow the road.

Keep left and downhill at a fork in the road.

Follow the road as it meanders until eventually you arrive at another junction.

Turn right and almost immediately look for a gap in the wall and a very steep climb. Don't worry it is a short climb.

At the top go over a very new modern type of stone stile and head straight ahead towards the buildings and another step stile on your right. 

Follow the track down to the road.

Turn right and then cross over the road and through a gate onto a field with a wall on your left.

Keeping the wall to your left keep in a forwardly direction when the wall ends towards steps in the wall ahead.

Turn right and head down the road.

Keep ahead at a junction.

Follow the road ahead at a fork, swapping sides to avoid traffic and take the second left turning which heads towards the sailing club.

Pass the sailing club and some houses.

About 100 yards after Dean Lane turn left onto a footpath.

Go over several more stiles in a very clear and obvious direction over fields and then a narrow lane and behind houses to emerge in Hepworth. Turn left and you soon come to The Butchers Arms and your car again.

Hepworth

Hepworth is a small village to the southeast of Holmfirth and southwest of Jackson Bridge in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees and the parish of Holme Valley.

Although it started as a fairly small hamlet it has grown considerably through the 1980s and 1990s with new housing and small businesses. It has been extensively used as one of the locations in the BBC's long-running comedy series Last of the Summer Wine, much of which has centred on the village pub the 'Butchers Arms', which provides a central meeting place for the village residents.The name Hepworth is Anglo-Saxon. It may have been that Heppa, an Anglo-Saxon, was of great “worth”. There is also the view of H. T. Moorhouse who states, in his History of Kirkburton and the Graveship of Holme (1861), that the name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon “Hep” meaning high and “worth” meaning place of residence. Another reference cites –worth as meaning an enclosure, hence enclosure of a man called Heppa.[1] In the Domesday Book it is given the name Hepeuuord and is described as the King’s land with steep streets.

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St Aidans Nature Reserve ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered:  4 miles Time to Complete Walk: 2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes but keep on a lead if cows in field.

Just outside Leeds is this wonderful oasis - an RSPB reserve which is home to birds such as kestrels and swans and many more. This walk starts at the Little Owls cafe and takes you on the outer reaches of the reserve. See and hear birds all around you. A bird-spotters delight and a great family day out. 

General Safety Tips: Cows were in one of the fields but without calves, be vigilant and keep to the edge of the field. Consider a diversion if concerned.

The St Aidans Nature Reserve Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough follow the A19 onto the M1 southbound. Turn off at Junction 46 signed to Garforth. Turn right at the first roundabout onto Whitehouse Lane to Great Preston. Turn right onto Wood Lane and then right into Astley Lane. Shortly after look for a left turn into the St Aidans Nature Reserve carpark. Parking is £4. Entry to the reserve is free.

Maps of the St Aidans Nature Reserve walk

The Walk

From the car park enter the reserve by walking between the cafe and "Oddball"- a giant excavator. 

At the far end of Oddball branch off to the right climbing the path. There are great panoramic views of the reserve at the top.

Follow the path to the left at the top.

Follow this path until you come to a signpost and a gate to your right.

Follow the path through the field full of rapeseed a pretty yellow flower. The path is obvious to follow. 

You will arrive at another turnstile gate. Head through it and turn left and follow the path at the edge of the field. Take care as cattle may be in this field.

Arriving at a bridleway, go through the gate and through another one directly opposite. Follow the diagonal path to the left through the next field.

At the bottom of the field go through another gate, over a small bridge and onto a track. Follow this track to the right.

Follow the path keeping to the right at a junction.

This is a great spot to look for birds- swans and ducks and also kestrels above.

Follow this path as it bends to the left until you come to a large junction.

Take the path to the right which is signed to the River Aire.

At another junction keep to the left signposted to Caroline Bridge.

Follow this path passing Caroline Bridge.

At the next junction which is an outfall point head up through the gate and follow the path back into the reserve. 

At a junction keep ahead.

Head onto the wide gravel road and follow this round to the left.

Look for a shortcut through the field to your left which heads back to the cafe/car park.

Join a path and follow this to the right.

At a junction take the path to the right.

Keep the right on the path and head back to the car park.

St Aidans Nature Reserve

St Aidan's is a 400-hectare (990-acre) nature park located between Leeds and Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. The land was formerly an opencast coal mining area that was flooded in 1988, after the riverbank collapsed. Repairs and remediation required its own act in Parliament to allow the necessary works to go ahead. Mining ceased at St Aidan's in 2002.

The nature park opened to the public in May 2013 under the care of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). However, the car park and visitor centre were subsequently closed in July 2013 due to unresolved land issues.With the successful transfer of St Aidan's to Leeds City Council, a 99-year lease was signed from the council to the RSPB in March 2017. The site is now open and functioning as an RSPB nature park. It is open every day excluding Christmas Day with the visitor centre open from 9.30 am to 5 pm February – October and 9.30 am to 4 pm November – January.

RSPB St Aidan's Nature Park is designed for both people and wildlife and is open for a wide range of activities, from bird watching, cycling and walking to jogging, horse riding and dog walking.