Walk 6: Dalton Bank and Canal

Parish Church – Newlands Road- Cold Royd Lane – Nab Hill – Dalton Bank – R Colne – Canal – Round Hill – Upper Heaton – Cricket field – Old Junior school – Parish Church
[approx. 8.4km/5.2 miles]

A varied walk taking in part of a Nature Reserve, an industrial area, canal towpath, disused railway line and some interesting views

Download directions here

  1. Start at the Dead Man’s Gate entrance to the church. Take the footpath [sp] between the two graveyards. After a few metres turn right on a path into the church graveyard and follow it up to the main road. Cross and turn left down the hill. After a few metres turn right onto Newlands Road. Continue to its end and then turn right up Cold Royd Lane – a steep flagged path. Where it meets a road turn right and continue until you reach the cricket field access road on your left.
  2. Turn down here and follow the path around the field to the club house [Don’t – on pain of death, take a short cut across’ the square’!] Just before the club house turn left and then immediately right around the back of the building. Continue to a junction of paths. Here turn left down the field to a flight of steps leading to the road at Well House. Turn right and continue along the road until you come to a locked gate leading onto Dalton Bank.
  3. At the Nature Reserve sign take a left path and follow the contour of the bank round to the right. The path gradually drops to the road below with views of industrial Huddersfield. Here turn left, go over the old railway bridge, cross the road and take the path [sp] to the right. Follow this path over a footbridge, through some scrub and over the River Colne. Continue along the path which now skirts various industrial buildings until you reach a road. Facing you is the Hanson’s transport compound. Turn right along the road and continue until you reach the arches of a bridge.
  4. Just before the bridge turn left onto the tow path of Huddersfield Broad Canal. Continue right along the tow path until you come to the second bridge [Sign post here indicates the Calder Greenway] Cross the bridge and follow the path under the viaduct. The path then curves to the left and brings you onto the viaduct itself. [Beware of cyclists here] Continue on the disused railway line under a bridge. As the path then starts to climb look out for a path to your right [between some fencing]
  5. There is a yellow arrow positioned a little way off the trail here. Go over the stile and up the hillside keeping the wall on your left. Continue up the hill through 3 fields. In the 3rd field there is an arrow that directs you right to a stile in the middle of the wall. Cross the stile and go diagonally down to the next stile and onto a muddy ‘green lane’ Continue up the hill past a house. Directly in front of you is a stone stile. Go over this and through a narrow gap into the field beyond. Continue straight ahead to a gate leading onto New Road. [In Feb 2010 the gate proved impossible to open {not locked} and we had to climb over the wall – however the map indicates that it is a right of way] If you are unhappy trying, this just after the house turn left onto the track [instead of going over the stile] into Upper Heaton and then follow the road round to the right to the gateway on New Road.
  6. Turn right down the road and continue down until you come to Stoney Ford Lane [opposite the United Church]. Turn right here and continue across Southlands  and along the back of the houses. Turn left at the next footpath junction  and continue until you reach the junction near the cricket field where you turned down earlier to get to Well House.
  7. Retrace your steps around the cricket field onto Bankfield Lane. Turn right here and continue to the stile on the left just on the corner before the Cold Royd track.
  8. Cross the field and continue down the hillside to another footpath junction – here continue forward and follow the path round and down onto the old school site  – now Church View.
  9. Cross the main road here and walk down Church Lane to the church where you started.