Standedge from Marsden

About trip

Trans-Pennine travel has, until quite recently, been a hazardous business. Over the centuries many routes have been driven across the hills to link the industrial centres of West Yorkshire and Lancashire. Some paths were consolidated into paved causeways for packhorse traffic, before being upgraded to take vehicles. This track, linking the Colne Valley to Rochdale and Milnrow in Lancashire, was known as the Rapes Highway The Standedge Tunnel: This was tough terrain for building a canal. When the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was cut, to provide a link between Huddersfield and Ashton-under- Lyne, there was one major obstacle for the canal builders to overcome – the gritstone bulk of Standedge. There was no way round; the canal had to go through. The Standedge Tunnel, extending 3 miles (4.8km) from Marsden to Diggle, was a monumental feat of engineering. Costly in every sense, it took 16 years to build and many navvies lost their lives. The result was the longest, highest and deepest canal tunnel in the country. In an attempt to keep those costs down, the tunnel was cut as narrow as possible, which left no room for a tow path. Towing horses had to be led over the hills to the far end of the tunnel, near Diggle in Lancashire. The bargees had to negotiate Standedge Tunnel using their own muscle power alone. This method, known as ‘legging’, required them to lie on their backs and push with their feet against the sides and roof of the tunnel. This operation would typically take a back-breaking 4 hours; it would have been a great relief to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Closed to canal traffic for many years, the tunnel was reopened in 2001. It is now a major tourist attraction and includes boat trips and a visitor centre. In 1812 Marsden became the focus for the ‘Luddite’ rebellion against mechanisation in the textile industry. A secret group of croppers and weavers banded together to break up the new machinery which was appearing in local mills and which had been developed by local industrialists. Eventually the army was despatched to restore order. Sixty men were put on trial in York for their part in the troubles; 17 of them were subsequently hanged. Where to eat and drink: The café by the entrance to the Standedge Tunnel serves light refreshments, or for more standard pub fare try the Tunnel End Inn, just up the hill where walkers are very welcome and the food is served daily. What to look out for: In spring and early summer, listen out for the cuckoo. If an old story is to be believed, the people of Marsden realised that when the cuckoo arrived, so did the sunshine. They tried to keep spring forever, by building a tower around the cuckoo. As the last stones were about to be laid, however, the cuckoo flew away. The folk of Marsden celebrate Cuckoo Day in April each year. Directions: From the centre of Marsden, take Station Road, uphill. Between the Railway pub, and the station itself, go left along the tow path of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. At Tunnel End, where both canal and train lines disappear into a tunnel through the hillside, go across over the canal on a footbridge, and walk up the tarmac drive past the visitor exhibition to the Tunnel End Inn. 2 Turn left on to Waters Road. Go through a gate on the left for a path parallel to the road. After rejoining, keep straight ahead at the entrance to the Hey Green Hotel. 100yds (91m) further on, bear left, just before a cottage, on to a footpath. The path takes you across Closegate Bridge, known locally as Eastergate Bridge, where two becks meet. 3 Keep right, following the right-hand beck for about 100yds (91m), when the path bears left, up a steep side-valley. The path levels off at the top and then bears slightly right, towards the rounded prominence of March Hill. Your route across moorland is soon marked by a series of waymarker stones. After a few ups and downs, the path rises steeply uphill, before descending towards the A640. 4 Just before you reach the road, take a wooden bridge over a little beck and follow a Pennine Way sign on a track that bears acute left. Take this well-maintained gravel track uphill. After a few minutes you follow the contours of Millstone Edge, a rocky ridge that offers panoramic views into East Lancashire. 5 After enjoying views at the trig point, your route is downhill. Take a succession of stiles in walls and fences before turning left on an unmade track that leads down to the A62, where a car park overlooks Brun Clough Reservoir. 6 Cross the road and take steps up to the left of the car park, signed ‘Pennine Way’, to access a good track, soon revealing views to the left of Redbrook Reservoir and Pule Hill beyond. At a marker stone the Pennine Way bears right. But your route, having made a small detour to cross a tiny beck, is to continue along the track. It gradually sweeps left, around the slopes of Pule Hill, to reach a road. 7 Turn right, along the road, but then immediately left, up Old Mount Road. After 100yds (91m), bear left again, up a stony track signed to Hades Farm. After 0.5 mile (800m), take a path to the right, that accompanies a wall, to rejoin Old Mount Road. Follow the road downhill to arrive back in Marsden again.