Walking the first 51.4K of the Calderdale Way
During September 2021, I walked part of the Calderdale Way (CDW).
It's about 50M, i.e., 80K.
I walked the first 51.4K.
The visit calderdale web page
says
"The Calderdale Way explores the hills, moors and valleys of Calderdale that recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.
It is an 'up and down' journey with few level sections.
However, the higher levels provide some exceptionally fine panoramic views.
The main and link routes to the valley bottom are designed so that they can be completed in short stages.
It encircles Halifax, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, following old packhorse ways across the open gritstone hillsides with sections of traditional stone causeway,
passing through hillside villages and old mill towns on the banks of the River Calder.
There are medieval settlements at Lumbutts and Mankinholes, and Withens Gate, where the Pennine Way crosses.
A short diversion along the Pennine Way takes in the popular walk to the 100ft monument, Stoodley Pike.
There is a total climb of approx 2600 metres
(over 9000 feet)."
The route of the CDW is shown in blue on the above map. The route was derived from the KML file provided on the
Walking Englishman's web page.
That web page also provides a GPX file for the CDW.
The underlying map is a Google map and the image was generated with Google My Maps.
I've annotated the map with lines indicating the start/end of each day's walking
and with a day number (in a circle), a date and the length of the walk for each of the days.
If you are a member of the Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA), you can get
both a GPX Route File and a Google Earth KML file
from
this LDWA web page.
I think they are more accurate than those on The Walking Englishman's web page.
The LDWA's web page
also provides the above elevation profile.
Again I've annotated the image with lines indicating the start/end of each day's walking
and with a day number (in a circle).
Whilst I was out walking, for navigation I used the OSMAnd app on my mobile phone.
It shows where I am on an OpenStreetMap map.
I've superimposed on the map the routes of public rights of way
using GPX files downloaded from
www.rowmaps.com that were derived from data kindly provided by Calderdale Council.
(How to obtain and use those GPX files with OSMAnd is described on this web page.)
I've also superimposed on the map the route of the CDW using the
LDWA's GPX file.
For backup, I had paper OS Explorer maps: 288 and OL21.
So the OSMAnd app showed me an image like the one in this screenshot.
I grabbed that screenshot whilst I was recently walking the Brighouse Bounday Way.
The blue arrow shows my current location and the direction I'm walking, the cyan line shows the route of the BBW, the red lines show the routes of public rights of way that are Footpaths according to the Council's data and the underlying map is an OpenStreetMap map. I'm on a path indicated by a dashed grey line - it has been mapped by an OpenStreetMap contributor. The solid line that's adjacent shows the line of a fence. The cyan and red lines may have been accurate in the past but these days they are in areas that are fenced off as I think they are in quarry workings.
The heartofthepennines web site
provides a written description of the route of the CDW.
I stayed at a hotel in Huddersfield and used buses to get to the start and return from the end of each day's walking.
On the 203 bus route the buses run up to 10 minutes earlier than their timetable which is very annoying.
I haven't found an app for my phone that provides real time bus information. However, this web page does. You need to type in the number of the bus route (e.g., 203) or a stop number (e.g., 45016741) or a postcode (e.g., HD1 6NW). A map appears and when you click on the bus stop you get a pop up to say when the next buses will arrive at that bus stop. It's great!
Below, there's a table summarising my holiday.
I did 51.4K of the 79.9K route in 6 days.
For each of those 6 days, you can click on the link for the day to see a map of the route that I walked
and to see some photos that I took along the route.
Even though the GPX/KML files mentioned above have a route that starts/finishes on New Clough Road near Nordale Town,
most web pages say the CDW starts at Clay House in West Vale.
So that's where I went for Day 1.
It's near the Stainland Road Sports Ground bus stop in West Vale.
Link to the index page that has links to other holidays
