The River Holme starts at Digley Reservoir on the hills above the lovely village of Holmfirth, made famous by the ‘Last of The Summer Wine’ TV series, and the river finishes at Folly Hall on the outskirts of Huddersfield where it feeds into the River Colne, a total distance of about 10 miles. As this is a linear route you will need to figure out buses, car drop offs, lifts etc to get you back to where you want to be. The route can be done either way, but the following description is from the source of the river at Digley Reservoir, following the river downstream to where it joins the River Colne at Huddersfield.
I had 2 criteria for this route, the first was to try and stay as close to the course of the river as possible and the second was to try and keep off the busy main roads. However there were sections where these 2 criteria conflicted with each other and I ended up taking a longer footpath route to try and keep away from the busy main roads, but there is a well established ‘Riverside Way’ that helps with the route for most of the way.
Digley to Holmebridge - There are 2 car parks at Digley Reservoir, one on the North side by the disused quarry (Grid Ref SE 11049 07278) and the other on the Southern side (Grid Ref SE 10959 06739), either can be used and both are free to park. From either car park make your way to the North East corner of the reservoir at Bank End, this is the corner where the overflow plug is located which attracts a variety of birds including Black Headed Gulls, Cormorants and Oyster catchers. From here head down Bank Top Lane where after about 100 metres you will find a footpath on your right which will take you down through the woods to the bottom of the valley. On OS maps this valley has no name, but on Google maps it is known as Digley Brook. This path that heads down through the woods can be slippery when wet, so take care on this section. At the bottom you will come to a decent track which is an access road for the reservoir monitoring buildings at the base of the dam wall. Turn left on the access road and basically follow this road which will lead you down to the village of Holmebridge. The river runs parallel with this road on your right, and the moss covered trees are a playground for Grey Squirrels, with Blue Tit, Robin and Tree Creepers also spotted here. You will also be able to make out old mill ponds that made the most of the river, and there were originally 13 mills in this area. As you leave the shelter of the trees you will come into the village of Holmebridge with St David’s Church directly in front of you and the Pickled Pheasant to your left if you fancy an early walk drink.
Holmebridge to Holmfirth - At the church turn right and cross the river taking the first road on your left Bank Lane. Head up Bank Lane, turn left at the junction onto Smithy Lane which after a couple of hundred yards turns into Dobb Top Road. Follow this road, you will come to a sharp bend in the road where you will hear running water in the ravine below you. This is Dobb Dike which is one of the first feeds for the River Holme way down in the valley below you. Continue on Dobb Top Road and at the next junction keep left on Dobb Lane which takes you back down to the valley bottom and back to the river.
As you approach the river there is an old mill pond and an information board that gives the reader plenty of history on the immediate area. Continue over the river and as the road steepens turn right down Water Street which you will know all about if you’ve just read the information board. Walk past the houses where the ground changes from tarmac to footpath and the start of a stunning river section.
The path hugs the river here for some distance and the lucky walker may well see Kingfisher, Dipper, Green Woodpecker and Grey Heron. Further downstream is a mill pond which is popular with fishermen, and the pond hosts various ducks and other water fowl. Continue past the mill pond, passing a couple of weirs and eventually you will arrive at Woodhead Road where you need to turn right and head towards Holmfirth where are numerous opportunities to refresh, or top up with snacks and drinks.
Holmfirth to Thongsbridge - At Holmfirth just past Ashley Jackson’s art gallery turn right down Hollowgate, stopping on the bridge to grab the obligatory photo of Nora Batty’s house where many a scene of Last of the Summer Wine was filmed. Follow Hollowgate to the busy centre of Holmfirth, cross over the pedestrian crossing and down the side of the shops, passing the Picturedome on your left and over the footbridge on the right towards the Post Office and bus turning circle. Take the footpath to the left of the Post office which takes you alongside the river, ignore the first footbridge continuing past a memorial garden and over a footbridge to the other side of the river where you will find yourself in a large car park. Just a few yards further downriver are some steps down to the river, follow these steps down to a popular duck feeding location and keeping the river to your right continue downstream.
Further downriver go up some steps to the rear of the Co-op, cross over another footbridge where you will find yourself on Bridge Lane. Ignore Summervale, but take the entrance to an industrial estate directly opposite which also leads to a Cricket Club. The footpath through the Cricket Club grounds is a permissive path and the gate is generally unlocked. Continue through the club grounds and follow the path around the football field which takes you back towards the river. Keeping the river to your left continue downstream passing a small children’s play park, and skate park. You now need to be looking right for the path that takes you uphill at an angle, if you miss this and continue down river the path eventually fizzles out but you can just about make out a feint path up the steep banking. Either way you will arrive at an old railway embankment and a chance to get your breath back.
