Pennine Prospects

Out & About In The South Pennines

The South Pennines is unique…..Funky towns….mills…..canals ….deep wooded valleys and expansive open moorland.

Easily accessible by train from Leeds and Manchester …it is nevertheless possible to get away from it all and hear nothing more than the skylark and the curlew.

Our landscape has been the inspiration for writers and artists for hundreds of years. Haworth Parsonage, home of the Bronte family, has been a site of literary pilgrimage for over one hundred years. More recently, Mytholmroyd was the birthplace of Ted Hughes and Heptonstall the last resting place of Sylvia Plath.

Romantic ruins [ such as Top Withins, possibly featuring in Wuthering Heights]; or isolated monuments [ such as Stoodley Pike] form iconic landmarks and amazing viewpoints.

These towns of the South Pennines have changed since they formed the heart of the textile industry in the heat of the Industrial Revolution but retain many of the chapels, mills and charm. The towns are proud of their independent shops and thriving markets. Each town has a distinctive feel: Hebden Bridge was voted the fourth funkiest town in the world….Holmfirth gained fame as capital of ‘last of the summer wine’ country. Ilkley retains its feel as a Spa town.

Powered initially by water, water has formed and defined the landscape. With over twenty reservoirs and countless rivers. The Watershed almost defines the Counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. The Calder, the Aire, the Colne and the Wharf in Yorkshire. Crossing the Watershed into Lancashire – another Calder and the Irwell. The deeply incised valleys and tributaries create attractive valley walks such as the walk to Gibson Mill and Hardcastle Crags following the Hebden Water.