A stunning little walk of 5.5 miles, starting and finishing at Digley Reservoir near to the little town of Holmfirth which was made famous by the TV series ‘Last of the Summer wine’. As always, there are some variations that you can take on this walk, but our walk, starts and finishes at the North Eastern car park off Gibriding Lane at What 3 Words (W3W) location ///good.dads.happening or grid reference SE1105407256. If this car park is full there is another car park on the other side of the reservoir at W3W location ///pushover.bind.cadet or grid reference SE1096506734. Both car parks are free.
As you’re putting your boots on at the North eastern car park, which is a disused quarry surrounded by coniferous and deciduous trees, keep your eyes out for Robin, Dunnock, Goldcrest and Bullfinch. Once you’re ready and locked your car, head towards the car park entrance, up the ramp to the right, through the gap in the wall and turn right onto an obvious well worn path with the reservoir down below you to your left. We are now on part of the Holme Valley Circular walk, and you’ve probably realised by now that we are going to be doing this walk in an anticlockwise direction. This is mainly because there is a pub near to the end in Holme village.
So with the reservoir down to your left, keep on this path and after about 100 metres you’ll see a disused quarry on your right, its worth keeping an eye out for Roe Deer in the heather around the quarry. This quarry, known as Alison quarry, was operating from 1881 - 1894 for its Millstone grit, a very coarse type of sandstone. The sandstone cross-bedding can be clearly seen, with some thin layers of siltstone also visible in places, along with the man made drill holes if you look carefully.
Continue on the main path which will take you down hill through the woods with a big banking to your right, then a short climb up some steps on the right before it levels out with open fields to your right. After a couple of minutes you’ll arrive at some steep steps with a handrail which will take you down to the waters edge. It’s then a gradual climb uphill on an old track with walls on both sides, around a bend with a stream running underneath, passing some old structures to the left before coming out of the trees to a footpath junction. The path heading down to the reservoirs on the left is a shorter route, but we are keeping right and heading up the track to the right. There is a bench here is you want a 5 minute rest.
Continue heading West on the track, its a gradual climb but nothing too taxing, eventually it turns 90 degrees right, straight uphill, but again nothing too strenuous and at the T junction at Greaves Head turn left. You’re going to be on this farm track for some distance now, so relax and take in the views. In the fields left and right you should see Curlew, Lapwing, Meadow Pipits, and during the summer some migrating Wheatear. Ignore the footpath to your right, through the gate and carry on this track passing some old buildings and then Goodbent Lodge. Here you will have the mandatory conversation with your walking colleagues as to what it would be like to live up here in winter and whether you could live here or not. Once on the straight section past Goodbent Lodge you’ll need to look for the footpath to the left. Climb over the stile, careful as one of the posts was a bit loose on my last visit. Cross down over the field towards the valley (Marsden Clough) through the gate and you’re now into open access land. Take the steep track down to your left towards the wooden bridge which is known locally as Blackpool Bridge. Legend has it that the name Blackpool Bridge comes from the black pools below the bridge that local people used to swim in. The old bridge that crosses Marsden Clough was washed away by heavy rainfall a few years ago and has since been replaced, and it’s a great sheltered place to stop for a drink or snack for 5 minutes. Whilst you’re having your break, keep an eye out for Wren and Stonechat that frequent the small bushes and bracken.
Once you’ve had your fill of this stunning little location, cross over the bridge and follow the Land rover track up the hill, and as you climb uphill the views down Marsden Clough open up. The slope will eventually start levelling out and bend around to the right. On this section before I’ve seen Kestrel and once a very rare in these parts female Hen-Harrier. You’ll cross 3 small streams before arriving at a Ford. After a few days of heavy rainfall this can be a difficult crossing, so you could carry on further up stream to find a spot where the stream is narrower and a small jump can get you across. Please don’t try and use the gas pipe to cross.
Once over the ford, follow the path up and left where you’ll reach a junction. Turn left here and its a long straight track called Issues Road. The fields on the left and right of Issues Road, during the summer months are full of Curlew and Lapwing. Stay on this track all the way to the village Holme where the track eventually turns from gravel to tarmac and you’ll eventually arrive in the village Holme. There is a pub in the village called ‘The Fleece’, they do some lovely meals, and there’s a little coffee/snack bar attached to the pub that do takeaway drinks and snacks. There are also some free public toilets opposite the pub behind the red telephone box which has been converted to a book swap type kiosk. The pub can get busy at weekends, so it would be well worth phoning ahead to book a table. It should take you about 3 -3.5 hours from the car park to get here. That is at a nice steady pace with a nice rest at Blackpool Bridge thrown in.
From the pub head downhill back into the village, cross over at the bend and take Fieldhead Lane on the left. Careful on the road here as it can be a bit of a blind bend for traffic. Once on Fieldhead Lane its then a nice easy walk back towards Digley Reservoir which will be visible in the distance. On the road please walk single file on the right hand side so that you can see any oncoming traffic and get into the side when traffic approaches you. On the right hand bend it may be worth going to the outside of the bend so that traffic from both directions can see you, then get back to the right again once you’re safely around the bend. At Digley Reservoir there is a footpath at the side of the road on the left, so is is safer to cross over to the left and walk on the footpath. On the Reservoir you should see some Black-headed Gull, Great-Crested Grebe, and on the reservoir edge you should see Pied wagtails. At the end of the reservoir dam wall turn left and around the overflow tower construction you should see some Oystercatcher. After a short steep uphill section and you will arrive back at the car park. Hope you’ve enjoyed the walk and that the weather was kind to you.