Follow this disused railway to the big metal bar that’s designed to stop off road bikes. The path here merges with another path, but veer left and follow the track downhill. At Miry Lane turn right, the footpath you need is just a little bit further up on the opposite side of the road. Take this path past the houses with plenty of bird feeders in their front gardens and follow this path through some woods. You will occasionally glimpse the river down in the valley below, and eventually you will see a new car parking area to the rear of a popular Italian restaurant, and then exit the path onto Luke Lane.
Thongsbridge to Honley - Turn left on Luke Lane, round the right hand bend and look for the footpath on the left where the river greets you. Over the footbridge and continue towards the camp site ignoring the first footpath to the left and taking the path with camping pods to your left and duck pond to the right. At the next footpath junction go through the gap in the wall and follow the footpath along the river bank with the river to your right hand side. At the housing estate keep to the riverside path and you will eventually climb a couple of stone steps up onto Smithy Place Lane.
This is where the first walk criteria conflict appeared, the obvious route would be to turn right and follow the main road to Honley, however the route with less traffic is left, up the hill slightly and find the first footpath on the right. Follow this track and bear right at the footpath junction cutting across the field at an angle towards Woodhead Road and away from the river. At the busy main road, turn right, cross over when safe and look for the steps on your left which lead you up onto Far End Lane. Turn right and take the second footpath on your left which runs parallel with Far End Lane in a North Westerly direction. This footpath eventually brings you back out onto Far End Lane which you need to follow a short distance and bear right down Old Turnpike.
Honley to Armitage Bridge - At the bottom of Old Turnpike take care to cross the road and just a few yards on Northgate take the track to the right of the Indian Restaurant. This track quickly turns into a footpath that takes you back alongside the river for about half a mile. Keeping the river to your right you will eventually arrive at Magdale and the official start/end of the ‘Waterside Way walk’. From here the route finding is more difficult especially with no footpaths near to the river.
Another conflict here, you could simply follow the busy Woodhead Road towards Huddersfield, but our route takes you away from the river for about half an hour. Head uphill on Magdale and take your first right onto Sandbeds which doubles back on itself but soon bends back around so you are heading in the right direction. Continue on Sandbeds taking the right hand fork at the next junction and take the next right onto Hawkroyd Bank Road which runs parallel with the river which is now out of sight. As you approach the woods on your right look for the footpath that heads off down into the woods and allows the occasional glimpse of the river in the valley below. Continue down this path which is a lovely wooded section full of various birds and eventually you will arrive at Bank Foot Lane where you need to turn right and head down towards the church. At Armitage Road turn left and keeping the river to your right follow the road past the houses being mindful that this is a cut through between 2 main roads and can be very busy.
Armitage Bridge to Folly Hall - Just past the track that leads to the allotments there is a footpath on your right that cuts behind the houses, follow this to the end and at Dean Brook Road turn right towards the Cricket Club. At the entrance to the cricket club take the footpath to the left, keeping the cricket club to your right, this is a popular area for Grey Squirrel with Jays and Magpies making an appearance. This path will take you back towards the river for a brief visit before you have to leave it again as the footpath takes you around an enclosed industrial estate. At the end of this footpath you will pop out onto Meltham Road where you turn right and head towards Huddersfield. The pavement on the right disappears for sections and you will need to cross over Meltham Road to walk safely. This is the worst section of the walk, and about 1 km of road later you will go under the viaduct and eventually reach the traffic lights at Lockwood. Turn right onto Woodhead Road, and cross as over soon as possible preferably by Grappolo’s restaurant. Cross over the river and turn left up Lockwood Scar looking for the footpath on the left opposite the old Police Box. This new cycle track keeps you next to the river for most of this section, and if lucky you may see the resident Grey Heron feeding in the shallow water. The footpath passes some burnt down mills, some interesting graffiti and eventually you arrive at Queens Mill Road, turn right and after a couple of hundred yards the footbridge on your left is your finish point. This footbridge is actually over the River Colne and if you stand in the middle of the bridge and look upstream you an see where the River Holme joins the River Colne, but the river junction is inaccessible and this is as close as you can get to the end of the River Holme.
Congratulations you have now walked the full length of the River Holme, and you just now need to figure out how to get back to your car.
