Manchester Weekend Walkers lead public transport walks into fantastic countryside all year round.
Train & bus-based walk
Leader: Cathryn & Jeremy
Meet Point: Near the ticket barriers, or on the platform, at Victoria station. Alternatively, meet the group on the train or at the station in Hebden Bridge.
Transport to Walk Start: 09:21 train from Manchester Victoria (final destination Leeds).
Suggested Ticket: Off-Peak Day Return to Hebden Bridge £12.60 plus bus from Haworth to Hebden Bridge £2.
Walk Start: Hebden Bridge railway station at 09:50.
Waypoints: Old Packhorse Bridge, The Buttress, Hebden Hey Scout Centre, Gibson Mill, White Hill, Walshaw Dean Middle Reservoir, ruins of Top Withins Farm, Bronte Waterfalls, Bronte Bridge, Penistone Hill Country Park.
Return Services: From Haworth: B3 (Bronte Bus) at x:21 until 18:21. Connect at Hebden Bridge for trains to Manchester at x57/:01, x:09/12, x:31/32 & x:57 until 22:57, then last train at 23:31.
Extra: Toilets at Walk Start and en route at Gibson Mill. Optional pub visit at the end of the walk - on the picturesque cobbled high street in Haworth if time permits, and then in one of the many pubs, bars and restaurants in Hebden Bridge.
The walk starts from Hebden Bridge train station, passing through two parks and over the Old Packhorse Bridge, built in 1510. The route climbs steeply out of Hebden on The Buttress, where care should be taken on the slippery cobblestones.
After a short stretch along a B road, a narrow footpath, steep in places, crosses Lee Wood, to the isolated Blue Pig members only pub. This was one of the first working mens' clubs, being set up in the early 1900s. We may have a quick water stop outside this pub, by Hebden Beck.
Climbing up from the pub the path meets a minor road, along which we continue through Hebden Wood, ending at a Scouts outward bound centre. Here we follow a track back down to the Beck, which we cross on some uneven stepping stones. We follow the beck upstream to Gibson Mill where we will have a brief toilet break, before continuing, crossing the beck a number of times in the process.
After approximately two and a half miles the route finally leaves the beck, rising steeply through a wooded area to more open countryside.
Various paths are taken making our way up White Hill before descending past the Grouse Butts shooting boxes to Walshaw Dean Middle Reservoir. After following the reservoir for only a short distance the route continues on the Pennine Way and 'out on the wily, windy moors' to the ruins of Top Withins Farm, where we will have a short lunch stop. This is said to have been the inspiration for the location of the Earnshaw family house in Wuthering Heights.
The theme continues as we follow a path past Bronte Waterfalls and over Bronte Bridge. From there we continue to Penistone Hill Country Park along the Millennium Way. We will pass Tom Stell's seat, climbing to the Penistone Hill trig point, before descending past the Literary Landscape Sculpture into Haworth.
If time permits we will pass the Bronte Parsonage Museum and visit the Bronte Memorial in the next door field.
This is a strenuous long walk and you will need to be have a good level of fitness.
Good walking boots will be required for the cobbled areas, muddy paths, banking and stepping stones, all of which may be slippery.
Please bring all food and water needed for the walk as there will be no stops to purchase these.
There is a significant chance of light rain all day, so rainwear is advisable.
