OVER CRACKEN EDGE & UNDER EARLSHEATON

Join us for some great views from the Wakefield Way, the Kirklees Way and the Dewsbury and Ossett Greenway.

There are several ups and downs, some quite steep. Route revisions due to severely overgrown paths (sadly the planned loop around Earlsheaton is presently unwalkable) have reduced the length to 7 miles, but the highlights remain.

Industrial relics and rolling countryside  - the contrast for which our area is famous - typify the walk. From the ridge of Cracken Edge, the townscapes of Batley and Dewsbury, then the Pennines (with Shooter's Nab prominent), then Emley Moor, come progressively into view. We drop down to Earlsheaton from where the time-pressed or weary may catch a bus back to our starting point while those with a taste for further adventure will descend the hillside to the mouth of the old railway tunnel.

Fully lit and completely safe, Earlsheaton Tunnel (179 yds) now forms part of the Dewsbury to Ossett Greenway, which gives magnificent views of the Calder Valley until a short section of the Wakefield Way returns us to the start of the walk.