Stoodley Pike Walk

About trip

This is one of the most popular walks in Calderdale. The reason for its renown is the Stoodley Pike Monument. The monument can be seen for miles in the Upper Calderdale area. It stands 100 feet tall, which is much higher than most hillside monuments. I can't think of one in Yorkshire which comes close. The existing monument is the second to be erected as the first one fell to the ground in 1854, forty years after it was built to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon's armies at the Battle of Leipzig. The people of Calderdale must have been pleased about Napoleon's reversal for the first monument was paid for entirely by public subscription. The monument stands tall and proud today, a tribute to the people of this historic valley. The walk takes us up to the monument on Stoodley Pike from Hebden Bridge. After climbing from the valley floor along tracks, through fields and over moor the return is made by much the same way except for the final three miles which is enjoyed along the towpath of the Rochdale Canal.